18" Wheels on Cupra 280

[Rob G]

Hi All

All 4 tyres on my Cupra are due to be replaced in the coming months, and doing a bit of man maths it is not excessively more expensive to look at purchasing a set of 18" alloys when you take the extra cost of 19" tyres into account.

Is there much noticeable difference in ride quality and handling when switching to the smaller wheel/higher profile tyre on a Cupra? Also I am on standard suspension currently, so after some images of standard height Cupras with 18" wheels. According to will they fit I will gain approx 5mm arch gap.

I am currently looking at the 18x8 Pretoria reps you can get from eBay etc.

 

[Dannnnn]

Hi All

All 4 tyres on my Cupra are due to be replaced in the coming months, and doing a bit of man maths it is not excessively more expensive to look at purchasing a set of 18" alloys when you take the extra cost of 19" tyres into account.

Is there much noticeable difference in ride quality and handling when switching to the smaller wheel/higher profile tyre on a Cupra? Also I am on standard suspension currently, so after some images of standard height Cupras with 18" wheels. According to will they fit I will gain approx 5mm arch gap.

I am currently looking at the 18x8 Pretoria reps you can get from eBay etc.

Comfort will be a tiny bit better as the side wall will have to increase on the 18s to get the same rolling circumference.
Bigger sidewall generally means less stiffness which will affect handling. Whether or not this is noticeable is a completely different story.

Plug the specs into www.willtheyfit.com/ and you can play with the widths and sizes to get the arch gap and circumference to match your current ones.

 

[Rob G]

Yup already checked on willtheyfit, and fitting 225/40/18s leads to 5mm more arch gap.
235/40/18 are much closer. But then the cost of the tyres shoots up to similar price as 19"!

 

[eltawater]

I run 18 inch skoda wheels (yes yes, they were cheap) on my cupra 280 when running my crossclimates. Can't say I noticed any comfort difference between those and the 19s before.

 

[SRGTD]

@Rob G; A few Golf R owners over on VWROC.com have fitted these;

https://cmwheels.com/product/18-vw-golf-r-pretoria-style-wheels-hyper-silver-vw-audi-5x112/

Looks as if you’re based in Sweden? In the UK, fitting new wheels is considered to be a vehicle modification for insurance purposes, which could result in the insurer charging an increased premium. If this is the same in Sweden, then don’t forget to factor in this additional cost when considering the overall cost of new tyres for your 19” wheels versus new 18” wheels + tyres + possible increased insurance premium.

 

[Rob G]

Yea, the CM wheels were the ones I was looking at I think! Not sure why it says i'm in Sweden (may be the work servers!!), i'm UK based.
Will probably not bother given the above, as the main reason for changing was for increased ride comfort.......Knowing me a change of wheel to 18" will end up with lowering springs etc to make it sit right, and then it costs a whole heap more money than just replacing the 19" tyres!!

 

[Butty]

Here's some 18x8 Audi rims with 225/40 on my 280 ST. The front end arch gap looks wide as it is on a slope.
I can't tell if the ride is smoother.
The 19s came off only because they need refurb work and the tyres are worn. I'll do this at my leisure and probably fit them when I sell up.

 

[silles]

u gain 16mm of sidewall
235/35/19 has 81mm
240/40/19 has 97mm

maybe bit better protection against potholes

 

[notabenem]

I am absolutely furious because of the 235/35 tyres. Here (SK) the government does a very lousy job of maintaining the roads. Potholes as deep as 5-8cm are not uncommon in cities. No surprise then that no matter how carefully i have driven, in 3 years, I had to throw away 2 tyres and replace 3x 19" discs already. All four of the current (SEAT genuine) discs are full of (deep) scratch marks. I was also considering moving to 18 tyres, but according to tech specs, only 224/40/18 are allowed (and not 235/40), which I figure will have only 90mm sidewall (9mm extra).
Because of the frequent replacement, the insurance company wanted to increase the insurance by 60%, but afterwards decided to terminate the contract completely.
Please give me some good advice. As things stand, I find my Cupra almost unusable for the daily drill. How do ppl make it that most other cupras I've encountered had pristine wheels?

