Trying to work out wheel/tire combos for my GT. Going with sebring flares - 99% street duty. I'm thinking about 16" wheels - 10" in rear - 8" in fronts, but open to suggestions. I don't want it to look like a couple of rubber bands wrapped around monster rims. Could also use help in working out offsets. Planning a ford 8.8 in the rear (with pinion centered) - stock front suspension to start with - what hub mods for ford pattern? Headers through the fenders. Any recommendations, pitfalls, interference issues? I'm making my own flares, so I do have some latitude, but trying to work out starting points. Any advice appreciated. In the meantime, working through some bodywork - floors, firewall mods, motor mounts...
Tom, I seem to go about this differently from most. I usually find the wheel I like first as that is so much a part of the style and look of the car then work backwards to get the offsets right. I'm not a fan of using big spacers or adaptors, but they can be fine if well made from billet material and good high stregth lugs studs fitted. Get the front set up first, you have much less you can do there as far as width goes without screwing up the handling, then have the rear axle matched to that dimension and wheel. As far as going to Ford pattern on the front, the best way in my opinion is to use new hubs such as the ones sold by Bill Guzman. Not cheap, but well designed and strong enough to be safe. IIRC Bill makes both the newer style hubs for the Wilwood brakes as well as an older design which will work with stock MGB brakes, your choice.
Using 16s will give you a much better selection of tires, both now and in the future. Good performance 15s are getting harder to find. I like the looks of the American Racing "Salt Flat Special" with a lot of the old Halibrand design influence. Think they would blend well with the design of the MGB and come in the sizes you are looking for and I haven't seen them on any other Bs that I can think of. http://www.americanracing.com/browse_vintage.asp
As far as chosing offsets, check the older Roadmaster threads, there was some good discussion on that subject there a couple of months ago.
I also like the American "Roadmaster" but they only come in 15"
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Thanks Bill
I really like the look of the AR 427s - although I think Rob F. is planning on using them - it's a small community, so I'm still searching. In part, I want to get the wheel/tire combo worked out as this sets hub height. I'm starting with a modified stock crossmember, but for the future, I want to take a whack at fabricating my own front end - I want to convert hubs in the meantime - just not the spendy version. From your hub height you can start working out suspension mounting points and design the crossmember to match the points.
I used an 8.8 axle, but if I had it to do over I'd use an 8" Ford axle to save weight (to improve ride and handling).
Since wheels and tires act as flywheels (and since they're "unsprung weight") lighter is always better and IMHO, generally, smaller-diameter is better too. The 15x8 genuine Minilites (with sticky 225/50-VR15 Toyo Proxes T1-R tires) that Darren Jones used seem to suit the Sebring flares very well. You can see several pics of them here: http://www.britishv8.org/MG/DarrenJones.htm
Converting to a five-lug bolt pattern could possibly make sense if it opens up cheaper brake or wheel options... but I don't believe for a second that you'd ever find a four-lug hub or wheel inadequate from a strength or durability point of view.
I interviewed the owner/builder/driver of the fastest road-racing MGB-GT in the Americas earlier this month, and took over 100 photos of his car. (Lots of clever construction details!) You might be interested to see what he's using under his Sebring flares. I'll post one photo now, and keep the rest secret in advance of the article:
Genuine Made-in-England Minilites (4-lug) on an 8" Ford axle...
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OK Curtis, I'll bite - when do we get to see the rest of ole #2? No fair teasing.
I like Darren's car - one of my favorites. I'll take a pass on the minilites though. They look great, but I can't bring myself to do it. I was thinking 5 bolt more along the lines of what front-steer suspension uprights I'm familiar with and the geometry that goes with them - that and ditching the kingpins more than a strength issue. Probably more of a spindle/hub issue that I'm thinking of than a bolt pattern issue.
I had seen where the 8.8 weighs in at 170 lbs and the mg rear at 179, but I'm not sure I really trust those numbers.
Quotewhen do we get to see the rest of ol' #02?
