Dilemma in choosing 18" or 19"wheel

[alphamox]

Hello,

I've recently acquired myself an Aurion AT-X after trading in my mazda 6 mps (which had a good tour of duty). After a couple of weeks owning the car, I've already replaced the two mufflers with stainless oval shaped items, bought myself a entertainment unit and awaiting the K&N SRI kit from the USA. After that, I'll be purchasing the Sportivo kit and a good set of wheels to suit. My only dilema is what size I should go?? ie. 18inch or 19inch?? I still want to maintain the power and comfort as it is now with the stocko rims and I don't want to go through brakes or pads due to a bigger wheel. what is the most that the stock aurion brake setup can take before it gives in??

I'm planning to purchase Tenzo R rims which weight between 10kg-11kg depending on the size and style.

Thanks

[1stKill]

Gidday mate and welcome...I got 20" when i got my ATX,almost a year later i'm thinking 19"might have been a better choice,i have a couple of scrubbing issues on the front,but ya can't beat the look of 20's on an Aurion. I'm getting some Pedders coilovers fitted this tuesday to try and fix this and also clean up the way she handles.

19"Tenzo R (in black) would look really nice,pending on your car color.

[alphamox]

Gidday mate and welcome...I got 20" when i got my ATX,almost a year later i'm thinking 19"might have been a better choice,i have a couple of scrubbing issues on the front,but ya can't beat the look of 20's on an Aurion. I'm getting some Pedders coilovers fitted this tuesday to try and fix this and also clean up the way she handles.

19"Tenzo R (in black) would look really nice,pending on your car color.

G'day 1st kill, I'm in Melbourne and I too own a silver ATX,

damn!!! 20 inch wheels, thats pretty big. Did you find that it hindered performance?? I know that some people upgraded there braking system to cope with the big size. I was thinking Tenzo Type M's in black/machined silver face finish or Titanium finish. They weigh 11Kg each in 19inch and are just a tad heavier that other expensive brands of the same size, eg BBS, Enkei etc

Edited January 3, 2010 by alphamox

[ELEGNT]

if your going to all the expense of buying the kit and everything i would go big. if not 20's then 19's for sure mate. loved mine so much and ride quality isnt sacrifised that much. and could only marginally tell in performance and that was off the line. but mine where 24kg's with tires

[DJKOR]

Just go for the 19 inch wheels. Unless you plan on racing it around a mountain (a proper mountain :P) or taking it to the track, then I wouldn't worry about any marginal performance difference in larger wheels of your brakes not being able to cope. It would take some rather heavy wheels to notice the difference in the Aurion. The stock brakes are fairly crap anyways, so new rotors are a good upgrade regardless. But yeah, you won't find any braking issues on larger wheels.

If anything, your weak point in performance is going to be your suspension.

[1stKill]

Gidday mate and welcome...I got 20" when i got my ATX,almost a year later i'm thinking 19"might have been a better choice,i have a couple of scrubbing issues on the front,but ya can't beat the look of 20's on an Aurion. I'm getting some Pedders coilovers fitted this tuesday to try and fix this and also clean up the way she handles.

19"Tenzo R (in black) would look really nice,pending on your car color.

G'day 1st kill, I'm in Melbourne and I too own a silver ATX,

damn!!! 20 inch wheels, thats pretty big. Did you find that it hindered performance?? I know that some people upgraded there braking system to cope with the big size. I was thinking Tenzo Type M's in black/machined silver face finish or Titanium finish. They weigh 11Kg each in 19inch and are just a tad heavier that other expensive brands of the same size, eg BBS, Enkei etc

I can't say the performance was compromised too much,but as DJKOR mentioned the suspension (ie..ride quality) suffers a little,but on the upside my footprint is now 245mm wide and that has helped heaps on take off and torque steer and gives plenty of grip.

btw...when buying tyres try and get the correct load rating as this will pop up with most insurance companies when adding your mods.20"with the correct load rating are few and far between and bloody exspensive but 19"there is a little more choice and some at reasonable prices. :)

[alphamox]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the swift reply. I'll be going for 19inch wheels. Just done some research and I just realised that Toyota offer an 18inch package from the factory. Therefore going one more inch upwards should not pose as a big threat in the performance of this car. Also, the weight difference between 18"-19" is very marginal in cast format (only 1kg difference). I've got my heart on the Tenzo Cuzcos and the Tenzo Type M's. DJKOR, you mentioned that my suspension will be effected with the bigger wheels, is there a way of improving it or does this come with the bigger wheel??. I had 18's on the mazda 6 mps and it wasn't that bad at all..

Also would anyone know the overall weight of the stocko 16 inch + tyres. How much added weight will there be to 19"

Thanks

[DJKOR]

DJKOR, you mentioned that my suspension will be effected with the bigger wheels, is there a way of improving it or does this come with the bigger wheel??

I didn't actually state your suspension would be affected by larger wheels. I will reword it, but what it's meant to mean is that your suspension is your weak point in performance. In other words, you are paying attention to your wheel weight and brakes showing that you are picky about losing performance, but after all that, you will still have the softer AT-X suspension. It's like having a big engine but a weak transmission. The suspension is part of the performance so it's not something to avoid if you are going to be picky about minor things like wheel weight.

[1stKill]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the swift reply. I'll be going for 19inch wheels. Just done some research and I just realised that Toyota offer an 18inch package from the factory. Therefore going one more inch upwards should not pose as a big threat in the performance of this car. Also, the weight difference between 18"-19" is very marginal in cast format (only 1kg difference). I've got my heart on the Tenzo Cuzcos and the Tenzo Type M's. DJKOR, you mentioned that my suspension will be effected with the bigger wheels, is there a way of improving it or does this come with the bigger wheel??. I had 18's on the mazda 6 mps and it wasn't that bad at all..

Also would anyone know the overall weight of the stocko 16 inch + tyres. How much added weight will there be to 19"

Thanks

The suspension is more at risk when you start lowering with larger wheels more so than just changing wheels by themselves,most of us started out with lowered springs,some have spring & shock combo and others have coilovers.Also front strut brace & rear sway bar improve the ride heaps and don't forget tyres make a big difference in ride & noise.

[alphamox]

Thanks for the honest advice,

In that case, how much would you budget for suspension on the Aurion?? What parts would you recommend me buying at the meantime. At the end of the day, I won't be hitting the tracks but want to be able to do spirited driving?? I had coilovers on my last car hoping to hit the tracks one day but that didn't happen and hence, that was a total waste of money as I never utilized the potential of my coilover kit.

[1stKill]

Thanks for the honest advice,

In that case, how much would you budget for suspension on the Aurion?? What parts would you recommend me buying at the meantime. At the end of the day, I won't be hitting the tracks but want to be able to do spirited driving?? I had coilovers on my last car hoping to hit the tracks one day but that didn't happen and hence, that was a total waste of money as I never utilized the potential of my coilover kit.

Springs...$500-$600 pending where you go or who you know.

Spring & Shock combo (basic KYB) $1000-$1200 same as above

Coilovers...from what i've found $1500-upto skies the limit i guess

Front strut braces about $350

Rear sway bars about $250-$300 by memory,which is scrambled.

tyres $$$$$$$

wheels $$$$$

Off set castor bush kit around $200 (i got mine for $102.75+gst Daryl :P )

These prices are a broad guesstamit at recommended retail rip off price from memory (which i stated above is not what it used to be) but will give you a figure you can prolly work with.

The front & rear bars are a good place to start.