BMWs/Audis and other premium brands have cars with similarly shallow tyres but I did not hear anyone complain about potholes.

 

[notabenem]

Do you think a 225/45/R18 would still fit my Cupra? And has anyone tried RUNFLAT tyres? They are supposed to have much stronger sidewalls - should be more resilient to potholes as well as protect better the wheel, would they not?

 

[SRGTD]

Do you think a 225/45/R18 would still fit my Cupra? And has anyone tried RUNFLAT tyres? They are supposed to have much stronger sidewalls - should be more resilient to potholes as well as protect better the wheel, would they not?

Run flat tyres are reputed to worsen a car’s ride quality because of the very stiff sidewall. I’ve read of BMW owners whose cars had these fitted as standard changing back to conventional tyres because of the harsh ride with run-flats.

I personally don’t think if I’d want to change to run-flats.

 

[Oldbutswift]

Do you think a 225/45/R18 would still fit my Cupra? And has anyone tried RUNFLAT tyres? They are supposed to have much stronger sidewalls - should be more resilient to potholes as well as protect better the wheel, would they not?

I think if you are really concerned about motoring on rough roads and suffering damage to tyres then 225/45/18 would be a worthwhile change.
...and moving to runflat tyres would also be a reasonable idea.
I understand that runflats have been improved a lot from their early days,you need to do your research as to the best ones to get now.

 

[silles]

Do you think a 225/45/R18 would still fit my Cupra? And has anyone tried RUNFLAT tyres? They are supposed to have much stronger sidewalls - should be more resilient to potholes as well as protect better the wheel, would they not?

Do you think a 225/45/R18 would still fit my Cupra? And has anyone tried RUNFLAT tyres? They are supposed to have much stronger sidewalls - should be more resilient to potholes as well as protect better the wheel, would they not?

if u hit a pothole, the energy has to go somewhere, if u have a strong tyre, the impact will be bigger on the alloy/suspension bits, which might get damaged, instead of your tyre
I'd rather damage the tyre than the alloy/suspension.

 

[notabenem]

My thinking was RUNFLAT = more absorbtion, opposed to more transfer. But yeah, that really depends on the compound and internal structure of the tyre. Seems like a gamble.

 

[Hassen27]

I was actually thinking of doing the same on the newly purchased 2016 Cupra ST 290 as the current tyres on it need replacing and I was going to get Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. Thanks for sharing your experiences about the levels of comfort of 18s vs 19s. I think I will just get the tyres and see for the next while how it fares up. So far, neither the children nor the better half has even noticed it and with newer tyres, I am hoping that it will be a non issue.

 

[notabenem]

I have the PS4s. Go for them. No issue with comfort. The only issue are the potholes.

 

[Hassen27]

I have the PS4s. Go for them. No issue with comfort. The only issue are the potholes.

Lol...potholes are an absolute pain. There's one on my way to work...on the motorway! You can't even avoid it unless swapping lanes and it's pretty bad.

FYI: Camskill have the MPS4S cheapest online at the moment delivered. Even cheaper than MPS4 in 235 35 R19 if anyone is looking for them

 

[notabenem]

By the way, in a retrospective, the PS4 seems to be more resilient and durable than my original (factory fitted) Pirelli P Zeros. I had to trow away and replace 3 of them because:

• two got punctured and cut by the rim when hitting a deep pothole
• one got a long crack on the sidewall - a manufacturing defect

Ultimately I have thrown away all four fitted tyres (long before they got worn out) and went for the Michelins. I am happy ever since. Not a single one had to be replaced. Same with the winter tyres (WinterContact T750). All four of them in tact after 3 winter seasons.

To give credit, while very "sensitive", the P Zeros were very silent tyres, but had worse traction compared to the PS4.