I'm trying to figure that out myself. It's going to be an AWESOME article - totally superior in level of detail compared to anything you'd find in a printed book or magazine. How many books show 100 big, high-quality, well-captioned, detailed photos of an MGB-GT-V8 race car? You wouldn't get that much good stuff from lifetime subscriptions to "Classic Motorsports" and "Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car" magazines combined. (They're not really about cars anyway... they're about the "car enthusiast lifestyle", right?) Ad revenue won't cover my expenses producing it though. Maybe it'd be a good article to kick-off some sort of new reader pay-per-article system? What is that sort of information, inspiration and entertainment worth?
Tom, I am running 15 X 7 Konig Rewinds on my Sebring gt.......they are zero offset...the tires are 255 X 60 in the front and
245 X 60 in the rear...now, these are rediculously tall tires for anykind of handling, but I put them on the car back in the day when I was running a 90* V6 with a 3 speed auto tranny with no overdrive and the stock 3.9 differential...I was looking for anyway I could to lower my highway rpm's and this was part of my solution...just for the record, the one thing these tires do is fill up the wheel wells as evidenced by the fact that I can not get my index finger between the rear wheel flare and the tires.
Time moves on, I now have 3.9 V8, .73 overdrive, and a 3.07 differential....in the next few months I will be putting on 16" wheels with lower aspect ratio tires....my brother is in the tire busines so I will be trying many different tire wheel/combinations to achieve these goals...lower aspect ratio.....still fill up the gaping cavity as best I can..but yet I do not want the car to look like my crossfire....as you say like a wheel with a rubber band on the perimeter...I'll be watching this thread for ideas as well and later report back my findings....
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Tom, there are tons of "what ifs" in this... Here's some info that may help though...
I am using American Racing 427P's. No hard feelings if you used the same.
Fronts are 15x7 with 3.5" backspacing.
Tires are 205/55/15
My front end is 2" wider than stock (53" vs stock 51").
With no spacers & Omni flares, they do a pretty good job of filling the space. I may end up with 1/4" or less spacers, but may not need them at all; will know better when I get the flares on. I think 215/50/15 would have fit better, but (a) they were way more expensive & (b) there were way fewer choices that had similar tread patterns let alone matching.
Even with the wider front end, my tires will hit the headers as I approach full lock. Wider tires would hit a little sooner but 1-2" wider should still be ok (although would likely take a little more steering effort when parking or similar)
Rears are 15x8 with 4.5" backspacing.
Tires are 225/50/15
Rear end is 54" wide (currently)
With Omni flares, the tires extend about 1/2" to 3/4" beyond the flares -- Net is the combination is too wide.
Todd is re-making the uprights for me so which should save about 1-2" per side. If it saves 1" I'll be on the money with this set up. If it saves 2" I'll probably be able to fit 245/50/15's in the rear later.
Per above, 15" tires are hard to find -- as are 15" wheels with good offsets. One wheel I really like the look of but couldn't make work on my car (at the time) was the SportMax 002 (they're now called XXR 002's http://www.xxrwheels.com/wheels.shtml). They look great, are way lower priced, & have 0 offset (or close to it) in both 15" & 16". I probably would have gone with those but they didn't have 16" back when I was buying my wheels. Check out the XXR 513's & 501's too. They have 15 & 16x8's w/zero offset as well. You'd have to call to be sure, but if memory serves, their 4-lug wheels are dual drilled for 4x100 & 4x4.5 and their 5-lug versions are dual drilled for 5x100 & 5x4.5. Any of those are plenty popular enough to find a spindle that'd work if build your own front suspension later.
Speaking of front suspensions... never mind, I don't want to steal your thread... i'll post my suspension question in the handling board.
SportMax002.jpg
Rob, Those xxrs look great - hints of minilites with the 8 spokes. The variables are a bit confounding for where I'm at right now - but I do know I want to set my hub centers pretty soon - perhaps less of an issue with the stock x member, but if I keep going...what do they call that - mission creep I think? If I slow the timeline from this fall to next spring a dry sump and extrudabody injection (think weber ida/hillborn look www.extrudabody.biz) enter the picture. On the other hand - a driveable car this fall...
Mike - keep us posted - seems like you have access to experiment a bit more than most of us. I'm especially interested in what you find in 16s. Seems like a good balance in looks and at least according to GRM, 16s offer the best performance over 15s and 17s.
Curtis, I'm pretty sure people would find value with in-depth articles - how it was done on steroids FWIW I would pay.
