We're considering buying a used Fiesta Vignale and one of the cars we've seen has 18" wheels.  Does anyone have experience of these on the Fiesta?  I have some reservations about using using them on our potholed roads as well as extra road noise compared to 17" wheels.

Any advice, comments, would be welcome.

Ian

Quite a few threads on this.  General consensus is that 18s are too big for a smooth ride on the Fiesta.

I'll never understand why they put the same size wheels on the luxury Vignale model as the sporty ST model.

15 hours ago, Old climber said:

We're considering buying a used Fiesta Vignale and one of the cars we've seen has 18" wheels.  Does anyone have experience of these on the Fiesta?  I have some reservations about using using them on our potholed roads as well as extra road noise compared to 17" wheels.

Any advice, comments, would be welcome.

Ian

I've no experience of 18" wheels but my Titanium X has 17" wheels and I find them very uncomfortable and only just tolerable on most of our rough roads; in fact I'm thinking of changing them for 16" or even 15". IMO (for what it's worth) you may find 18" wheels far too unpleasant. I assume that a Vignale has the same suspension set up as a Titanium X. You probably need a test run before deciding.

I've said elsewhere on this forum that, because of the state of the rural roads where I live, I ordered a new Titanium trim Fiesta because it came with 16" steel wheels and highish profile tyres. I haven't regretted that choice as it rides the potholes very well and still feels good on the motorway.

I have a Fiesta Active mild hybrid with 18" wheels. I do a mix of mostly rural and town driving and the ride seems fine to me. Its possible that the slightly raised ride height and tweaked suspension on the active could be compensating for any loss of comfort. No issues with potholes (so far), but I think there is a bit more road noise at motorway speeds.

If ride comfort is paramount, a version with 55 profile tyres (e.g. Titanium) is going to be a better bet than a Vignale which comes with either 17s with 45 profile or 18s with 40 profile. From the examples I've seen, the 18s seem to be a very popular option and do look good if that's your thing.

Similarly the lower profiles are more susceptible to pothole damage and can give more road noise as you suggest.

Only you can decide your priorities and what you personally find acceptable which is best done by a test drive if possible.

It's not an area where there's a right or wrong answer and others comments may not help that much as we're all different both in physical problems or simply preference.

For example, I currently have an ST-Line on 17s with 45 profile tyres which has sports suspension as well and find the ride quite acceptable, whereas Bert above has 17s on standard suspension and finds it uncomfortable. 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

If ride comfort is paramount, a version with 55 profile tyres (e.g. Titanium) is going to be a better bet

Nit-picking! - My Titanium has steels and 195/60 R15 tyres, and yes it rides well. I think, apart from the visual appeal of alloys, low profile tyres on a road-going car in the present day traffic conditions have no advantages and some  disadvantages - easily damaged, expensive to replace/repair and poorer ride quality.

18 minutes ago, agraham said:

Nit-picking! 

How, exactly? I "liked" your earlier post because I agree with you. I mentioned 55s because the OP mentioned they were looking at a used car and 195/55x16 was the standard fitment on Titanium before the recent change to steels.

My apologies. Sorry you took it the wrong way, not as I intended. It was meant to be a light-hearted semi-jocular remark but I obviously failed in that. ☹️

1 minute ago, agraham said:

My apologies. Sorry you took it the wrong way, not as I intended. It was meant to be a light-hearted semi-jocular remark but I obviously failed in that. ☹️

No worries! Anyway, I agree with the rest of that post as well!😃