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Anyone lower with stock 17's?

MHS216

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Location
All over the place...
Car(s)
UG GTI 2006
Does anyone have any pictures of their GTI with the stock 17's lowered? kinda like the wheels and wanna stay with 17's for multiple reasons. Just wanted to see if it's a good look or if I need to start shopping. Thanks a lot!!

I have searched BTW, before people get pissed off, and haven't found anything really.
 

d.C

DJ
Location
Richmond, BC
yea i'm gonna do that for a while, maybe in two weeks? personally i think the stock 17' look bigger in person, and they look bbs-ish too!

here's one (not mine), on H&R Cupkit

 

MHS216

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Location
All over the place...
Car(s)
UG GTI 2006
Cool. Thanks a lot d.C. Thats's exactly was I was hoping to see. Yeah I think they are very good "Euro" looking wheels, although could be lighter, and it really helps to get that huge wheel gap out of there. Thanks again for the pics!!
 

hakgwai

Touring Car Newbie
Location
Waltham, MA
Car(s)
BMP GTI
plannin to do exactly like that
 

MHS216

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Location
All over the place...
Car(s)
UG GTI 2006
ideas

Do you have any idea what set up you might use Hakgwai? I tend to think that we are in the minority by keeping the 17's. most people I have read about doing coil-overs or cup kits etc. have seemed to be doing so with 18s or 19s. I don't know if there would be a lot of difference in using 17s and doing a pretty serious suspension mod. I'm liking the H&R cup kit a lot, but wanted to get maybe some more input first.
 

andrewt

Autocross Champion
Location
Sugar Land, TX
i'm running h&r coilovers on stock 17's too. i didnt like how the stock 18's look, and i'm probably going to wear down the stock tires a little more before i upgrade the wheels. i'm not sure what your question is...the handling is much improved, but of course it would be better with wider wheels.

here's a pic of my car


sorry, i dont have a better angle.

feel free to ask any more questions.
 

MHS216

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Location
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Car(s)
UG GTI 2006
thanks

Thanks for the pic, Andrewt, your car looks great! I realize my question wasn't very specific. I guess what I mean is, supposing I do a coil over kit, will I gain anything by going with 18s over 17s? or is width really more important than diameter?
I know every vehicle is different and I've owned Audis and VWs, but I'm still trying to figure out what the best wheel/suspension set up is for pure handling on this particular car. I'm not so much going for looks/bling, rather something that can corner like a champ. Thanks again, I'm trying not to mouch too much free info from people, but at the same time it is real helpful.
 

hakgwai

Touring Car Newbie
Location
Waltham, MA
Car(s)
BMP GTI
hey, i just hate the ride height for the US gti....plus i dun feel like spending so much money as well...so cupkits are within my spending limit...plus they're not bad.

Well i just got my car today, so keeping the 17's on till next spring and then change them to aftermaket 18s
 

herrstreet

Touring Car Newbie
Location
Pittsburgh, Pa
Has anyone mounted a wider 17 inch wheel. I think that part of the reason that the 17's don't seem to fill the wheel wells like the 18's is that the wheels are narrower (7 vs. 7.5). Is it an illusion?

Lowering definitely helps the looks though, but I think the car rides choppy enough as it is, at least for someone suffering through Pa roads...
 

andrewt

Autocross Champion
Location
Sugar Land, TX
MHS216 said:
Thanks for the pic, Andrewt, your car looks great! I realize my question wasn't very specific. I guess what I mean is, supposing I do a coil over kit, will I gain anything by going with 18s over 17s? or is width really more important than diameter?
I know every vehicle is different and I've owned Audis and VWs, but I'm still trying to figure out what the best wheel/suspension set up is for pure handling on this particular car. I'm not so much going for looks/bling, rather something that can corner like a champ. Thanks again, I'm trying not to mouch too much free info from people, but at the same time it is real helpful.

ok, i see what you're asking. generally, if you're looking for best handling, if you have to choose one, the width of the tire is more important than the diameter. a wider wheel means a wider tire, which means more contact patch. however, if you step up to 18's, that generally means the tire is going to be lower profile, which usually means a stiffer sidewall, and less flex under cornering. but, 18's will be heavier than 17's, which is undesirable usually.

in no way am i a suspension/tire/wheel expert, so you can take my advice with a grain of salt, but if i were looking for best handling, i'd probably try to find the lightest 18.8.5 wheel possible, and put the stickiest tire on there.

an upgraded suspension on stock 17's will definitely help handling, and when/if you upgrade to wider/bigger wheels, it'll make handling even better.

and i dont think you should ever hesitate to try and get info from people, that's what this site is for. :thumbup:
 

MHS216

Anchors Aweigh
Location
All over the place...
Car(s)
UG GTI 2006
andrewt said:
and i dont think you should ever hesitate to try and get info from people, that's what this site is for. :thumbup:

Thanks again for the input, you definetly helped clear me up. Again I'm thankful that there are people on here that are willing to share what they know rather than calling me a stupid idiot and questioning why I wouldn't know such a simple thing:thumbup:
 

drbubble33

Drag Racing Champion
Location
california
i once watched a tv show that said 17s were the best for handling. just throw some low profile 45s on em and itll look great and handle great. thats what they did to a S4.
 

DBCPerformance

OEM & AFTERMARKET PARTS
Location
T E X A S
Car(s)
An Imaginary GT2
17s is the way to go if you want to have your car carve the curves like hell. I just would go a little wider rims and more sticky tires. The best investment you can do to a car for handling is buying super sticky tires. Period. Having a canyon monster is priceless but needs a lot of knowledge and experience. Dropping the car couple of inches will not make your car handle like a LeMans car:biggrin:
 

feuerdog

Touring Car Newbie
Location
NJ
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