Tyre choice again!!

All,

I have done a search and read loads of threads about tyres.

I currently have a 2004 sport (lowered suspension 20mm I have read)

I have just fitted 16inch wheels with 215/65/16 and 5mm spacers. My question is will 225/75/16 cooper at3's (£260 on the last 4 from the supplier) fit on and clear without a lift? I know I'll gain 25mm clearance with these tyres.

I will be lifting it with a 40mm kit and replacing the sports suspension with standard suspension and gain another 20mm, to do it all at once would cost me about £800-£1000 including fittings so trying to do it in bite size chunks, mainly to hide it from the household auditor who frowns about spending loads of money on toys when there are kids to feed etc blah blah blah .

Thanks in advance

Matt

You're better of selling the very sort after (and most valuable) Sport as it left the factory, and using the money to buy an SE instead, which will cost you less. Then put the money you saved on the vehicle purchase towards lifting it.

Don't mess up an expensive Sport, simply to make it like a standard non Sport.

As by the time you finished spending money on it, it'll be worth much less than if you left it standard.

It's the missus car and she loves the look off the sport but wants it to look like a "monster truck"

I have tried selling it already but that didn't go down well, also it's low mileage, no rust, and we have just replaced the clutch and had a £400 pioneer head unit fitted.

So selling isn't really going to work for her.

But if we were to sell what do you think a resale value is for the car?

jimmy371337 said:

But if we were to sell what do you think a resale value is for the car?

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How much do you think the tyres are worth?

Ha ha ..... So if I leave the suspension standard and just lift it 40mm then it can just be returned to standard of needed? And keep the 18" inch wheels so can completely change it back?

What do we think?

jimmy371337 said:

Ha ha ..... So if I leave the suspension standard and just lift it 40mm then it can just be returned to standard of needed? And keep the 18" inch wheels so can completely change it back?

What do we think?

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Personally, I think lift kits are a complete waste of time and money, unless you want to compete in winch challenges or something.
You certainly don't need them for 95% of green lanes in England.

If you make the car what you want it to be but keep the parts you remove then it can always go back to standard to preserve its value. If it’s a special one I get it’s better to not chop bits off but things that bolt on and off won’t hurt, do what makes you happy in my opinion!

Do the do a proper lift kit rather than non sport suspension and spacers?

Yes, the obvious thing to do is to buy a donor standard vehicle for its suspension and steering geometry.

Put those bits on your Sport to make it standard which you keep.

Then you can put the bits you took off the Sport on the standard vehicle and sell that as a Sport.

If that's what makes you happy, go for it.

GrumpyGel said:

Yes, the obvious thing to do is to buy a donor standard vehicle for its suspension and steering geometry.

Put those bits on your Sport to make it standard which you keep.

Then you can put the bits you took off the Sport on the standard vehicle and sell that as a Sport.

If that's what makes you happy, go for it.

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Or just buy the donor standard vehicle, and run it in the summers for laning. Keep the Sport the way it is.

AdamD1 said:

Do the do a proper lift kit rather than non sport suspension and spacers?

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What's a proper lift kit, I've looked at the 40mm kit from muddy mods, spacers, camber bolts and new brake lines?

Taller springs and dampers rather than spacers.

jimmy371337 said:

It's the missus car and she loves the look off the sport but wants it to look like a "monster truck"

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But what sets the Sport apart from a normal FL1, is those lovely 18" wheels and lowered suspension, which is the stuff you're removing, so that makes no sense to me at all.
Unless it's just the decals on the doors, which you can fit to any old FL1.

jimmy371337 said:

Ha ha ..... So if I leave the suspension standard and just lift it 40mm then it can just be returned to standard of needed? And keep the 18" inch wheels so can completely change it back?

What do we think?

Click to expand...

You could do that, but remember that the sport is already 30mm lower than the standard suspension, so you'll only be adding 10mm to the actual height, + whatever the tyres give you, which won't be much.
It'll never look like a monster truck, as it's a family car with mild off road ability.

True, it's the bodykit and the 3 door she likes.

I'll try talk her into selling it then. ( I've just but it up from r sale on eBay without her knowing now)

If not buy standard suspension, already have some wheels, and keep the sport suspension and wheels in the garage and when she wants to sell it, revert back to standard maybe the easiest compromise if I can't sell it or she won't.

Quick question does the V6 and td4 share the same standard suspension? I believe the 1.8 shocks are different due to the lighter engine. Could be wrong.

Maybe it’s just me, changing cars then modifying seems like an awful lot of fuss when you already have the one you want.

Honestly mate, if your missus loves the car, just put a set of normal shocks on it, to get the ride height you want, I mean you're going to have to remove the shocks etc to fit the lift kit to the strut tops anyways...

As for tyres, a 215/65/16 tyre is 26" diameter, a 225/75/16 is a 29" diameter tyre, so you gain 1.5" in ride height from the tyres, which is just under 40mm. 225/75/16 will fit either standard or sport suspension, here's a couple of pictures of mine on a 50mm lift kit on standard suspension with 225/75/16 tyres that you can show the good lady to see if it's monster truck enough a stance for her:




Another thought is you could keep it on the 18" wheels, and put 255/55/18 tyres on there, which also work out as ~29" diameter and will thus give you a similar lift in rideheight. However, you might need to fit wheel spacers to make the tyres clear the suspension struts but it would be a fairly unique vehicle with the 18" rims + the offroad tyres + the lift kit + the bodykit etc.

Bugger! The pictures didn't work...

jimmy371337 said:

I'll try talk her into selling it then. ( I've just but it up from r sale on eBay without her knowing now).

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Dangerous ground, WHEN the household auditor finds out.

jimmy371337 said:

True, it's the bodykit and the 3 door she likes.

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There's no difference in the body between the Sport and normal Hardback (3 door). Just some Sport System stickers on the doors.

jimmy371337 said:

I'll try talk her into selling it then. ( I've just but it up from r sale on eBay without her knowing now)

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You're brave.

jimmy371337 said:

If not buy standard suspension, already have some wheels, and keep the sport suspension and wheels in the garage and when she wants to sell it, revert back to standard maybe the easiest compromise if I can't sell it or she won't.

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You could do that. If you really want to keep the Sport, and don't want to reduce its retained value, then keep all the Sport suspension.

jimmy371337 said:

Quick question does the V6 and td4 share the same standard suspension?

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Yes. They shared the same springs and front shocks.

jimmy371337 said:

I believe the 1.8 shocks are different due to the lighter engine. Could be wrong.

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Only the 4 springs and front shocks are different. The rear shocks are common to all non Sport models.

Jayridium said:

Another thought is you could keep it on the 18" wheels, and put 255/55/18 tyres on there, which also work out as ~29" diameter and will thus give you a similar lift in rideheight.

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That's the way I'd go, as that's what my FL1 had. It definitely performed best with that wheel/ tyre combo.
This was mine, standard height suspension, with 235/55/18 Cooper tyres.