has anyone put 17, 18, or even 19 inch wheels on there Vanden Plas? If so, what size tire did you choose for each? How did you like the look overall? Did it feel better? Did it ride better? Any performance gains or decreases? I have the stock 16 inch on mine now and I'm just curious. Thanks!

Respects,
RAGMAN!!!

 

I sould mention, JIC, I've got an 03 VDP with stock wheels and Michelin 225/60R 16

 

Have you tried searching? I don't want to sound rude, but this comes up here all the time...

FYI factory XJR's run 18x8 with 255/40's all round

 

Not rude at all. I just don't know how to word my search in 5 words or less...

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/p...en-plas-86744/

Here's a good thread of a VDP on the 17" "Revolver" style wheel.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...per-v8-106369/

This thread has good pictures of the Super V8 that has the 17" "Solar" style wheel, basically just a 17" version of the VDP wheel.

And I know I've seen VDPs on the 18" "Asteroid" wheel, but damned if I can find pics.

But in general, the larger you go up in wheel diameter, the better it will handle and the worse it will ride, as you have to decrease the tire profile to accommodate the larger wheel while maintaining about the same overall tire diameter. For a 17" wheel, I'd run a 255/45/17. This closely mirrors the stock tire OD. Compared to the VDPs 16s these are wider but have a shorter sidewall. So it'll ride a little stiffer but handling will improve as you get less "squirm" out of the shorter sidewall height. For 18's I'd go with the XJR stock size of 255/40/18. These will ride stiffer yet but the handling improvement will also be greater.

Personally, I like 17's on the VDPs. I feel like it's a good compromise of visually increasing the wheel size while not looking too big, and increasing the handling capabilities of the car without ruining the good ride quality of the VDP. 18's won't ruin the ride completely, but they do make it ride more stiffly, which seems at cross-purpose to the VDP's mission.

 

Thanks for the information and your patience!