16" imola wheels all round?

[madmarsie]

Has anyone ever fitted 16" imolas all round? I am getting parts together to do the brembo 324mm disc conversion and wondered about getting a pair of rear wheels to go on the front to clear the new brakes

So if any has fitted them to the front, were there any issues and have you got any pics??
Thanks in advance
Paul

[madmarsie]

cool, thanks guys. Will only be a stop-gap until i can afford a new set of 16/17" alloys later on. Just got to find a pair now
Paul

[madmarsie]

Thanks Richard, do you have any pics of your whole car so i can get an idea of what it will look like?

[madmarsie]

Thanks everyone, that looks nice. Wondered if it would look right with the same size wheels all round, but it does . This is my new purchase-



Time to start spending then
Paul

[madmarsie]

sent you an email Richard

[madmarsie]

Thanks guys,I am going to do my brakes and try the rears on the front to make double sure they clear then for the time being i will try and source a pair of rears until i can stretch to a new complete set
Paul

[madmarsie]

Have fitted the brakes but unfortunately the calipers just catch the wheel . But i think with a thin spacer and a lower profile tyre( like in Richards post above ) they will be ok. I do like the look of the 16" on the front as it seems to fill the arch better

I have put the feelers out for some 17s but would like to make the 16s work somehow for a better ride

Anyone got a pair of 16" imolas for sale

Paul

[madmarsie]

Dammit! , ended up buying a pair from ebay. Hopefully they will go on with spacers because i would really like to keep the more standard look. I cannot believe how many wheels are available for the 4x108 fitment but dont look right on a chim?? The SP12s are about the nicest i have seen but at a price. Hopefully mine will look as good as Richard 858s car a few posts up^^^^

Edited by madmarsie on Saturday 31st May 21:20

[madmarsie]

Thanks QBee, but if i can make the imolas work then i will be happy. Until i can find and afford a set of either SP12s, racelines or even better OZ pegasus like in this thread (retrowheels pic )
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Paul

[madmarsie]

I am currently on standard coilovers but adjustables are on the cards. My new 16s should be here early next week so i will experiment with tyre sizes. Did you have any problems fitting 205s to the 16s? Seems a bit narrow for a 7.5 wide rim?

I currently have 225/50/16s on the rear and was considering either a 225/40/16 or 215/45/16 but chimpongas's looks good with 205s on (which are the same size as my old 15" fronts?)

Hmm??
Paul

[madmarsie]

Classichims said:

I like the old cars and their massive tyres, E Type race cars etc

I know what you mean, there is something very nice about big fat balloon tyres on old race cars . Although i wont be going quite this far they are still cool. Like these-

http://www.redbubble.com/people/roibrooks/works/64...
http://wall.alphacoders.com/big.php?i=269183
http://www.boldride.com/ride/1968/ford-gt40-gulfmi...

Paul

[madmarsie]

So is the 225/50/16 the genuine size for the chim?

Had a look on a tyre comparison chart and the tyres are as follows

225/50/16 631.4mm
205/55/15 606.5mm
225/45/16 608.9mm

So the size that Richard uses on his car (earlier in this thread) aren't too far from standard 15" combo diameter but with the extra width. So i think i will start there
Paul

[madmarsie]

Classicchims 5 posts up ^^^
Paul

[madmarsie]

Time for an update. Current set up is what came on the 2nd hand wheels-

Fronts 225/45/16 bridgstones on standard rear imola with 5mm spacer to clear brakes
Rear 225/50/16 Avons on standard rear imola with no spacers

Although the ride is quite good, on anything other than perfectly smooth surfaces the car tramlines really bad. So much so that if you hit a bump at more than 40mph it can tear the wheel out of your hand

With the old 15" wheels (205s) i didn't get any tramlining or bump steer so am considering going to either 205/45/16s or 205/50/16s to try and settle it down a bit

Any advice?
Thanks guys

[madmarsie]

Like i said in my last post^^^ i have already got 16" imolas all round with 323mm brake conversion so i know it does fit, my issue is with the tramlining

[madmarsie]

That may be on the cards i think. I am considering dropping the front tyre width down to 205s first to see if it improves (also the steering is very heavy now with the 225s on). Got a trackday soon so want to get it sorted or at least improved
What size tyres are you running on your estorils?


Paul

[madmarsie]

Thanks Anthony, i may take you up on that. Is your car power steering?. Need to get to the bottom of why mine is such hard work. May be perfect at Blyton where its nice and smooth but the condition of the roads around here mean it exhausting to drive for more than about half an hour at a time
Paul

[madmarsie]

Mine has no power steering so i think the 225s may be too much. I will send you a PM

[madmarsie]

mine has focus rs discs(non drilled mintex) with ebc ultimax pads and bmw 7 series brembos on the front and standard mintex discs with ebc greenstuff rears. Massive improvement over what it came with!! Yet to use it in anger on the track but more than happy with the increase on the road. Was such an increase that recently i split the vacuum hose to the servo and the brakes were still stonking with no servo assistance
Paul

Edited by madmarsie on Monday 1st September 23:12

[madmarsie]

Thats what i am thinking. The extra width may be whats causing the steering to tramline like it does. With power steering it would be easier to hold but without its just plain hard work!!
Think some 205s are on the cards for road driving. But going to take Qbee up on his offer so i can sort another set of wheels for track days