Hi Guys,

I have a 2011 Focus sport with the 16in mini ST wheels that dont really fill the arches. I dont want to lower the car, and was wondering whats the biggest wheel/tyre combination I can go for.

Seen these on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/18-FORD-TRANSIT-CONNECT-GLOSS-BLACK-ST-STYLE-ALLOY-WHEELS-TYRES-MONDEO-FOCUS-/221626774638?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Trims_Car_Rims_ET&hash=item3399fc346e

Any thoughts ?

i have 19's on my car and they fit fine. I've seen an RS with 20" rims!

The ebay link wheels will fit no problem at all. If you want a decent ride then go with a bigger tyre - 225/40/18 is the norm so something like 224/50/18 to fill the arches.

These any good to you? Local too if you're profile location is right...

http://www.gumtree.com/p/wheel-rims-tyres/ford-sti-5-stud-alloys-with-good-tyres-and-new-locking-nuts./1097265388

Worth noting though that bigger wheels without lowering can sometimes actually increase the arch gap.

what Gary says above is true. it will most likely raise the car and the only option is to lower it to remove that gap.

Cheers lads.

I can put lower profile tyres on to keep the ride hight the same. My only concern would be going too big and the arches hitting the tyres. The roads are rough in Ireland lol.

Thanks for the link Gary, but gonna stick with the ST wheels.

The lower profile tyres will probably affect the ride quality more than a good set of springs such as Eibachs I reckon. Lower profile will probably increase noise and you've less protection for your wheels, and I don't think it'll make a massive difference to arch gap either.

I've had 18s with 225/40 rubber (I don't think I'd go any lower than 40 profile to be honest, unless you're into all this stretched sc3n3 craic) and slightly lowered on all my cars for about 6 years now.

You'd prob get those wheels locally for similar money ye know rather than having to pay the postage from the bay. Plenty of places in N.I. do the same replica wheel and budget tyre packages.

Generally if you were to go with another Focus wheel & tyre combo the external rolling circumference of them stays similar even for different wheel sizes - as the size of the wheel goes up the tyre profile used is lower so that general clearances between say tyre and wheelarch or strut aren't affected.

That's why ride comfort can go down as wheel size increases, they run lower profile to keep overall diameter the same. So with 19's you're running shallower sidewalls and if you actually went to 20's there's hardly enough sidewall left to fit the tyre sizes onto. And remember that tyre profile tyre height is a percentage of width, so a 225/40-18 won't be the same height as a 205/40-18.

Going bigger than standard with overall wheel & tyre circumference will also raise the gearing of the car and cause speedo to read lower too. May not be massive problem depending how much larger you've actually gone.