The A110 wheels thread (OEM and aftermarket)

[Meonstoke]

valvegear said:

Alpine wheel and tyre weight info for reference:

Hi,

I'm advised that the 17" Fuchs which are standard on the A110 (Pure) model do in fact fit over the larger 320mm brakes; contrary to what Alpine will lead / want you to believe. If this is the case, I'm interested in going down this route for my GT - to improve the ride quality and to counter all of the steep speed bumps in my neck of the woods.

Q: has anyone on this forum actually tried or is using this set-up? i.e. 17" Fuchs with 320 mm brake option ?

[worldwidewebs]

Why bother with the 320mm discs? They’re not needed on the road

[Meonstoke]

worldwidewebs said:

Why bother with the 320mm discs? They’re not needed on the road

That's what's currently fitted, along with Serac 18" wheels. I'm considering ways to raise the ground clearance slightly, and to improve the ride quality for poor road surfaces. Hence my interest in down-sizing to the 17" Fuchs.

[RikkertBiemans]

The 17“ wheels are not from Fuchs #zerofuchsgiven ;-)

[timbo999]

Meonstoke said:

That's what's currently fitted, along with Serac 18" wheels. I'm considering ways to raise the ground clearance slightly, and to improve the ride quality for poor road surfaces. Hence my interest in down-sizing to the 17" Fuchs.

I may be misunderstanding what you're saying, but don't the 17" wheels with 205/45 tyres have a slightly smaller diameter (616mm) than the 18" wheels with 205/40 tyres (621mm) thus marginally reduced ground clearance?. Or maybe my calculation is wrong!

[Whaleblue]

17” = 43.52cm
Sidewall of 205/45 = 9.225cm
43.52 + (2*9.225) = 61.97cm total diameter

18” = 46.08cm
Sidewall of 205/40 = 8.2cm
46.08 + (2*8.2) = 62.48cm total diameter

Slightly different numbers, but looks like 18” wheels with 40 section tyres have 0.51cm greater diameter, hence 0.2505cm (call that 2.5mm) more ground clearance than 17” with 45 sections.

All of which ignores the compression of the tyre on the road.

edit - of course ground clearance isn’t really the issue with regards ride comfort. It’s the additional “spring” in the taller sidewalls of the 17”, 205/45 combo that makes them the more comfortable option in this regard.

Edited by Whaleblue on Wednesday 15th February 12:11

Edited by Whaleblue on Sunday 25th June 05:58

[Meonstoke]

Whaleblue said:

17” = 43.52cm
Sidewall of 205/45 = 9.225cm
43.52 + (2*9.225) = 61.97cm total diameter

18” = 46.08cm
Sidewall of 205/45 = 8.2cm
46.08 + (2*8.2) = 62.48cm total diameter

Slightly different numbers, but looks like 18” wheels with 40 section tyres have 0.51cm greater diameter, hence 0.2505cm (call that 2.5mm) more ground clearance than 17” with 45 sections.

All of which ignores the compression of the tyre on the road.

edit - of course ground clearance isn’t really the issue with regards ride comfort. It’s the additional “spring” in the taller sidewalls of the 17”, 205/45 combo that makes them the more comfortable option in this regard.

Edited by Whaleblue on Wednesday 15th February 12:11

Thanks for clarifying and the calculations, appreciated. Looks like I did indeed misunderstand the numbers; guilty as charged.

I guess I'm back to the drawing board. Yes, greater road comfort is always nice but more important to me is increasing the ground clearance - too many steep speed bumps for my 18" wheel set up to handle without extreme caution every 10 mins on our B roads.

[Meonstoke]

"Thanks for clarifying and the calculations, appreciated. Looks like I did indeed misunderstand the numbers; guilty as charged.

I guess I'm back to the drawing board. Yes, greater road comfort is always nice but more important to me is increasing the ground clearance - too many steep speed bumps for my 18" wheel set up to handle without extreme caution every 10 mins on our B roads."

I guess another approach is to ask if someone with the standard 17" Fuchs wouldn't mind measuring what their front ground clearance is in centimetres; say from the middle of the front spoiler (underside) to the ground? Then we can compare with 18" wheel set-up's for (a) Serac/Legende/GP wheels; (b) for Fuch's on GT Model; and (c) GT Race / Fuch's on S Model with 215F / 235R tyre options.

Then, we'll all know what the actual ground clearance figures are for all 4 set-up's ? No more guessing or maths needed!

[Whaleblue]

I’d suggest that hand measures of ground clearance is going to be inaccurate. Roads aren’t all that perfectly flat!

Putting cars nose to nose and comparing might be more useful*, but clearly harder to achieve!

• *Ideally then switching them around to again check that road surface variations aren’t contributing.

Edited by Whaleblue on Wednesday 15th February 18:21

[leglessAlex]

Meonstoke said:

Thanks for clarifying and the calculations, appreciated. Looks like I did indeed misunderstand the numbers; guilty as charged.

I guess I'm back to the drawing board. Yes, greater road comfort is always nice but more important to me is increasing the ground clearance - too many steep speed bumps for my 18" wheel set up to handle without extreme caution every 10 mins on our B roads.

Not that I'm doubting you at all Meon, but where do you live?! I'm not sure I ever even thought about how low the car was as standard, even over speed bumps, and still rarely think about it now that it's lowered.

