Chimaera Wheels

[RCA]

Ok people I have just perchased some new rims for my chimaera so the old ones are up for sale, Normal 5 spoke 16's on the back 15's on the front. Open to reasonable offers if anyones interested.
Cheers

[GreenV8S]

Pistonheads email not working at the mo, please drop me a line at [e-mail]

Cheers,
Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

[mark]

What wheels did you buy? Have you got any pictures?

[twerlie]

What size wheels and tyres did you get front and back?

[RCA]

The new wheels are the seven spoke TVR ones so they are the same size. I have however ordered some 18 inch miglia action wheels which should look the b***ocks.!!!!!

[twerlie]

18's on a Chimeara? what size rubber are you gonna use?

[shpub]

quote:
The new wheels are the seven spoke TVR ones so they are the same size. I have however ordered some 18 inch miglia action wheels which should look the b***ocks.!!!!!

That's as maybe but to quote/paraphrase Peter Wheeler...

"We set up the suspension to work with 16 inch wheels which have more complience and then people want to fit 17 and 18 inch wheels that screw up the suspension and then start complaining because the car doesn't handle or the ride is too harsh!"

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[RCA]

This is true but in all fairness I had 18 inch wheels on my clio and that did not mess up the handling too much. Anyway, nevermind it will look good!!!!!!!!

[only me]

so just how harsh does the ride get with bigger rims and lower profile? and does it cock the speedo up

[shpub]

quote:
This is true but in all fairness I had 18 inch wheels on my clio and that did not mess up the handling too much. Anyway, nevermind it will look good!!!

If you fit them because they look good then fine go ahead. If you are interested in how the car handles and how quickly it will go then read on.

The ride will be harsher as there is less tyre sidewall flex which is part of the suspension design. To maintain the same overall diameter, lower profile tyres have to be used. The stiffer sidewall on a lower profile tyre prevents tyre distortion so that you get a better contact patch and thus better handling. So far so good.

The downside is that you get more tramlining and a harsher ride. You may find that stiffer tyres like S03s really make this problem worse and that you need to change to a softer tyre as a result. You can now loose the advantages that the lower profile tyre gave in the first place.

The stiffer wall will also transmit more shock to the suspension and therefore the suspension joints are stressed more and this can include the wheels as well. The current move towards narrow spoke thin wheels may look good but the combination of no tyre wall flex and a stiff suspension and something has to give.

So the moral is: be prepared for a harsher ride, more tramlining and potentially higher suspension component wear. Avoid potholes and bumps at all costs as these can do more damage than with a normal setup car. On the plus side, they will improve the handling especially on smooth circuits but can be very twitchy on bumpy roads because there is less give in the suspension. Play with tyre pressures as these are even more important.

Changing or modifying anything on a TVR especially has to be weighed up as it is never as simple as bolt this on. If it was, ask the question why TVR haven't done it before!

Steve
www.tvrbooks.co.uk

[hughjayteens]

Do you have the tyres from your old wheels still?
I think I have a slow puncture on one of my fronts (225/50 15 S02) so if anyone has a spare part worn or new I'd be very interested - The last bill cleared me out for this month!