Ride with 18"wheels hard - how to soften ride a little?

[nat225]

...........
[*] switch to a tyre with a more compliant sidewall such as the Bridgestone RE001 Adrenaline. This will be at the expense of some steering responsiveness at turn-in.
......

I thought the RE001 is even less comfortable than RE050A??

Kumho KU23 has the softest sidewall I ever seen. I could only stand using them for 1 week a few years ago, then threw them away at 1/2 price, cos the car felt like it was floating on the water altough it was 225 40 18, and the psi was 38!

[brad]

I thought the RE001 is even less comfortable than RE050A??

Not from the experience of the half-dozen users on the other forum I'm involved in but there are a few on VWwc that have a differing opinion.

The people I know have tried both RE050A & RE001. Some liked the added ride comfort & were willing to forego the turn-in response, others preferred the slightly sharper handling of the RE050A. One guy I know hated the extra compliance of the RE001 so much he planted potatoes in them after 10,000km.

[schoona]

18s, look great, unfortunately unless you drive on smooth roads, the 17s will be much more comfortable. Over time it will mean less rattles on your car also.

While the larger wheels look sportier, the 17s will be faster around a track. In the real world it will be even faster as you don't have to slow down as much as the road gets worst.

Other than the profile of tyres, a heavier wheel will also crash into bumps harder than a lighter wheel.

Not always a good idea to get the largest wheels that can be optioned/fit.

18s are plenty comfortable. I'm not sure the root cause of rattles (or number of, can be directly attributed to 17 or 18" wheels). By that logic my car on 15" front and 16" rears should have 0 rattles. :S

17s faster round the racetrack. If said owner is serious about racetrack, and being fast, owner will have coilovers. It's a moot point. Does not compute....

[MikeB]

as an update I went to visit VW today. They were quite helpful, checked the suspension out and went for a ride with me.

Mechanic said this was a normal ride for the GTIs with the 18" wheels. In fact he thought it was fine (though he said he had one with 19" wheels.... so relatively this rode fine). He thought the suspension looked different underneath to standard GTIs.... but then chatted to Sales who said it should be the same (?).

Anyway, I am going to try and get used to it for a few more weeks and see how it is then. Then, options are the 17" (but like these wheels too much) or suspension. Lets hope I get used to it. Mechanic said suspension might soften up with use..... not sure if that was wishful thinking. (Thanks Brad and others for the good suggestions list).

Quite separately, regarding alloy rim protection, somewhere in the forum I saw a protective tape strip for edge of rims.... with this video showing wheel grinding into curb without damage. Can't find it now - anyone know the name of it?

[Corey_R]

One of those products is called Rim Skins

[hooba]

Rimskins - Wheel Rim Protectorshome

They work well, but aren't a 100% guarantee.

[SuperHans]

I'm willing to bet that there would be a heap of people willing to swap their 17"s for your 18"s

[nat225]

GTI: firm yet comliant even with 18" Detroit.

MikeB, I wonder what other cars you had in the past.

Is the GTI Adidas your first car with low profile rubber and proper suspension for a performance car?

This morning I took my wife's car for a service, it's honda accord euro luxury with 235 45 18 rubber, leather seat, pillow, quilt and the lot :p

Got home and immediately went out again in the GTI, currently with 225 45 17 rubber.

The quick change did not allow my bump to settle down first and so I could notice a dramatic difference in the ride.

When I drive my wife's car, I feel sleepy and numb.

When I drive my GTI, I feel alive and massaged by the road bumps :p

[schoona]

Or just balls up, you bought a GTI ffs. Imagine if you got a Megane cup/elise/GT3 RS/DC2 R etc...

[markwid]

We did not enjoy the bumpy ride on BMW first gen of run flat tyres. It was quite harsh. It came with Bridgestones from factory and it was unbearable. Dealer had to swap it out for Continentals, which is known to be more compliant as far as run flats are concerned.

Relatively, I think GTI ride is quite a good balance of compliance and firm.

[Vaku]

I find the ride with 18s to be more than fine, sure you hit your bad roads and it gets a bit uncomfortable
But it's nothing extreme and overall I find the ride quality to be great

This coming from an sp25 with eibach pro kits and Koni fsd's

I'm sure it would be much more
Comfortable with 17s but I love the Serron wheels... Couldn't downgrade

[TeamCrash]

I had a RX7 series II with 17" and fully adjustable supension it was rock hard, yet my XR8 ute had 18" lowered and still not as bad, i guess it comes back to the complete package you have on the car. I loved my 7, it handled like **** on a blanket....

[MikeB]

GTI: firm yet comliant even with 18" Detroit.

MikeB, I wonder what other cars you had in the past.

Is the GTI Adidas your first car with low profile rubber and proper suspension for a performance car?

...:p

I had a Honda Accord Euro with 45 profile and it was quite soft in comparison. After 2 weeks I am getting quite used to it. I drove my wifes Honda Odyssey and it handled like a large boat (heeled in the corners... delay after turning wheel).

For those who say 'suck it up..' I'm getting there.

[nat225]

I had a Honda Accord Euro with 45 profile and it was quite soft in comparison. After 2 weeks I am getting quite used to it. I drove my wifes Honda Odyssey and it handled like a large boat (heeled in the corners... delay after turning wheel).

For those who say 'suck it up..' I'm getting there.

That's good!

I also had 2006 Accord Euro with Buddy Club N+ coil, so the GTI is rather comfy at the moment (until a time when the PSS10 gets installed sometimes when the SA-60M arrives).

The 2010 Accord Euro is probably less boaty than Odyssey

[Vaku]

For those who say 'suck it up..' I'm getting there.

I get what your saying as I have driven mine around more now (also adidas) I have owned 4 lowered cars in the past so im almost used to a firm ride, I think the difference with the GTI (on 18s) is that yes it is firm, but its almost like it was designed to 'take it' like somehow the chassis/seat/feel is slightly absorbed moreso than if you were in say a silvia or maz 3 etc.

but yes you its certainly not a 'lexus' ride, but I think it suits the car's character!