[bcr5784]

One of the significantly virtues of the A110 is that it has MORE ground clearance for getting over speed humps and poking its nose over high kerbs than its rivals. It's a match for most run of the mill hatchbacks (I have an Ibiza) - and superior to the contempory cars from Porsche or Lotus I have had. I've never met a road condition it couldn't handle - though I accept there may be others who encounter more extreme conditions than I do.

[Olivera]

bcr5784 said:

One of the significantly virtues of the A110 is that it has MORE ground clearance for getting over speed humps and poking its nose over high kerbs than its rivals.

If I'm honest I view that as a minus, as the base car visually sits too high for me, with the S and Life110 lower springs being a significant improvement. Raising it even further is going to make it look like it's on stilts.

[RikkertBiemans]

Please stop calling them fuchs wheels, it hurts my eyes. These are regular cast wheels, not forged and they are not even produced by Fuchs.

Also if you raise the A110 any more you will need to get a bus driver license 😜

[Meonstoke]

RikkertBiemans said:

Please stop calling them fuchs wheels, it hurts my eyes. These are regular cast wheels, not forged and they are not even produced by Fuchs.

Also if you raise the A110 any more you will need to get a bus driver license ??

Fair enough! I thought they were, but no worries. They certainly look like the 18" Fuchs at any rate, scaled down and smaller - and also lighter, even if they are cast and not forged.

I do believe there is a (A110) market for quality nice retro looking 17" alloys which give a balance of comfort and performance, and which can accommodate the bigger 320mm brakes. It's a gap which needs plugging I would suggest; certainly amongst those of us who remember the (g)olden days of sports cars. The A110 was afterall an Alpine restomod of their old classic, or not? At least originally, before they started playing the same game as Porsche...

[Simon Owen]

Meonstoke said:

Whaleblue said:

17” = 43.52cm
Sidewall of 205/45 = 9.225cm
43.52 + (2*9.225) = 61.97cm total diameter

18” = 46.08cm
Sidewall of 205/45 = 8.2cm
46.08 + (2*8.2) = 62.48cm total diameter

Slightly different numbers, but looks like 18” wheels with 40 section tyres have 0.51cm greater diameter, hence 0.2505cm (call that 2.5mm) more ground clearance than 17” with 45 sections.

All of which ignores the compression of the tyre on the road.

edit - of course ground clearance isn’t really the issue with regards ride comfort. It’s the additional “spring” in the taller sidewalls of the 17”, 205/45 combo that makes them the more comfortable option in this regard.

Edited by Whaleblue on Wednesday 15th February 12:11

Thanks for clarifying and the calculations, appreciated. Looks like I did indeed misunderstand the numbers; guilty as charged.

I guess I'm back to the drawing board. Yes, greater road comfort is always nice but more important to me is increasing the ground clearance - too many steep speed bumps for my 18" wheel set up to handle without extreme caution every 10 mins on our B roads.

Crikey the one thing the A110 has as standard is great ground clearance ? Never hit a speed bump yet and also blasted around very gnarly undulating Highland single track roads without the slightest 'kiss' of the blacktop. It's one of the joys of the car that you can drive very swiftly on UK B roads virtually without the slightest concern about grounding out. I cannot think of a scenario where I'd be considering raising it even more ?

[leglessAlex]

Meonstoke would like this, methinks:



(Sorry for the teasing Meonstoke, I'll stop now )

((Also to be fair I'd like that too, looks cool as hell))

[Whaleblue]

leglessAlex said:

Meonstoke would like this, methinks:



(Sorry for the teasing Meonstoke, I'll stop now )

((Also to be fair I'd like that too, looks cool as hell))

That does indeed look cool. Could be a slight engineering challenge to make it the 4x4 it would deserve to be!

[Meonstoke]

leglessAlex said:

Meonstoke would like this, methinks:



(Sorry for the teasing Meonstoke, I'll stop now )

((Also to be fair I'd like that too, looks cool as hell))

Now you're talking!!

[RikkertBiemans]

Meonstoke said:

I do believe there is a (A110) market for quality nice retro looking 17" alloys which give a balance of comfort and performance, and which can accommodate the bigger 320mm brakes. It's a gap which needs plugging I would suggest; certainly amongst those of us who remember the (g)olden days of sports cars. The A110 was afterall an Alpine restomod of their old classic, or not? At least originally, before they started playing the same game as Porsche...

I could see the retro wheels on the legende working much better in 17“. But other then that i guess most people who opt for a third party wheel want more bling or lightness.

Regarding the height: I wish my a110 was lower, but I really enjoy being able to take the ramps in the parking garage with full speed. In my (lowered) cayman i always had to brake and take them at a specific angle. But then again it looked so damn sexy…

[bcr5784]

RikkertBiemans said:

Regarding the height: I wish my a110 was lower, but I really enjoy being able to take the ramps in the parking garage with full speed. In my (lowered) cayman i always had to brake and take them at a specific angle. But then again it looked so damn sexy…

Each to his own - but I've never understood the desire to lower (for aesthetic reasons) or get fixated with wheelarch clearance' let alone big wheels with ultra low profile tyres. My all-time favourite looking car is the 246 Dino

https://www.bellsportandclassic.co.uk/wp-content/u...