General 15 or 14 inch wheels.

[Theydon Mount]

Hello,
Just joined.
I’m looking for a 2012+ Panda and have seen a 2013 Lounge that looks good.
It has 15 inch wheels. Any thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of these over 14 inch on the Easy and Pop?
Thank you.
T.

 

[jrkitching]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum.

The ride will be slightly harsher on 15" wheels, but not massively so. Wider tyres will slightly reduce fuel consumption, but not by enough to be able to measure.

I doubt most people would notice any handling difference in normal driving.

The actual brand and type of tyre fitted will likely feel subjectively more different.

It's only when you go over 15" that the ride becomes significantly compromised.

The only benefit to 15" alloys will be cosmetic, if that's the sort of thing that floats your boat.

Personally I've a preference for 14"steels over 15" alloys, simply because they're less likely to get damaged by potholes, and cheaper to replace if they do, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker if the rest of the car was what I was looking for.

On a used car, check the rims carefully for damage; Fiat alloys aren't the strongest out there, and a new replacement won't be cheap.

 

[Theydon Mount]

Hello and a very warm welcome to the forum.

The ride will be slightly harsher on 15" wheels, but not massively so. Wider tyres will slightly reduce fuel consumption, but not by enough to be able to measure.

I doubt most people would notice any handling difference in normal driving.

The actual brand and type of tyre fitted will likely feel subjectively more different.

It's only when you go over 15" that the ride becomes significantly compromised.

The only benefit to 15" alloys will be cosmetic, if that's the sort of thing that floats your boat.

Personally I've a preference for 14"steels over 15" alloys, simply because they're less likely to get damaged by potholes, and cheaper to replace if they do, but it wouldn't be a deal breaker if the rest of the car was what I was looking for.

On a used car, check the rims carefully for damage; Fiat alloys aren't the strongest out there, and a new replacement won't be cheap.

 

[Theydon Mount]

That’s great. Very helpful. The pothole thing and Fiat alloy replacement cost are relevant points for me. Not bothered about cosmetics of 15s. I was thinking of getting a real spare wheel too so I guess that would be pricier in 15” too.
I’ll keep looking.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

You'd have to be going some to damage a 15" rim on a pothole though.

 

[Theydon Mount]

You'd have to be going some to damage a 15" rim on a pothole though.

Noted. Thank you.

 

[jrkitching]

I was thinking of getting a real spare wheel too so I guess that would be pricier in 15” too.

If the car does not have one at all, you can buy a used 500 spacesaver spare, with the advantage that it is easier to fit into the boot. These were supplied new with many thousands of 500's, so are easy to obtain on the used parts market, and most will likely never have seen active service.

 

[Theydon Mount]

Ah. That is a good idea. It’s just got the fix and go. (Didn’t know the 500s had 15s).

 

[jrkitching]

(Didn’t know the 500s had 15s)

All but the most basic 500's had 15" alloys at least; some left the factory with 16" or even 17".

The spacesaver is actually 135/80x14, but the rolling diameter is almost identical to the 15" alloys. The only restriction is that you're limited to 50mph.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Noted. Thank you.

I'm running 185/65 on 15s. Lack of weight and tallness of sidewall + plenty of volume means lots of cushioning, even on some awful roads near here.

 

[Theydon Mount]

Is it feasible to swap 15 inch alloy wheels for 14 inch steel? Just wondering.

 

[The Panda Nut]

You can change them over, but the speedometer is programmed to work with the size fitted originally and I haven't seen any facility in MES to alter it. You certainly can damage 15" wheels as easily as the smaller ones and the Fiat 15 inch wheel are £320 each! My repaired wheel is still not true and Im looking for a replacement secondhand at sensible money. The 14 in tyres are much cheaper. Even parking the 14 and 15" wheels side by side you cant see much difference.

The 185x15 fitted to our lounge and some easy models does feel more planted on the road, but only driven back to back. We have 2 cars on 15 and 1 on 14 inch. There is absolutely no difference apart from a slight feeling the wider tyre gives making if feel just a little like a larger car. The 14 inch and 15 inch alloys of 2013 are of the same rather nice pattern. Someone reported buying a set of 15" genuine Panda wheels for £70 a few weeks ago. Im still deep green with envy.

 

[jrkitching]

Is it feasible to swap 15 inch alloy wheels for 14 inch steel? Just wondering.

Yes. I did this with my 500 shortly after buying it new.

Also a lot of folks with 15" alloys get the 14" steels to fit winter tyres.

You can change them over, but the speedometer is programmed to work with the size fitted originally and I haven't seen any facility in MES to alter it.

There's no need for any reprogramming. 14" wheels have a different tyre profile and the rolling diameters are almost identical.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Is it feasible to swap 15 inch alloy wheels for 14 inch steel? Just wondering.

Yes but you need to keep the same rolling circumference.

You can use a website like this https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/

on the comparison side of there app, enter your current tire size, then you can play with the second tire size to keep get as close as possible to the same overall size of the wheel. as an example

you have a 195/65/15 tire currently then a 185/70/14 would be about as close as you could possibly get to the same circumference. a -0.4% difference.
And if you had a super accurate set of dials in the car that read exactly 10mph at 10mph 20 mph at 20mph and so on.

When the dash reads 70mph, you would actually be doing 69.7mph you can play with that tool and see how it works.

One consideration is that many newer cars cannot go smaller than 14/15 inch wheels because the brakes and calipers are much larger than in the past and the wheels won't fit over the brakes. Diesel cars tend to have bigger brakes, so before down sizing look at the gap between the brake caliper and the inside of the wheel, to make sure there is a big enough gap.

Also Steel wheels are thinner than alloy wheels so if down sizing from steel wheels to alloy, the alloy wheels might not fit where as 14 inch steel wheels would.