Going engine shopping tomorrow at the good ole pick n pull - saw a lincoln lsc and a t-bird supercoupe in there the other day (5.0 roller motors). Shooting for new floors and firewall mods by the end of the week.
Check out Evan Amaya's car with the American Racing Silverstone wheels, they're too big (17") for some tastes but I really like them. I had a t-bird supercoupe, I thought they only came with supercharged 3.8 v6's? I loved that car, but it was literally falling apart around me and I had no money to keep up with the repairs. It was a strong v6 engine!
Tom, I've been working on my car for 2 1/2 years & it's getting close... but, if I were to start over, I'd have gotten the running gear going, then swapped out the rear end, then done the front if/as needed/wanted, then done the body mods, dash mod, bumpers, etc., then painted it. It would have taken longer overall, but i'd have been driving it for the last 2 years! Just a thought.
I keep coming back to get it going on the cheap and upgrading - then I think about the "while I'm doing this, might as well do that". Ran out of time today, but in the process of snagging a 5.0 HO from a lincoln lsc - should have it tomorrow.
Tom,
I'm replacing the front end of my MGA with a custom built Mustang II front end. I'm not going to be using the wheel adapters which are for five lugs. The adapters are well built and safe. Contact me if you want to try them out. You can pay for the shipping to you and the return shipping if they are not to your liking. If you want them I'll take $60 for the pair.
Privat "Zwanzig" 18X8, 5 lug x 100mm 40HGR front wheels with 215/35R 18 tires is the current configuration. This is the clearest photo of the adapter and wheel on the car.
Jeb
frontwheel.jpg
Zippy looking A Jeb,
I'll send you an e-mail
15x8 Minilites with Toyo 205/60-15's on my conversion. 550lb. springs up front, "reverse-loop" leafs on the back. Certainly not as low as the race GT but don't want to feel every bump in the road.
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Simon, who manufactures those Minilites ?
I can answer that... Simon's Minilites are the genuine article. They were really made-in-England by Minilite. (You can get genuine Minilites from one of our other sponsors, John at "Targett Motorsports".)
Here's a link to John's website: http://www.minilitewheels.us/
Curtis is correct. Straight from Minilite. Colour is Anthracite. I don't know how they compare in price to John's but these were £110 each at the time (2002).
I have checkced with them already, What I am looking is for a 15 or 16" wheel X8 with 4" back space and the other two with 5" back space. with 5 on 4.5 bolt pattern.
Americna racing wheels no longer offer the Siverstone with custom offsets. The only wheel available is the Americn Racing
torq-thrust 105-205 and 605 with custom offsets.
Bill, you might call back & talk w/them again... I got conflicting messages just about every time I called when I was researching my wheels, but ultimately they came through. They are still showing custom offset as an option for Silverstone's on their web site... http://www.americanracing.com/browse_vintage.asp
I got there by going to their home page, then "styles & brands", "vintage", "see wheels/click here", "silverstone, custom offset, series 401" [note the custom offset is a different series than the Silverstone R or Silverston T wheels].
Rob, their web page shows them, when I call them they only had what they have in stock. I also send an e-mail for tech question and their answer was no longer available. They suggested check different stores, they may have them in stock.
I like the XXR but they do not have them in 5 x 4.5 and the back space that I need. Rear wheel drive wheels are getting hard to find.
There is company that here in in town that makes custom wheels for $200 and up each.
Maybe you could convince American Racing to sell you the centers & have the local shop weld them into the rims where you want them? Another alternative might be to get the whole wheels from American Racing & then have the local shop cut the centers out & put them in new rims w/backspace you want. I don't know if that can be done w/aluminum wheels, but Stockton does it w/steel ones.
Just when I think I've got it figured out...more complication or you find out the wheels don't work with the axles or you can't get the offset.
Rob, thanks for the diagram on the mge site. That's helpful. I think I still have too many unfixed variables (axle width/flare width/tire size)- I think the approach may be to find a wheel/tire combo I like - find a width that feels about right and make things fit around them.
That is the way to do it Tom.
I found some nice wheels that I like froma BMW 540i they have a nice offset in the rear and the ocrrect offset in the front.
I would have to change my bolt pattern to 5 X100 mm That is one choice.
