Largest wheels on lowered 156.

Hi all

Was wondering what the largest wheels are you can fit on a 156 and wether its a sportwagon makes any difference.

I dont own the car uet but planning ahead, are 18s and 19s possible, i still want to be able to carry 4 people and be able to lower 30/40 without issues, anyone on here done this?

any pics will be great aswell

Wheel diameter makes no difference to the amount you can lower the car because the overall diameter of the tyre will be the same (give or take a few mm).

I think 19" would be far too painful and just OTT, 18" are really the limit and you would need very good suspension to cope with those.
18" would be with 225/40R18 tyres.

I agree with that, i thought the same, but thought i would ask.

What size would you say are on this alfa?

http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/it...0-15-15(1).jpg

thats the "look" i want with out the bling wheels (not chrome).

Cheers

With regards to suspension i would be using eibach springs, no coilovers etc just want a slightly lower ride, i know it will never be a track king

My moneys on 19s and a big drop!

Originally Posted by AlfaAlfaAlfa

I agree with that, i thought the same, but thought i would ask.

What size would you say are on this alfa?

http://www.fiatboo.co.uk/photogal/it...0-15-15(1).jpg

thats the "look" i want with out the bling wheels (not chrome).

Cheers

Yeah definately 19'' if you look at the car in background they are standard at 16'' and look punny, looks good but i reckon the ride would be hard as a porn stars ........ well you know.. very nice though

Originally Posted by masterhalifax

Yeah definately 19'' if you look at the car in background they are standard at 16'' and look punny, looks good but i reckon the ride would be hard as a porn stars ........ well you know.. very nice though

lol... nicely phrased. I must admit, i dont want to go 19"s and ruin the ride but i do want that/a similiar look.... humm, lots of pros and cons to weigh up, and i wont know the asnwer really untill i drive a 156 on 19"s dam

Go for it.... i know down in bristol they will try different wheels on your car and let you drive (not to go drifting with) them to see how they feel... i suppose when your shelling out over a grand you wouldn't expect less.
Good luck

i ran 18s on my 156 with 225/40 tyres, together with KONI Sport dampers and Eibach Pro Kit springs. altogether, it was definitely firmer/harsher than the OEM setup, but not too bad. the KONIs made a huge difference (improvement) to ride comfort; i ran the first 80K km's with OEM dampers and Eibach springs and the car would 'crash' into potholes and ruts.

19s would obviously make the ride harsher again, but will fit. you would have to consider what quality the roads are that you drive on, as to whether you could accept this. not to mention the risk of buckling the wheels. i ended up with 2 flatspots on my 18s because of a deep pothole!

still, i'm awaiting delivery of 19s for my GT (already fitted with Eibach/KONI combo), with 225/35 tyres. fingers crossed it will be fine.

if you have brembo front brake calipers (GTA/GT 3.2L), take care with choosing the wheels. i struggled - a LOT - to find not only a wheel i liked, but one that would fit over the calipers. ended up with special-order wheels, hence the long delay. in australia, the use of spacers is not approved by insurance companies from what i have been told, making the choice even more difficult due to exact offset requirements.

anyway, a couple pics of my old 156 (forgive the door stickers! was for a car show):

i'm on 18" (225x40) wheels and its not really all that bad still using sports pack suspension, even on Irish roads (and thats saying something!)

i do agree that depending on the spoke design, you may need bigger brakes (im upgrading to the brembo 305 GT kit)

strength is really key when your running bigger wheels / smaller sidewalls

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e1...g?t=1171663894

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e1...g?t=1171664162

@masterhalifax... lol, cheers buddy

@shiny_car...Thankyou, that makes alot of sense, you car looked nice (bar stickers as you said ) it has helped me. i wouldnt be getting the gta (unfortuneatly) so brembos wont be an issue but i understand exactly i have the same problems with my fiat coupes brembos, they are a bloody pain! What kit did you hace on your 156?

@sj156... your car looks nice and its reassuring that even in ireland the ride is ok your car looks really clean, is it standard other then the rims.

cheers alfa yep, thats last years pic & no real exterior changes at all.

changed a few bits since then with:

supersprint stainless oval exhaust,
Ragazzon Ø 60mm stainless centre section,
powerflow Decat,
deconed airbox w/ V6 intake,
facelift black leather int.
facelift steering wheel,
shorter leather gearknob,
Zender pedals,
extra 6x9 speakers in the parcel shelf,
mp3/ cd headunit,
carbon fibre "C" pillars,
clear side repeaters,

Zender low spoiler w/ LED brakelight conversion (still to have fitted)
powerflex rear bushes (still to have fitted)
and a radial Brembo GT brake kit (still to have fitted)
Zender wide arch kit (still to have fitted)

i think its fair to say i've got the bug

Originally Posted by AlfaAlfaAlfa

@shiny_car...

What kit did you hace on your 156?

sorry for the tardy reply.

the kit was a full Zender one. the bootlid spoiler is also Zender, but not the usual 'shopping trolley handle' style, or even the 'low' deck spoiler, but rather a subtle one. same as the silver pic attached, which you can just make out:

http://www.zender-tuning.com/alfarom...worldwide.html

how tough is it to change the rear bushes? Is it a garage job or would I manage it in a full day? Have a (manmade) car pit that works pretty good but wouldnt want to mess the job up. Thinking about getting the powerflex bushes as some thudding noise occuring on these Irish roads at times, keeping the same springs but prob going to splash out for the Koni FSD's.