are 17s the biggest rims that will fit ?

[Don R]

Originally Posted by bmx43

looks cool, but different fitment for '08.

Not sure about that...


http://berlin-tuning.com/

[Don R]

Originally Posted by Gortok

Those are Lorinser Speedy
They'll be available from the MB of Buckhead (Atlanta, GA) accessories guy soon...

Right you are.

Check out my Lorinser story HERE

[Gortok]

Cool...I thought those pics looked familiar...

;)

[Fredvon4]

bmx43 yes good point... pre 07 450 fortwos had a distinctly different rim offset then our 08 451s will have.... don't keep all this crap in my head so not gonna post general numbers...

We have quite a few less options right now then the 450s have but we still do have options...

Like brother Don R pointed out...there is a practical max rim diameter of 17"... to stay in the proper diameter some of us will have 35 aspect ratios... this is a damned small side wall height and the ride will not be good for some folks tastes... plus any pot holes need to be avoided

My roads in this area are actually fairly good so I think 17s will be OK but if you have a lot of crap roads I recommend 16" and 40/45 profiles

[Carnut]

Originally Posted by Fredvon4

The Speedo sense is from a gear train in the transmission. I expect the output is not a spinning cable to the back of the speedo but a electronic pulse to the ECU and ABS computers... sounds like to adapt to larger or smaller diameter tires a gear change is needed to re-calibrate to a true speedometer indication

ESP is a different animal... each axle has a tone ring and a mag pickup that sends a speed (RPM) signal to the comparison computers. This system is tied into the anti lock brake system. There are also longitudinal and lateral accelerometer sensors in the system... All of these inputs are used to counteract lost traction, under-steer, emergency stopping and several other subtle and not so subtle safety issues...

What I am saying is that while true, tire diameter can be re-calibrated technically to give a true speedometer reading, there is no effective way to compensate for the ESP safety features.... So it is critically important that any tire width changes maintain the factory designed diameters

They are:

The 155x60x15 works out to a diameter of 22.32"---931.8 revs per mile
The 175x55x15 is 22.57"---921.5 revs per mile

So if you do want wider tires on larger diameter rims you must make tire selections that stay very close to the factory diameter/revs per mile setting..... Because there is a slight split in the factory tire diameters it is safe to assume some small error can be compensated for...BUT not much

Think of what happens to a tire as it wears... it decreases diameter and increases revs per mile...thus there is a small range of error that the ESP computers can compensate for

I inquired as to speedo accuracy with the maven in Buckhead. He replied no change in accuracy as "17 inch wheels would not change diameter." (???)

[Old smart]

The 17� wheels on the Brabus mount 225/35R-17s. They are a similar (enough) diameter to the standard 175/55R-15s because the aspect ratio is smaller (35 vs. 55).

[Fredvon4]

I use a calculator at canadian 1010tire dot com


linked info corrupted and deleted

[mnext02]

those 17s look sweet! My all black smart with tinted windows and full face chrome is gonna be looking pimped with bling bling

[jwight]

Originally Posted by Don R

Not sure about that...

http://berlin-tuning.com/

Rear disc brakes - nice. They've also got painted fuel filler doors, blue, yellow, silver, black and red - for $20 plus shipping.

[GHammerly]

jwight, not sure if you are sarcastic or serious about the rear disk brakes, they may look nice but they are for show only, notice no caliper.