Well I think I've solved my wheel issue. We have the 380 GT with stock wheels as well as a Hyundai i40 premium with the 18 inch wheels. Problem is the i40's suspension bottoms out on B roads. Just not enough travel and dampening with 45 profile tyres. Quite poor really. Hyundai need to go back to to the drawing board.

Then I worked out the 380 and i40 have the same wheel stud pattern, center hole, offset and center cap. So now the 380 sports a set of Hyundai 18 inch wheels and the i40 17 inch 55 profile tyres. Rides better now and won't bottom out nearly as easily. The huge Hyundai disks and calipers only just fit in the 380 wheels (320mm disks).3mm clearance.

The 18 inch wheels still look tiny in the 380s wheel arches......lowering is not an option with the roads I drive on.


I'll post some pics when I can.

Im interested to see what the 380 looks like with the hyundai wheels on

An update (pictures coming when I have some more time). The 380 has a similar ride on the 18 inch 45 profile tyres, however the steering is a little fidgity as the tyres seem to follow the road a little. I would rate the steering as having lost a little of the previpus rock solid stabiliy. There is a also a little more road noise from the Hyundai issue Hankook ventus prime 2 tyres. The wheels look quite good though.

The Hyundai rides a little better but we haven't tested it on some bigger bumps at speed where it usually bottoms out at the front. The 380 GT wheels look OK on the i40 but not fantastic.

I must say that although the 380 looks great with 19 or 20 inch wheels, I'm still a bit of an old fart and prefer my higher profile tyres. I think some of the manufacturers are going a little crazy with their 40 or even 30 profile tyres from the factory. In this case the standard of car ride comfort is definately going down. However, the 380 does seem to compensate reasonably well on the lower profiles although for country driving I'd hate to go below 45. I'm a bit of an Autospeed fan and I know Julian has made comments about this in several articles.

All comes down to personal preferences I guess.

Double post

I have 45 profile on my 19's
Just looking to replace my Pilot Sports wth Pirelli PI in same size
I agree though that since I upgraded the steering has a tendancy to tramline a little

I had a wide range of tyre sizes on my 380, 215/60-16, 225/50-17, 235/45-18, 245/35-19 and 245/30-20.
All but the original 16s with Kings superlows on the front and lows on the rear, and KYB Excel-G shocks.
Only the 20s rode unacceptably harshly or tramlined, even the 35 profile 19s were OK. The two sets of 19" tyres I had were Maxxis MAZ1 and Achilles ATR Sport, both in 245/35.
Point is, the 380 needs at least 19" wheels to look "right", and in general 19" tyres with 35 profile don't ride too harshly or tramline. Of course that depends a fair amount on the brand & model of tyres.

TreeAdeyMan, how was the ride and handling difference between the 215/60-16 and 225/50-17 tires?

TreeAdeyMan, how was the ride and handling difference between the 215/60-16 and 225/50-17 tires?


Mate,


Can't really say for sure about the ride, as I only had the 16s on for about two days before I swapped them for the 17s that were on my trade-in TE Magna.
Going by memory I think the 17s rode just a little more firmly that the relatively soft & squishy 16s.
The stock 16s were some sort of low-spec Dunlop I think, and the 17s off the Magna were Kumho KU31, which handled and gripped pretty well.

I've had some time to compare the ride and noise between the two cars. The i40 is certainly quieter on the 380's Pirelli P1s. It was already a quieter car compared to the 380 but is seriously quiet now, especially for a Korean car. The ride is definately better over bigger bumps and I think the higher profile helps with the noise suppression. The 380 is noisier on the 50% worn Hankook tyres, however there has definately been no ride quality penalty on the lower profile tyres. It also seems to corner better then it did before but tramlines a tiny amount. I would expect other tyre choices would help with noise.

So to summarise.: The 40 is now quieter and more comfortable and the 380 handles a bit better with no ride quality penalty. It is noisier on the "new" tyres.

The 380 still has the better handling, steering and feeling of solidity on the road. This makes it the preferable drive. Don't get me started on the i40s high beam as they are an abomination from Satan! I've put on driving lights to make the car road worthy at night.

The 380 with i40 wheels

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/inhjovjrankyxzr/szIUXdlMXA

Looks good

Well the i40 is still bottoming out, so if dealer won't fix it next week is getting traded in. Probably a used Lexus RX350.