Fitted the 15" Softstars on 195/50/15 tyres - Massive improvement!

[Tim_P]

I thought before fitting the tyres that I might be expecting too much, that smaller wheels on slightly different tyres would not rectify the multitude of woes I had with the way the car was driving. Happily, I was a bit wrong. The car IS transformed. The suspension has gone from crashy and unpredictable to reassuringly firm and pin sharp when it comes to steering, feel and general driveability, it's superb.

Bumps are still bumps but it doesn't feel like the chassis is made from Jelly, the car feels tighter and the feel is through the wheels, not your bum.

The steering is lighter and inspires more confidence, flat roads feel flat. The driveshafts are thanking me too and the whole car just feels like I've had several hundred pounds worth of top suspension fitted.

I can't wait to test the car on my favourite roads and I am now inspired with the sort of confidence I had with my previous GTE, whereby even on 14" wheels and lowering springs I would floor the car with reckless abandon and milk that understeer.

Perhaps even better... I much prefer the way the car looks and the wheels suit it down to the ground, literally.

Thank you to all the people who sang the praises of the 15", spot on.

Another wise decision.

[Gary]

what was the offset of the old wheels ?

[Astra Dan]

"This thread is useless without pics!"

[Tom Williams]

goodo tim,

[Tim_P]

Originally Posted by Gary

what was the offset of the old wheels ?

45 I think, Softys are 49.

[Gary]

hmmm, although offset does make a difference, I doubt 4mm would cause all of that.

what I'm getting at is it's not fair to say a larger wheel causes that much grief, purely by dint of size alone - I've had 5 sets of wheels on mk2s, and the 17s are the best of the lot - ride quality and increased tramlining are the only downsides - correct 49mm offet though.

[Tim_P]

There's a few people here who say their 17's are the best all round, so it's probably more a combination of everything rather than one correct choice. I don't know what shocks or springs I have, been too lazy to guess the drop. I'm just lucky swapping wheels has me winning all round.

Question is, shall i fit the strut brace and mess it all up again?

[Gary]

strut brace is a win-win situation tbh.

[Tim_P]

Even an ebay, non-adustable special with questionable mountings?

[JasonM]

I prefered the 195/60/15 wheels on the Cavalier for similar reasons your saying above.

Saying this someone in my family use to have modified Cavalier SRi's on 14" wheels, had 3 over almost 10 years. I'm going back 10-15 years mind. There was one B road corner he could hit at 120, in my Cav with 15" wheels I only dared try it around 100. Why his car was better then mine I don't know but it was. On the old Vauxhalls at least you don't need big wheels to handle good.

[WeeKenny]

I told you so

been waiting to say that ever since I told you :P

[ephid0r]

I replaced the steel rims on my vectra with astra mrk3 6 spoke alloys 15" and there was a massive improvement in handling

[BobfisH]

You were probably doing 120 with your bigger wheels lol, unless you had the speedo re-calibrated you were almost certainly going faster than the speedo was reading - maybe thats why.

Originally Posted by JasonM

I prefered the 195/60/15 wheels on the Cavalier for similar reasons your saying above.

Saying this someone in my family use to have modified Cavalier SRi's on 14" wheels, had 3 over almost 10 years. I'm going back 10-15 years mind. There was one B road corner he could hit at 120, in my Cav with 15" wheels I only dared try it around 100. Why his car was better then mine I don't know but it was. On the old Vauxhalls at least you don't need big wheels to handle good.

[Davcohen]

i had the same prob with my old astra, ur old tyres were probably unevenly worn maybe not noticable to the eye but when i swapped mine out there was a huge difference steering stop pulling, prob worth getting ur tracking/ allignment done aswel

[Tim_P]

[Scott G]

Wicked!

Screw how it handles that looks superb

[paul maxwell]

looks like mikes car sitting there

[Tim_P]

It handles better and rides better, looks better too...

[Mark T]

Astra sized 195/55/15s would have been more comfortable.

Or even Cav sized 195/60/15s if you want it soft.

[super_dave]

Hi Tim, I'm new here. Just out of interest, are those 15x6J or 15x6.5J?
Do you have the vaux part number for them? (I assume it's the irmscher
soft stars you've put on or vaux equiv, they look just like them). Cheers.

[super_dave]

Reason I ask is I looked at irmscher 15x6J a few weeks ago, but the vaux dealer
told me they were only available in ET42 offset and that I could only go up to
a 185 wide tyre with them - did the dealer have it wrong?

[Mark T]

6J will take 205s no worries.

185 minimum more like

[super_dave]

thanks mark I thought it seemed a bit odd - do you know if these softstars are et49?
I didn't buy them even though they were on special offer as his were et42 and he
told me they didn't make et49 after he looked it up on his computer?

[cavgsi]

off topic-ish....whats tramlining ?

[Mark T]

Softstars come in various sizes, and offsets for FWD and RWD so 35-49

Tramlining is where the front wheels follow the contours of the road.

More pronounced on FWD cars with low offset wheels, or wider than standard tyres.