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A nice size is 17x8, i have 16's but thats only because i like the esc cos wheels, have had 2 different sets of 17's on before, one set was 7.5x17 and the other was 8x17's.
3drs prefer 16"s anything above makes is ride a lot firmer and not at all comfortable. I had a guy outhandle London traffic at high speeds with his trackday 3dr using 15s"!! Anything above 16" is just a look-thing IMO. For this reason, I purchased a set of 15" new and never looked back.
Hi guys, my 3 door is just being put back to Koni sport shocks, and standard ride height springs all round. We have run into issues yet to resolve. The car has Brembo 4 pots on the front and matching size discs . The calipers are shimmed to suit the disc. The discs have a 5mm spacer between the hub and disc to give track rod end clearance. There are also spacers between wheels and discs to give clearance for calipers. The car is fitted with 17 inch rally sport 7 spoke wheels. Not a satisfactory set up . I checked out the wheels fitted, and it seems that size was only listed for Mk2 Mondeos and Scorpios. I am thinking the wheel offsets are wrong for the 3 door. My wheels are listed as 7, 5J x 17E35. Tyre size 215/40 -17. The only way I can see to overcome the problems is, maybe custom bells and rotors or top quality spacers to replace the generic items fitted. What are the thinnest bolt on spacers available to specifically fit the 3 door hubs?.
I am not quite sure what the actual problem is, but I guess the combination of wheel offset with the spacers on both sides of the brake discs. ET35 is normally the perfect offset for wheels on a Cosworth, but that is of course without spacers. Personally I would not like to put spacers behind my brake discs, in fact I am not a fan of spacers at all. The disc offset on a 2wd Cosworth is not that low, so I don't really understand why the disc needs the spacer behind it. What car do the discs come from? A common upgrade is mk1 Focus RS discs, those discs have a lower offset (52.7 mm) than the 2wd Cosworth discs (55 mm). I'm not sure if this is the distance to inner or outer disc surface. If it is the outer surface the Focus RS discs might be 1.7 mm closer to the tie rod end, as the Focus RS discs are 28 mm and the Cosworth 24 mm. But 1.7 mm should not be a reason to run 5 mm spacers.
Apart from that I'm not sure what wheels you run, but it sounds like the Ford soft spokes. The soft spokes are quite bad for caliper clearance, so in the end it might be best to change wheels, even though you have the correct offset at the moment.
But what does this actually has to do with going back to Koni shocks and standard ride height springs?
Thanks for your reply. I am changing the shocks and springs all round, and problems with discs etc have come to light during these works. I have no idea what the discs are, as they and the 4 pot brembos were fitted by the previous owner .The wheels are 7 spoke Ford rally sport. 17 inch wheels are not listed for 3 door RS Cosworth. Generally they were 15 and 16 inch. Just looking at options to do away with the spacers. After speaking with a reputable brake specialist, bells and rotors seem to be the way to go. I can then retain the existing wheels and calipers.
Bells and rotors will only make you get rid of the spacers between hubs and discs. You will still need the spacers between the discs and the wheels, as it is still the caliper that will be touching the wheel
If the wheels are the soft line 7 spokes there will be caliper clearance issues with four pot calipers, they don't fit a standard Cosworth 2WD without spacers.
Thanks for your input and advice. If I can get rid of the spacer detween disc and hub by using bells and rotors that will be a part result. I like the 7 spokes and I dont want to go down the route of changing them. I am in contact with Godspeed brakes who may well be supplying what I want. They by the way supply pistons and seals for Brembo calipers , and AMG items that are rebadged Brembos. Also, they can make items that are no longer available for example, stainless steel pistons. I will add to this post when the problem has been overcome.