The other chouce is as you suggested Rob. I know the shop that can do it.
Tom, if you use the flares from Lilves, then you can do the same thing I am doing. 15 or 16 X8 with 4" offset in the rear and 5" offset in the front. or 54" rear alxe with Nissan Panasports minilites 15X7 with 225X50X15 in the rear and 205X55X15 in the front.
They also come in 16" .
So far I've made my own set of molds for flares - so I've got quite a bit of lattitude to tweak things on the outboard side. I started getting all torqued up about how the rears would fit, but that's actually pretty easy - just a matter of finding a tire width I like, followed by a wheel - since I was considering a new rear axle - that can be cut to length and on the outside - the flares can be built/tweaked to fit the tires. The front - a little different story - through the fender headers and turning radius may be more of a determining factor for tire choice. I haven't fit the motor yet, so I'm not sure where the pipes will end up. For the time being I'm liking the hankook ventus r -s2 245/45/16 for the rear on an 8" rim and a 205/45/16 on a 7" rim for the front.
Bill,
There is the sportmax 941 - similar to the xxr - 10 spoke that does come in 5 x 4.5 - may not have the offset though.
Found the wheel that I will be using on my RD 16X8 4" back space and 16X7 4" backspce on 5X4.5 bolt pattern
http://www.etwheels.com/ac/
Damn you Bill,
Those Cobra wheels are what I had envisioned on my conversion one day.....looks like you beat me to the punch! Very nice indeed and reminiscent of the MGB-GT/Ford 289 conversion I remember seeing back in1967 at the BMC dealership in Hamilton, Ont - it also had Cobra Halibrand KO's.........(insert deep sigh here!)
Nice find Bill. It's a good looking design and nice to see one so customizable. I'm gonna drive myself nuts on this until I pull the trigger on wheels/tires. If this weekend goes well on firewall mods - maybe next week. Worst case is by the beginning of Sept. I should make up my mind.
Sorry Graham. They also have the pin drive bolt on kit. mmmmm!!!!
Also look at the LT III wheels, they also come in different offsets. Minilites with a deep dish on the rear.
Those wheels are very similar looking to the ones I got from american racing (427P's) but AR doesn't do them in 16". That would have made finding tires way easier!
OK taking another run - not having much luck nailing down rims with mixed widths in 16". Whose running 17" rims?
The thought - ASA AR1s 17x8 on the rear with 245/40/17 and 17x7 up front with 225/45/17s - keeps the circumference at 24.7" in the rear and 24.6" in the front. Getting a little thin on the rubber though. Also started sourcing parts for a fabricated x-member (mustang II spindles, tubular a-arms and rectangle tubing for the x-member).
Any experience out there w/17s?
Very little. We discussed 17's on the Roadmaster thread a few pages back, I think we decided on 275/35 or 40-17's for the back and 225/45-17's on the front. I bought a set of 315/35-17's for my roadster but they're on the Roadmaster right now and probably will be until I get my IRS completed. So we've not driven on them yet.
Jim
Check out Evan Amaya's car in the photo gallery. He has 17's IIR.
A little less rubber than I think is ideal - but lots of tire choices and I'm getting to a point of overthinking it. Think I'm just going to pull the trigger and get on with it.
Yeah, I was just thinking that'd give you a feel for how well the 17" wheels/tires "fit" from a diameter perspective. You'll be using flares if i recall so you can go wider of course.
I like Evan Amaya's car, esp. the rounded rear wheel arch - more modern - but thinking those 205s will look kinda skinny with flares. I promised myself I'd figure it out this week - so I placed the order: ASA AR1s (pretty much flumoxed the tire rack rep with the mustang/granada bits). Now I just have to make it work.
asaar1.jpg
what size & backspace AR1's did you get? And tire size?
I tried to get those AR1 for my 2005 WRX STi but they didn't have them with adaquate backspace to clear the Brembos. I really like those wheels.
Didn't you mean "flummoxed"?
