Chimaera imola alloys on the S

Just bought a set of Chim imolas for my S, the original wheels are slotted but I just don't like them that much especially against the red, they seem to look ok with other colours though.

They were advertised as 16" but actually there are two 16's rear and two 15's front as per the Chimaera set up I believe. Tyres are 225 55 on the 16's and 205 60 on the 15's.

Anyway what's annoying is the tyres are Bridgestone/ Firestone and really good but 55 on a 16" rim is too tight on the back needs to be 50 max I would say and the front in my opinion needs a 16" wheel with a 55 at least to fill the arch better.

So all in all not that successful... I can get over the inset at the rear with spacers on the 16's but the tyre wall is too great, the 15's can go front or back but look too small. Now I've got to either change perfectly good tyres on the 16's so they fit the rears and put up with 15's on the front again or change the tyres and look for two more 16's.......bu***r My own stupid fault !

The 16's do look great on the front though.

Anyone else running these and in what combination? ...if the tyres were right I'd be tempted to throw the 15's on the back rightly or wrongly.

You might be better off with 205/55 16 which gives the same RR as 225/50 16

Been looking for a set of Imolas for ages, sell 'em to me if you don't like

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to achieve, but this may help.

The tyre size is, I believe, incorrect for Imolas on a Chim. The 15" tyres are correct at 205/60 R15, but the 16" tyres should be 225/50 R15. Imolas were available as an option for the S, but used 15" rims with 205/60 tyres all round.

225/50 R16 are only around 4mm in diameter bigger than 205/60 R15, so should (just) fit on the rear.

The correct Chim combination fits directly to the V8S, as I demonstrated:



The rears were a bit tight, especially on the nearside where the clearance is always tighter...

Regarding offset, on the V8S the standard Imolas clear the trailing arms comfortably. With the narrower tracked models there may be an issue here.

Have fun!
Graham

I think what I was initially trying to achieve was

1.) Find a different set of TVR alloy's that suited the car better and are still original ish
2.) Increase the rim size slightly with 16's and suitable tyres to better fill the arches (although rears side to side are fairly well fitted anyway).

As Mike says the easiest thing would probably be 15's all round but the front arch in particular looks cavernous with a 205 60 15...although if the fronts are 15's in Graham's photo they look good so maybe it's just me or the set up ultimately though I'm limited on the front regardless of rim size due to the space in the rear arch.

It is a bit strange having a 55 on the 16's with 60's on the 15's as its an unequal height but I thought that may have been the geometry on the Chim...I'm guessing at best though. The Imolas do look great on that S Graham.

225 tyre on the rear rubs the trailing arm but is achievable with the offset /inset of these rims with a spacer and will not sit past the arch but I'm p*****g in the wind of course as 55 is a gnats c*** away from the arch (rear side)

I suppose there are two things I'm a bit miffed about...I wanted 16's all round and I'm going to waste some great bridgestones.

Maybe I do need a visit to the Chim section to see if anyone has 2 x 16's to offload and for some reason wants two 15's! Or maybe I should just smack myself round the head...wish me luck.

There is a good market in 2nd hand tyres so you would not be wasting them

What's wrongg with 16's on rear with spacers and 15s on the front ?

Until you find another pair of 16s?

Not sure of your concern re 205/60 in front vs 225/55? But you do appreciate the 60 and 55 are % values and not absolute values ? So the 225/55/16 is nearly 5% bigger than the 205/60/15.

As you have then may as well try them out what are the offsets on the chimp wheels?

Thanks

Damian S3

Got 4 imola 15's for sale guys if any one is interested

Sounds like a bit of a machine all round Graham so lucky Karen!

Yep second hand tyre market does seem strong I just didn't expect to get much back for them as a customer... but I could be wrong....anyone any ideas on where best to go in Essex?

Yes I think both Imolas and 8 spoke would look good... If mine had been fitted with the 8 spokes I would have left alone probably.

Nothing wrong with 16's on the back and 15's on the front at all Its just a preference for the rims to be larger.....that sounds all wrong seriously though it's more a case of having four wheels with great tyres yet having to start again but yes you're right that the 15's on the front will be fine for a while.

Yep I'm ok with the basic principles the offset on the 16's is 33.5 and 25.5 on the 15's positive......give or take a mm or two for the old eyes.

Good to know there are others with Imola variations on the S Deeman , a few options available for sure.

One thing that seems consistent is a general liking for the 8 spokes!

Cheers.

I think 17's would kill it Graham, Its a fine line between appearance and handling/ performance.....I like the Imolas (always have) . I've decided to change the tyres to the 16's and use the 15'ts on the front, if a couple more 16's come up then great.

Thanks for your posts its been really helpful.

Andrew thats interesting, do you have or could you take a photo of the clearance back side of the rear wheel and post it?

Cheers.