Hi All,

First Post on here so thanks for having me. I've just purchased a 1996 MK6 escort and looking at changing the wheels. This question has probably been asked hundreds of times but what is the best wheel dimensions for the MK6.

I've been offered a set of 17 inch 4 x 108, ET30 8J wheels but I don't think these will fit correctly? Any help would be really appreciated.

Cheers
Dan

 

Hi

Check out @massivewangers they wrote: "dont fit big wheels and dont fit low profile tyres. 15s is fine and a 50 profile tyre will give you compliance. 16/17" wheels with 40/45 profile tyres is just going to make the ride hard. They might look nice but do nothing for handling."

Other folk have suggested the bigger 16/17" wheels but no one mentions the fact that it will mess up the speedo and you'll have to tell your insurer about the modification.

Pretty much everone suggests to put Modeo MK2 brake calipers (or Escort Cosworth ones) on the front for better braking, don't mess with the rear drums and add struts to stiffen the body and improve handling.

I have a MK6 and am going to add the Mondeo MK2 V6 calipers with a 15" Mondeo wheel and expensive tyres. I'm not looking for speed etc just better safety on the road.

This forum is pretty good but you have to comb through a lot of posts to find folk who've actually done a mod and post pictures rather than tell stories about them.

Good luck

 

on a 8j rim et30 may be a bit much for it... if its lowered in anyway the fronts may well rub

 

I wish I knew what you meant. But thanks!

 

This comes up quite a bit, if you have a car that normally sits on 15inch wheels with a standard ride height and you then try to fit bigger size wheels/tyres and lower the suspension it is almost certainly going to cause a problem with arch clearance. May look good but over speed bumps/hard cornering your nice new tyres could be ruined in no time. If possible try the combination you are thinking of before you spend a lot of money only to find out they do not fit.

 

But what about the impact on the speedometer? There must be one surely if you fit bigger wheels. Hey ho. Maybe only girls think about this stuff!!

 

if std it has say 195/50/15 tyre and you fit 17" wheels with 205/40/17 tyres the over all size is maybe same or only bit bigger so altho it does impact speedo you wont see much change

 

When I first got my 2WD Saff it had the standard 15 inch lattice alloys and when I changed to 17inch alloys with much lower profile tyres it more or less ended up with the same rolling radius and speedo readings were about the same. When i recently changed the tyres to Federal 595RSR 215/40/17 I checked the speedo against the GPS on the Sat-Nav and the readings are exactly the same so I know when I am in a 50mph Average speed limit I am doing 50mph! My much newer Focus estate eco-boost reads about 5mph faster than you are exactly going.

 

Hi.
If you have any issues with insurance for a change of wheels then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.