I just Flew in from New Zealand after a week of Snowboarding last night, and this is what I have come home to. Damn, I wish I hadn't Missed it!
When I got my 17's I had a long thought beforehand about whether or not to get them. I had read Autocar and Evo thoroughly and heard about these Zetec S vs. ST 16"s vs. 17"s reviews.
In the end I decided that aesthetics won over handling, and I got the 17"s. I prepared myself for the reported change in the handling department sans 16"s, and got in.
Well, Take it from me. I don't know whether the 16's were shod with shocking tyres and now the 17's are shod with fantastic ones, but my fiesta is handling better than ever.
Where the 16's would lean on the 45mm prof. sidewalls, squeal, moan, and push wide on corners, the 17's grip the road like the car is on rails. A trip down Victorias great ocean road confirmed this for me. While the ride is bumpier, and yes it can settle into ruts easier, the handling is FANTASTIC. The 16's with the Falkens were RUBBISH! Absolute shït!
I'm not lying and I'm not biased. I'd tell the truth about my accounts. Just check out my first Posts after I got the 17"s. I'm really happy.
Whether the Contisport Contatcs are better and perform well on the 16's remains to be seen. I'm yet to drive a WQ Zetec with them on. Im sure the Contacts really complement the 16's and the Pzero's unfortnately dont marry up with the 17's well. But I've got nothing but praise for my Toyo Proxes 4 Tyres and nothing but bad memories as far as the 16's on Falkens go.
Just becasue the tyres on the ST are Pirelli don't mean that they are the be all and end all. Sometimes the manufacturers go too far and overkill. Subaru made a limited edition MY05 WRX called the WRP-10. All 200 of these special edition cars were built at Subaru Docklands in Melbourne to commemorate 10 years of WRX in australian World Rally Championships.
They started life as silver Rexes from Japan, and on Melbourne arrival, they were given stiffer damping and new springs, their exhaust was modified to be more freeflowing, and to add more kW. They were given special badging and interior highlights, and they were stripped of their rims, and new charcoal 17"S were put on with Pirelli P Zero Rubber.
Australian Car mags could do nothing but bag the Pirelli's addition onto the car saying that for the extra price, they do not handle like the standard tyres that come on the normal rex, and that they really were a waste of time. As their price doesn't equal better handling. So sometimes tyres just don't marry up the way that the manufacturer wishes they did!
Oh and Steve, Blow the horn of the RSC as much as you want, But a 2 litre Blue Jellybean on 17's does nothing for me! I won't buy one
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