18" Wheels on a stock suspension

[stepbackfool]

Hi everyone....

Long time reader but this the first time posting. I am looking at purchasing 18" wheels for my car with out raising the suspension. The primary reason is to attempt to lower the center of gravity, since I have a realll narrow stock wheel now. But if it looks good ...that works too. I really like the look of the Sport of the month for DEC 04 (Beyondhelpin). Gunmetal is cool too.

Does anyone have any suggestions where to purchase wheels? Also will getting a wider stance help to improve the side body roll or is there a better way of going about this?

Hope to hear from you guys.

[beyondhelpin]

I wish I could give you more info but the wheels on my daughters Montero are some brand made in Italy. They where on it when I bought it. They are 18s but I dont know anything about them. The tires are 265s.

[CerOf]

going with 18" rims won't lower the center of gravity (COG)


Lowering the vehicle will lower the COG.

18s are just for "bling." The Montero Sport doesn't put down enough power to justify a low profile tire and the suspension wouldn't know what to do with them either.


Its a truck, an SUV at that....

You could run a lower profile tire on your 16" rims, but that will throw off your speedometer and other things. (same thing with going to a larger size tire)

You will run higher RPMs if you go with a smaller tire and get worse gas mileage and your top speed will decrease. Your 0-60 time will increase though.

Other than to be "bling-blinging" 18" rims won't help your issue.

Trading it in on a station wagon will. No offense.

[CerOf]

oh, and you can run 20" rims if you want with no lift. You will have no sidewall to your tires, but you can run pretty much any rim size.

go play at this website with rim diameters and tire sizes, it has a picture example that adjusts as you change things up: www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html


example: 255/70R16 (stock size on many Sports) is the same as 255/60R18 Your vehicle will have the same ride height with either option. The weight difference in rim *might* be only 8lbs, so that's about 32lbs added down lower? You won't be able to tell that at all in regards to COG.

To improve handling go to a more firm shock and coil spring/leaf pack. Get a custom sway bar fabbed up that is thicker.

[stepbackfool]

Thanks for all the info cerof. The bling factor is really not that imporatant to me. It was always my intent to do more off-roading. But with a baby on the way and a possible car swap with my girlfirend and me, I just want to mae the car as safe as possible.

[(V)aGiC]

Replacing the stock shocks with stiffer ones helped me a lot in the maneuverability department. I bought Rancho adjustables (series RS9000) for the front and back, and felt a huge difference in handling.

Check the sway bar bushings to see if they arent worn out. If have changed mine in the past and felt some improvement in cornering too.

[cabledog]

In doing some research on wheel sizes, one thing you must think about. Look at the year and the recommended size for your sport. Like for the 99 MS is 15” standard, max are 18” and your have some web sites telling you that I can go to a 20” with stock www.bigwheels.net/index.php?location=wheels&view_mode=car&package_year=1999&package_make=Mitsubishi&package_model=Montero%20Sport . Well one thing that they will not tell you about is the brake system. It’s made to support the recommend and with the bling bling is a heavy wheel on the basic rotor, pads and caliber. Think about it!!!!

[02awd]

How different is the ride with 18 inch wheels? Does the ride quality suffer a lot?

[mitsubishiL200]

stepbackfool said:

Thanks for all the info cerof. The bling factor is really not that imporatant to me. It was always my intent to do more off-roading. But with a baby on the way and a possible car swap with my girlfirend and me, I just want to mae the car as safe as possible.

Stock wheels and manufacturer recommended tire size are the safest things you can put on your vehicle. This package has been tested thousands of times and has proven best for your vehicle wieght and handling limits. FYI

[CerOf]

blah, blah, blah

No offense, but that isn't true at all. Many tire combinations are done for a "cost" factor. Why do vehicle manufacturers put on good year tires as OEM tires? Because they are cheap and got a good deal on the tires from good year, a partnership if you will. Why in the HECK did Mitsu put those POS yokohama GO39s or whatever on many of our sports stock? including the 4WD sports? Because of cost!! In wet conditions, the tires are HORRIBLE and in snow? FOrget it.

I upgrade from the 30" stock tires to 32" tires that are wider and every aspect of performance and safety were SIGNIFICANTLY enhanced, including emergency lane change maneuvers. Same when I went from a 29" tire to a 31" tire on our Grand Cherokee, same when I went from a 205 width tire to a 225 width on our '01 Jetta GLX VR6. All had SIGNIFICANT handling and emergency lane change improvements.

I do believe you are quoting what the manufacturer says about altering tire sizes, etc. They do this because of the liability. If even ONE person has an issue, a stupid lawyer will file a law suit and end up settling out of court for hundreds of thousands of dollars when it was actually some redneck stupid sob that made a HUGE mistake, like trying to go around a clover leaf to get on an interstate at 100mph and blamed it on the vehicle maker for not warning that changing tire sizes.

Anyways.....I'll stop ranting.

mitsubishiL200 said:

Stock wheels and manufacturer recommended tire size are the safest things you can put on your vehicle. This package has been tested thousands of times and has proven best for your vehicle wieght and handling limits. FYI