Wheels !!

[stesrg]

Well I have seen some wheels I like but can't decide what to go for ? Do I go 17" 8J rear and 16" 7 J front or 17" all round ?
What's the best wheel combination and tyre size ?
Any help on this will be greatly appreciated
Thanks ste.

[rigga]

Standard set up has a rake built in as 15" front 16" rear, so to keep same you could go 17"f 18"r but sidewalls get thinner as you go up on wheel size and ride comfort suffers, so I'd say (as I have myself) 17" all round 7.5 wide et 35

Look on the chim forum as there is lots of topics on wheels on there and what suit's the chim also suit's the griff (same car with a girly frock on chim that is)

[dnb]

I did similar with 17" all round due to a much better range of tyres (including easy access to trackday slicks). I have lower profile tyres on the front to help with keeping the rake looking original and to get better steering feel (less tyre deflection during cornering), plus the higher profile rears aim to provide better power delivery when hoofing it (but obviously not quite as good as standard 16", but that would look silly). All in theory since I've not really tested it much yet.

There would appear to be no single good answer since almost anything can be made to work given enough time and effort.

[rigga]

dnb said:

There would appear to be no single good answer since almost anything can be made to work given enough time and effort.

And that in itself is a very good point.

[stesrg]

Ok thanks so far

so if I change to 17" on the front I have found the ideal match as follows ?
FRONT 215/45/17 with an offset of 20 and a 7J rim GIVING A 1.35mm overall high gain so should look about right ?

REAR 245/45/17 same offset 20 and a 7.5J width this will give an unnoticeable ride height loss of 0.8mm so speedo reading at 60mph on original wheels the reading on the new ones will be 60.15 mph .

So correct me if I am wrong these are the best suited wheel and tyre combo to the original ride height ?

ANYONE ?

Ste .

[rigga]

Last of the griffs came with 16 inch all round 7.5 wide and offset of 33 or 35, so your proposed wheels with et 20 won't fit that well regardless of what tyres you fit to them, stick to what works as much as you can.

[petepetrolhead]

Ste, here's what I'm running, and everything fits right and looks right:

Rims: 17" Ford RS Diamond Cut 7.5J ET35 all round. I have a 5mm spacer on the fronts to reduce the offset to ET30 - this puts the centre of the wheel back where the centre of the original 7J Estoril was.

Tyres: Front - 215/40ZR17 (near enough same rolling radius as original 205/55ZR15 tyres)
Rear - 245/40ZR17 (near enough same rolling radius as original 245/45ZR16 tyres)

www.willtheyfit.com is a very useful web site which I used to work out most of the above. Just in case anyone's interested, the above wheels and tyres will be up for sale shortly as I've finally managed to get a set of four 16" Estorils, so I'm going for the factory SE look.

[stesrg]

petepetrolhead said:

Ste, here's what I'm running, and everything fits right and looks right:

Rims: 17" Ford RS Diamond Cut 7.5J ET35 all round. I have a 5mm spacer on the fronts to reduce the offset to ET30 - this puts the centre of the wheel back where the centre of the original 7J Estoril was.

Tyres: Front - 215/40ZR17 (near enough same rolling radius as original 205/55ZR15 tyres)
Rear - 245/40ZR17 (near enough same rolling radius as original 245/45ZR16 tyres)

www.willtheyfit.com is a very useful web site which I used to work out most of the above. Just in case anyone's interested, the above wheels and tyres will be up for sale shortly as I've finally managed to get a set of four 16" Estorils, so I'm going for the factory SE look.

Thanks for that thought a 45 profile on the rear would be nearer ? Anyway let's see what I can find with an offset of 35 I can plasma cut a wheel spacer at work :-)
Have you got a photo of them ones you are selling ?
Ste .

[dnb]

Have a look at Compomotives website. They will make wheels to just about any offset you want.

[QBee]

There's this recent thread on the Chimaera forum

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

And if you search further back there's about 35 pages on one thread on wheels.....

[Mr Nordic]

Hi
I was going to go for M06 Compomotive 17" x4 but ended up going for SP12,s 18" rears and 17" fronts.

Really pleased with choice to me they look good and ride well. It is so variable to personal choice, no 2 cars are the same and have different stars of wear/mods fitted, everyone has different requirements and expectations.
I have all new poly bushes, gaz gold pros ( not set too hard) and the ride is stiffer the standard tyres but still very acceptable on a journey, in fact the car feels much nicer than it did with standard wheels.

Try to ride in a few cars with different set ups or wheel sizes before you commit, you will find a solution that works for you.

[QBee]

OP, your profile says "Midlands". Covers a large area.

I have three sets of wheels and tyres, 2 of them 17 inch, one a mix of 17/18 (SP12s). mix of 40 and 45 profile tyres. Not for sale, but available to try on.
I am in the East Midlands, near Newark - if you are within sensible driving distance you are welcome to come and try all three sets if you like and see:

a) what they look like
b) what they drive like

and have a general chat about offsets, tyre sizes, aspect ratios, load indexes, centre holes, damper settings, and the quality of my coffee.
I do have a low trolley jack and an impact driver for faster wheel changes.

Pics of all three sets (sorry its only a lowly "touring" Griff):

Silverstone SP12s with Toyo 888s with 91 load rating




I forget whats with Federal 595 RSRs with 83 and 87 load ratings




Wolfrace Ford fit wheels with Bridgestones and Contis fitted

[stesrg]

Thanks for all your comments I will be going for the 17" wheel but still can't decide what wheel to go for :-( I will go to compomottive as its not far for me to go and see what they have to offer , I do like spiders but don't want the 5 pin hubs !!
Ste .

[stesrg]

Thanks for the input it was a hard task in choosing wheels and tyres I had to wait 1 month to get these made exactly to the griff offset :-)
Ste.

[roseytvr]

rigga said:

so I'd say (as I have myself) 17" all round 7.5 wide et 35

Steve

I'm with Rigga on this, I am not sure I follow your ET changes. I have a spare set of Compomotive MO5's in the garage 17"x7.5 et35 if you want to try them for size (Burton on Trent).

Ian

[stesrg]

roseytvr said:

Steve

I'm with Rigga on this, I am not sure I follow your ET changes. I have a spare set of Compomotive MO5's in the garage 17"x7.5 et35 if you want to try them for size (Burton on Trent).

Ian

Hi Ian
Thanks for that :-) the wheels were rear 7.5 with the same et35 as the griff and the front were 7.0 and the et was 25 same as the original griff 15" front and they were all 17" mate the problem was the std size in the new wheel was rear et38 front et 30 and I did not want to use spacers ! So the cast them as a special at no extra cost :-)

Ste.

[roseytvr]

Ste
Not sure what happened there, when I first looked at the topic there were only four posts, hence my response. When I looked up your reply the whole thread was there!!
That's why my response was a little strange and off topic!
Cheers
Ian

[stesrg]

roseytvr said:

Ste
Not sure what happened there, when I first looked at the topic there were only four posts, hence my response. When I looked up your reply the whole thread was there!!
That's why my response was a little strange and off topic!
Cheers
Ian

The joys of technology 😊
Ste.

[andy43]

I just put Lenso wheels on mine and Lenso did the machining themselves to get the offsets I wanted, but Wheelbase in Oldham can get any wheels machined down to custom offsets if required, they can do pcd drilling as well.