19" wheels for SAAB Viggen?

The 17" wheels are known for being easy to bend, and giving a harsher ride than you might like. I can't imagine the 19's would improve either of those aspects.

The whole "looking like a doofus" issue is a completely separate, but related, problem.

HAHAHA... Thanks... I'll stick with the 17" and try and not look like a doofus.

What about a wider tire? Any advantages over that? Will that look bad too?

How about wider tires?

Well, what handling problem are you trying to solve? There are some suspension fixes you can apply to the Viggen, depending on what you're after. Just a different look, or autocross performance, or general streetworthiness, or ???

Mostly the ride feels a little rough, especially when accelerating rapidly... The looks couldnt hurt either, the tires just feel a little week for the kind of thrust it has...

Well, shorter tires wouldn't make the ride less rough, it'd get considerably more rough. Keep in mind that 2 inches you're adding to the rim, has to come out of sidewall height to keep the overall rolling distance the same.

What flavor tires are you using?

Mostly the ride feels a little rough, especially when accelerating rapidly... The looks couldnt hurt either, the tires just feel a little week for the kind of thrust it has...

Wider tires do not increase the adhesion patch (amount of tire contacting the road). They just change the shape. While making the wheelbase wider might have some effect on lateral stability, it also loads the bearing and suspension differently and is not a great idea.

Shortening those sidewalls (wider tires) would decrease "ride" as most would refer to it. A smaller diameter wheel (16") would make the ride better and perhaps soften some of the problems you have. All this assumes that you keep the outer diameter of the tire constant - which you should shoot for with reasonable accuracy.

But, I think "ride" is the wrong term for what you are experiencing. What are the issues? Wheel hop under acceleration? Torque steer (tramlining)? If so, there are other improvements you can make that will correct those issues. I don't think larger wheels will help anything.

I have Wynstar Exocet R-27 215/45ZR17 87W

PS: Why do M3s use wider tires? I beleive they are also 17" diam, but wider right?

I sort of understand. What is the reasoning behind some cars having wider (not larger in diam, but wider) wheels? Like an M3?

Wider wheels/tyres will result in the steering being more prone to tramlining effects. As well, a wide low profile tyre will tend to break away suddenly when it is at the limit of its adhesion, whereas a tyre with more sidewall height will be more progressive in the loss of adhesion.

in article snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, x snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com at x snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote on 16/02/2006 20:07:

I would think wider tyres would catch the wheel arches, given the lower stance of the Viggen; particularly the inside.

Paul

in article snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com, Bob at snipped-for-privacy@ultranet.com wrote on 16/02/2006 21:21:

On the C900, using, say 205/55 on the R15 rather than 195/60 left me skittering on hard corners and more "groove wander" on the flat. I went back to 195/60 and won't be doing that again :)

I would think on the Viggen, which is already running on a lower profile and larger wheel than the standard 9-3, any adjustments to the wheel profile would produce much the same feeling.

Paul

Better lateral traction. This allows you to pull more g's in the corners before you lose grip. It will not increase forward / reverse traction (actually may decrease it in some cases) and so will not improve acceleration or stopping distances.

Noting that the M? is designed around these tires and with the change in profile taken into account. So, if the wheel bearings will have an increased load in one direction, the specs may be changed. Likewise the wheels will be properly offset to meet handling goals and perhaps a bit of the rest of the car redesigned to accommodate... with an aftermarket change you cannot easily make these changes. Likewise, the spring and damper rates may be adjusted to help compensate for problems the lower profile tires and increased HP in am M? introduce. BOttom line - it's a package deal!

That leads me back to my previous point - you may be better served by stiffer springs, a steering stabilizer, bushing changes, etc as opposed to adding wider tires. Even just a change of tire might "fix" some things. Remember that every suspension change is a compromise - increase one feature, reduce another.