I went with 17x8s on the rears with 245/40/17s - rear wheels have a 35mm offset (about 5.75" backspace) - 24.7" diameter
17x7s on the fronts with 225/45/17s with a 48mm offset (somewhere around 5.75" backspace also) - 24.6" diameter
tires are hankook ventus RS2s
Could have gotten smaller backspacing on the fronts with silver wheels instead of black (down to a 28mm offset)- go figure.
since I decided to build my own x-member and using a ford rear that will have to be shortened - I didn't worry too much on the offset - on the front, I think it's going to work out pretty well with little scrub radius - so fairly wide tire with relatively low steering effort - we'll see. I was intrigued by one of the posts on the experience - where someone moved the front axle centerline forward 1.5" - perhaps a little extra space for header/tire clearance.
Ok, so I respect the fact that your car is your personal statement and style is individual but I have to say that most of this discussion seems to be going in the wrong direction. 17's on an MGB? Please, please, please, no. 16's with the right tire profile, maybe but, 17s and above would make it look like a wagon and the body lines cant hold wheels that big. That blue MGA made me throw up in my mouth a little and I am not the only one to think this. I am in no way a purist, in fact I love modifying these cars (72 MGB GT getting a 13B Turbo and an MGA getting a Ford Zetec) but at some point someone needs to say whoa. That thing does NOT need wheels that big and I can not imagine that they are any improvement in handling. MGAs are made for 15s and possibly 16s, if they are the correct style. That red GT is sweet but please dont be afraid of lower profile tires. It looks like a truck. Drop the profile down to 45 or something and itll sit much nicer, plus handle better.
YoungGuy Wrote:
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> Ok, so I respect the fact that your car is your
> personal statement and style is individual
Thanks for letting me know what my allowable personal style is. I'm sure I was fretting that. :)
I don't have Sebring Flares but this shows what can be done with larger rims and smaller tires. Fronts 225/45/17 Rears 245/40/17. Using Omni Flares
I am afraid I can't give you guys any more info at the moment as all my car stuff is packed away for moving. But once I get set up I will up date my info in the Photo Gallery
Bruce
I am not trying to tell you what to do and I am into modifying a car but at a certain point, it doesnt look that good anymore. Maybe the bigger is better movement has moved on from the younger crowd to the adults. I had a MKII VW and anything over 16's, and they had to be the right 16's, was laughed at. It just didnt look right. If bigger was truly better, the people racing these cars would be running them too...
I was thinking you could probably manage to get 20's on it with the right tires. Something like a 215/25-20 would be about the right diameter and width. Bet you wouldn't get any sidewall flex with those babies!
Jim
QuoteIt just didnt look right. If bigger was truly better, the people racing these cars would be running them too...
I'm inclined to agree with you Jarrod, although I believe the road-racing/vintage-racing classes where MGB's are raced have wheel size restrictions in their rules...
Obviously appearance and performance are entirely separate issues. Some people prefer the looks of 17" wheels. That's their own preference, and it's certainly not wrong. To my eye, it just "looks wrong" not just because it isn't "period" but because from a performance point of view 17" wheels make so very little sense on an MGB, especially if carving corners is a priority. Bigger wheels = bigger flywheels (4 of them!) = harder to accelerate = harder to decelerate = more energy wasted every time you brake and thus worse fuel economy. By the time you put tires on them, the rotating weight is usually substantially increased too. More unsprung weight moving up and down = more difficult to control with shock absorbers = worse ride quality. If you reduce sidewall height, you're looking at a less compliant ride on a car that already has a pretty uncomfortable rear suspension (unless you're replacing that... as Rob and others are.)
The funny thing about fashions is that they change constantly. One of these days, realistic wheel sizes will come back into fashion.
Re: the earlier comment about sports cars that "look like trucks"... that comment confused me because I personally
love trucks. Big trucks anyway... Check out the special European
ultra low profile wheels and tires on my old truck!
(http://www.storyboardtoys.com/Volvo.jpg)
(p.s. This photo was taken on a frozen lake in Arjeplog Sweden where we were testing a brake-by-wire braking system. What a great truck that was! Took me fun places.)
Maybe this is a fad and proper, realistic wheel sizes will come back. Nice Volvo. A friend of mines father owns one and I went to school close to one of the factories in Va. I love trucks. Ive had trucks and SUVs pretty much all of my life. I dont have one at the moment, 3 cars is enough for me at 26 right now but, will probably get one again soon. I was just saying that if you compare the red BGT with the white BGT, you will see what I am talking about. Shorter sidewalls and some lowering would make that thing look amazing.
