Which wheels for Chimeara

[gav2612]

Has anyone heard of or running these wheels that i spotted on ebay, see link below

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dl

Also, does anyone have any pictures of the Jordan alloys sold by ACT fitted on a chimeara? Time for a change from the standard 500 wheels me thinks.

What is the current advice for wheel combinations, have read of handling problems with 18"'s, so was thinking of going for 17" all round, or would it be better with 18" rears 17" fronts?
Sorry didnt mean to post so many questions at once!!
Thanks for any advice

[overhere]

I'm interested in this subject too, and have seen those wheels, the obvious is that they require the 5 stud hub up-grade. TVRBob has a great set-up on his Chim, I think they are TVR Spiders, which look great, don't know what sizes his are.

My main worry is making the car look "pimped out", I want the car to look good, but I want it to look TVR. I think 18's will look too pimped out (IMHO) so I'd go 17 or maybe even 16.

By the way, if you do it I'd be interested in your Estorils, one of my options is to put 16" Estorils all round.

[gav2612]

Both the wheels on ebay and the Jordans from ACT seem to come in four stud as well, so wouldn't require the hub change as far as I understand.

[That Daddy]

i would go 17"allround 7s on 205to215 front, 8s/8.5s 255to265 rear 4studs fine, otherwise going to 5 stud which is not neccesary(unneccesary expense),just my cents worth

[buell man]

Hi Gav

Have you seen the Team Dynamics jordan r wheels they are 8 spoke? have rung around and most people seen to recommend 17x7 j's all round tyres being 215/45/17 front and 225/45/17 rear but like yourself I dont want to make the car look to pimped up, also look at some of the weights of some of these wheels as they can be really heavy. If you have any pictures of after market fitment please email.

regards

[macdeb]

They look pretty cool, sort of 'spideresque'. Agree with not being too bling with wheels as it can ruin a car. Sublety is what's needed.

[gav2612]

The team dynamic Jordan R's are the ones I was talking about at the start of the thread that ACT are selling. I didnt realise it was team dynamics that made them. Thought they would really suit the Chim. Anyone find any pictures of them on a car?

[jayzcycles]

hi ya,i have the silverstone sp12 18 rear 17 front on my chim i will try and put a photo up soon.they advertise on ph so you should find a pic on here somewhere.they do look the dogs bo####ks on the car.cheers ,jay.

[V8 Devil]

Take a look at this link, plenty of pics.
www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=348684

Edited by V8 Devil on Tuesday 8th May 10:51

[tahiti450]

Click the link for my suggestion (no need to change hubs)

Edited by tahiti450 on Thursday 10th May 20:04

[overhere]

Question for Alan (Tahiti450), you have 17s on the front and 18s on the rear, did you need to do any mods to suspension and steering? how is the ride, handelling? I've heard that clearence of steering rods can be a problem. I've also heard that bigger and lower profile tyres/wheels make the ride harsh. Really love to hear your feedback. Thanks

[tvrbob]

overhere said:

TVRBob has a great set-up on his Chim, I think they are TVR Spiders, which look great, don't know what sizes his are.

Thank you. They are 16" Spiders by the way.

[spyschim]

i dont know how to post the picture but i have jordan 17/18s click on my profile the best thing i ever did it has transformed the car ill be glad to show who ever is interested im in hertford the pictures dont do the car justice

[tahiti450]

overhere said:

Question for Alan (Tahiti450), you have 17s on the front and 18s on the rear, did you need to do any mods to suspension and steering? how is the ride, handelling? I've heard that clearence of steering rods can be a problem. I've also heard that bigger and lower profile tyres/wheels make the ride harsh. Really love to hear your feedback. Thanks

To be honest its amazing the amount of nonesense that gets propagated on this subject, at least that's my opinion. The standard set up on mine was 15 x 7" front and 16 x 7.5" rears. I have simply gone to 2" greater diameter rims front and rear, riunning 215/40/17 front and 235/40/18s rear maintains the rolling radius and the circumference is within a couple of percent of the original wheel tyre combination so no problems with speedo readings etc. The wheel offset is matched to the original, in this case necessitating the use of good quality (10mm Eibach) spacers at the front (and i have used 5mm at the rear only for cosmetic effect). The only change to the car is the fitting of longer (but same thread - 12 x 1.25mm) studs which just involves carefully driving out the old ones and pulling in the new ones ensuring that they are fully seated before torquing up the wheels. Since the wheels / tyres have been carefully chosen to occupy the same space as the originals there are no clearance problems, in fact there is much more room for big brakes etc (I run the 283mm front disc set up).
As far as handling and ride is concerned, I couldnt imagine going back to what seem like balloon tyres and sidewall scrubbing handling. Personally I find the standard suspension very soft and compliant (great for pootling around but a bit blancmange-like for aggressive driving) also the reduced sidewall compliance was a bonus with the low profile tyres, together with the greater effective tread width on the road. It is important IMHO to use a tyre with not too stiff sidewalls though and the Toyos are a good choice with single ply construction in this area.
I am now running stiffer springs 375 lb/inch front / 325 rear and a set of Jules's Protech adjustable shocks recalibrated to be set 7 - 10 clicks stiffer than the standard range and i find the ride very comfortable - but nice and taught and very well damped and an excellent compromise for track days and sprints (just wind on a bit more damper stiffness during events). I've never had any tramlining with the Toyos either - my car has PAS, which may help here, but to be honest the assistance is so subtle and the feedback so good that I cant imagine being without it - since it effectively allows a very high rack ratio and makes the car delightfully sharp and resposive to the steering. Wet handling has not been a problem (even balls-out on sprints) and the tyres offer very high levels of grip (I have recorded over 1g lateral accelleration in the dry).
Obviously ride quality is a subjective thing and some people might find my set-up too stiff but quite seriously i think most who are interested in using the performance of what is after all supposed to be a hard core sports car would find it a revelation. I did about 500 miles over last weekend pretty much as fast as possible on Eire roads including Kerry (as a medic on the Killarney International rally of the lakes) which has the most unbelievably diabolical road surfaces I've ever encountered and my teeth are still quite intact. I never cease to be amazed each time I go at how the TVR copes with the roads. Really unless you are a boulevard cruiser out to pose and lull your passenger(s) to sleep then I would thoroughly recommend a set up like mine to anyone.

Edited by tahiti450 on Thursday 10th May 23:24

Edited by tahiti450 on Thursday 10th May 23:26