I am soon going to be the lucky owner of a New Coupe SIII, the first Hyundai I've ever had, and was wondering if I could replace the standard 17" alloy wheels with an 18" set without any modification or hinderance to the running and performance of the car. There is not much choice where alloys are concerned as an optional xtra with Hyundai UK and 17" is all they do. Can anybody advise me ...Thanks

Your Hyundai SIII is the same set up as the outgoing Gen3 & Gen 3.5 so you should be able to get most types of wheels to fit. You will need to fit them with 225, 40, 18 tyres and as long as they are no wider than 8 inches (although I would recommend 7.5 inches for better fit) they will fit fine. When increasing the size of your alloys, the ride & comfort will change a bit but nothing too much to worry about. Make sure you get wheels with the correct offset (anything between 35 - 45 will be fine) and you won't get any rubbing on the arches.

Hope this helps

Ninos

I recently put a set of 18" wheels on mine.

Rim Width: 7.5J
Rim Diameter: 18 inches
Offset: 45

These JUST fit no more so don't go over that offset. There is only about 5mm of a gap between the inner edge of the wheel and the strut. I fitted them with 225x40 r18 Yokos. The ride is a bit harder but the grip is first class, and the width of those tyres when looking at the back of the car really does look the part.

One thing i've noticed over the last few weeks is the amount of crap building up on the front bumper just at the bottom of it at the wheel. Assuming the shape of the SIII is more or less the same this is the bit that sorta goes in then back out gets covered in all the crap of the day as the wheels stick out past it by about 20-30mm. Just one of those things you gotta live with for nice big wheels. NOTE the wheels do NOT stick out past the body of the car, just this one bit of the bumper.

Hiya mate, i too have a siii and feel lucky to have it. I have changed the wheels to a set of 18s from wheelbase in oldham but they didnt have much choice. Mine are 225/40 with the rim width 8inch and there is no problem for me even when there are 4 people in. The ride, comfort,handling and performance havnt been affected really. If you search at my old posts in the photo booth you may find a pic of mine with the 18s on if not type in hyundai coupe on the wheelbase site and you will see them there. Where in manchester are you will have to keep an eye out if you are close.