Yes, I also believe that they are limited in terms of what size wheel they are allowed to run. At a certain point, big wheels are more a detriment than an advantage, let alone the fact that it just looks wrong. TC, TA, Midget, etc... with running boards, throw some big wires on there. Looks at home. Throw a big set of wheels on a car whose body is almost as tall as the wheel itself, horrible look. Just dont get it.
And so it doesnt seem like Im just trolling or anything, here is my GT. 72 spoke wires, lowered a little over 2" (its much lower in real life than the pics show), neg a arms, 3/4" sway bar with solid mounts, wilwood 4 piston caliper conversion, 13B Mazda w/ 5 speed in the garage waiting to be dropped in.
bgt3.jpg
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P.S.- Please dont put XXR, otherwise known as Sportmax, wheels on your car. They are cheap in price because they bend unbelievably easy. A lot of the MKII VW guys run these because they are cheap but first really good pothole and you are going to have trouble. If I had a choice, and the money, to throw a set of bolt on wheels on my GT, I would put these on in an instant. 15" BBS RS. They are three piece so you can choose your offset, width and lip depth, and center color. Plus, they have that mesh, wire wheel look that would work so well with an old British car.
BBS_RS.jpg
YoungGuy Wrote:
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> but at some
> point someone needs to say whoa.
Who is that someone? An elected official, a self appointed regulator, a hereditary ruler, or someone annointed by God?
Will he contact us, or do we need to locate him?
Before or after we violate his decrees?
Are the rules published somewhere so we can know what we can and cannot do?
What are the penalties for failure to heed his dictates?
danmas Wrote:
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> YoungGuy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> Who is that someone? An elected official, a self
> appointed regulator, a hereditary ruler, or
> someone annointed by God?
>
> Will he contact us, or do we need to locate him?
>
> Before or after we violate his decrees?
>
> Are the rules published somewhere so we can know
> what we can and cannot do?
>
> What are the penalties for failure to heed his
> dictates?
Well, in case you havent noticed, that someone is me, haha. But seriously now, step back and look at them, really look at them. Look at the size of the opening on the body and compare it to these big wheels. Im not talking about period correctness or anything like that but just porportionally speaking, look at it and be honest with yourself. Does a car this small with openings shaped the way that they are, really warrant a wheel of that size? Are we trying to catch up with the ricers or DUB magazine or the current (dying) trend of wheel sizes? Are we going for a wow factor with these wheels? Everyone complains about brake fade so are we trying to add more rotating mass (unless you drop big bucks on wheels, bigger does equal more weight) so we can continue to complain about the brakes? Are we looking to diminish the "chuckability" of these cars in the twisties? My GLI has 18's on it with a modified suspension and they fit the car porportionally and greatly increase my handling ability due to the design of the suspension. Are we looking to slow the sprinting ability of our cars down (rough math says every inch equals .10 off gearing)?
Chuck and A into a corner on 18's and one on 16's and see which one comes out first. If we are looking for more traction, why are we not looking to go wider? 15x8's would do a great job and can handle the HP some of you claim to be putting out. Why should we need to look to grafting fender flares, which if arent done correctly or are of a bad outward design detract from the flow of the car, to make big wagonesque wheels fit? Wider, not taller and just because we can make them fit doesnt necessarily mean that we should...
Some automotive trends arent trends but fads and fads die out. Do we as an enthusiast group want to fall victim to following a fad and joining in with the ricer/ dub crowd or do we want to stick with a Euro/ Brit style? Massive body kits and useless wings were the thing not to long ago. Where are they now?
Perfection, on 15" wires:
showimg_vehicles.php.jpg
Jarrod, it amuses me that you're stirring this pot. (It's been stirred many times before, of course.)
When, on the one hand you question the performance advantage of big-diameter wheels and then on the other hand you post pictures of spoke wheels... I mean, what could possibly scream "low performance" louder than spoke wheels? Let's see how many people we can annoy this morning! It's all in good fun, right?
Your GT is very handsome, by the way. Next time you're changing tires, can I trouble you to weigh one of those spoke wheels? I'd like to build a wheel database... As I recall, the original Rostyle wheels from my 71 GT weighed about 18.3#. Alloy wheels are stiffer and lighter. Even Minators (which aren't a high performance wheel by any measure) only weigh 13.6# in the popular 14x5.5 size.
You had to post the pic of the BBS RS wheels. For years, I have wanted those on my B for soooo long I can't stand it. I think they have been out of production for some time.
That is true. There is a draw back to running wires in strength so I elected to run those 72 spoke Daytons. I will weigh them next opportunity that I get.
BBS RS have been out of production but are a cult wheel in the VW circles...you just need to know where to look...
www.rbwheels.com
www.raderwerks.com
Centerline Draglites are light in any size Probably the best weight/strength ratio on the planet. Those and 205/25-20's are going to be lighter and outperform your old tech Dayton wires any day of the year.
Jim
Don't think BMW, Ferrari and Porsche got the memo that smaller wheels were the way to go, but then again, what do they know about performance? I'm glad you appreciate tradition, I think mgbs look good with 15" minilites, but that's not really what I'm going for. Mine may end up looking like crap to you, but it's my creation and I'm pretty sure I'll be proud of it anyway if it rolls under its own power.
That is true, most manufacturers have gone to larger wheel diameters. Like I said, even my VW GLI has factory 18's on it. Yes, BMW, Ferrari and Porsche have gone to larger wheels but they designed the car and ALL of its components around that wheel size. The brakes, the suspension and ride quality and, most importantly, the body and wheel openings were designed with larger wheels in mind. If you have to graft wheel arches and flares on to make taller wheels fit, maybe they arent supposed to be there?
I said it from the beginning, style is individual but Im just trying to understand why this trend exists and praying that it will disappear.
It won't. Otherwise we would never have had things like the AMC Gremlin. And that's not a bad thing. So, bigger wheels, here's one for you, how about 22's with a 10 series tire? a 205/10-22 would be 8 inches wide and smaller in diameter than the original wheel so it would fit the wneelwells just fine. No cutting, no bending. Same with a 205/25-20, that's maybe 1/2" taller than stock. Maybe.
Why? You might ask. Believe it or not wheels are lighter than tires if made right and they are also stiffer, so no sideways give in the corners, meaning improved handling. The ultra-modern trend in brakes is to attach the disc to the wheel, meaning an extremely effective and lightweight package. Again, improved handling. Or didn't you get the memo?
Jim
YoungGuy Wrote:
> Perfection, on 15" wires:
Sorry to burst your bubble, but those are 16" Borranis ;) I have a MG Enthusiast Magazine with a write up on those cars (they were made in a small series of 10 iirc)
Personally I'm looking for 16" 3 piece knock offs with 60 or 55 profile to go under stock arches.
I found my issue of that one last night and noticed that they were 16's, which is only 1 inch larger than the stockers.
As for the 22's with a 10 series tire. I cant imagine why. So you want a shorter tire than original, thus changing your gear ratio? I shudder to think what would happen to those wheels the first pothole or road imperfection you meet up with...unless they were made by Schmidt Wheels. The one piece wheel sounds like a good idea but practical, I think not. When something like this actually makes it into any sort of production, even on something like an ALMS or F1, Ill pick that memo up out of the trash and read it again.
Tire/ wheel trends, the tweel:
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Now THAT looks FUNNY! I like it though, no air. Actually we'd better get used to the look because it's the shape of things to come. Better performance, less weight, and no air. Pick the right wheel and it'd look great on an MGB too.
Jim
Edit: A 205/10-22 would be a 23.5" diameter tire. So what size are yours, smaller than that? Not from the factory.
JB
Bond a flexy cover over the sidwall and it looks pretty close to an ordinary tire. Might be nice to see some new technology introduced on the auto - most of the technology in cars is getting pretty ancient. Where's my flyin' car anyway???? Can't even buy one with a joystick controller and not huge advances in batteries even with electric cars being 100 years old.
I am going to change wheels in my RD. Who do I need to contact,is it a he or she? I want to be in loop to get the memos.
I do not want to make a mistake.
LOL LOL I am rolling in the floor now!!!!!!
Youngguy, in the pic of the silver MGA with 15" spokes, do you know the name brand of the wheels? Those are extemely sharp!
Those are 16" borranis
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