Cerbera and Spiders — argh — umpteenth time
Discussion
Simple story how to shoot yourself in the foot…comprehensively..
Bought a set of spiders - refurbished by a very reputable company. Driven three times round Essex - 2 are buckled now as I just found out as have been chasing an annoying vibration since fitted… difficult one to say whether they were bad to start with or I did it. Went to local place to have all 4 balanced and that’s how I found out. Wasn’t too bad but could clearly be seen on he machine.Can’t honestly at all recall having hit anything like a pothole at all (minor miracle in Essex) — only 3 times up and down a12 and a14. Surely they can’t be THAT soft that you end up buckling them in normal road use ? What to do ? Assume they can hopefully be bend back gently since many refurbishers can do that ? Alternatively buy something more decent I suppose. Been looking at Enkei PF 7 which can be had in 8 width for the front and 8.5 width for the rear- as 18 s. 8 width for 225 will look better as tyre not so stretched. New set just under 2 k though - gulp. Their ET is 45 so just 3 mm more then the 42 on the spiders - should work with the suspension I think. Does anyone have experience with them by any chance ? As ever thanks for anyone’s help. So annoyed with myself as went from perfectly good but now sold rl7s, albeit with Falkens on them, to not so good buckled spiders with fantastic new Dunlop’s on them and the car now being an expensive paperweight.
Bought a set of spiders - refurbished by a very reputable company. Driven three times round Essex - 2 are buckled now as I just found out as have been chasing an annoying vibration since fitted… difficult one to say whether they were bad to start with or I did it. Went to local place to have all 4 balanced and that’s how I found out. Wasn’t too bad but could clearly be seen on he machine.Can’t honestly at all recall having hit anything like a pothole at all (minor miracle in Essex) — only 3 times up and down a12 and a14. Surely they can’t be THAT soft that you end up buckling them in normal road use ? What to do ? Assume they can hopefully be bend back gently since many refurbishers can do that ? Alternatively buy something more decent I suppose. Been looking at Enkei PF 7 which can be had in 8 width for the front and 8.5 width for the rear- as 18 s. 8 width for 225 will look better as tyre not so stretched. New set just under 2 k though - gulp. Their ET is 45 so just 3 mm more then the 42 on the spiders - should work with the suspension I think. Does anyone have experience with them by any chance ? As ever thanks for anyone’s help. So annoyed with myself as went from perfectly good but now sold rl7s, albeit with Falkens on them, to not so good buckled spiders with fantastic new Dunlop’s on them and the car now being an expensive paperweight.
The TVR spiders are one of my favourite wheel designs.
I recently took them off to clean them thoroughly inside and out, and prior to reinstalling, managed to drop one. Of course, it was face-down and landed on a metal threshold in a doorway. It’s pretty buggered. The other three look wonderful of course…
I recently took them off to clean them thoroughly inside and out, and prior to reinstalling, managed to drop one. Of course, it was face-down and landed on a metal threshold in a doorway. It’s pretty buggered. The other three look wonderful of course…
Regarding the front offset, I would try to go a bit lower than the standard 42, especially if you are going for 8" wide. The fronts are already quite set in with ET42. With ET45 8", the outside face of the wheel will be about 9mm even further in. Try to get ET35 or maybe a bit lower. Another reason is that you will be able to remove the lock stop nylon washers from the rack to give you a slightly better turning circle.
FarmyardPants said:
Regarding the front offset, I would try to go a bit lower than the standard 42, especially if you are going for 8" wide. The fronts are already quite set in with ET42. With ET45 8", the outside face of the wheel will be about 9mm even further in. Try to get ET35 or maybe a bit lower. Another reason is that you will be able to remove the lock stop nylon washers from the rack to give you a slightly better turning circle.
This is also correct.. I am running ET36 all round the same as SP12's..
They're the pinnacle of garage queen wheels. Look nice. Utterly, utterly sh**e in all respects functionally. You really need to weigh cosmetics far above all other aspects of sports car ownership to choose Spiders over any other wheel Cerberas came with because even unbuckled they make the car objectively worse to drive.
Bin them and get something better. If you enjoy driving the car rather than just gawking at it, get something an inch smaller in diameter too.
Bin them and get something better. If you enjoy driving the car rather than just gawking at it, get something an inch smaller in diameter too.
Fair enough - my rationale for them was the fact that I can get premium top tyres for them since in 17 you could only get fareast stuff and nothing good. I shod them with Dunlop sport max rt2 and find them excellent in all aspects - Def better than the falcons I had before on the 17s...Have always been of the opinion that tyres are one of the most important things to get right. Well they are being straightened as write and then once back on we revisit the issue in due course.
Ulrich said:
Fair enough - my rationale for them was the fact that I can get premium top tyres for them since in 17 you could only get fareast stuff and nothing good. I shod them with Dunlop sport max rt2 and find them excellent in all aspects - Def better than the falcons I had before on the 17s...Have always been of the opinion that tyres are one of the most important things to get right. Well they are being straightened as write and then once back on we revisit the issue in due course.
The tyres in the above pic are pilot sport 4s (225x45 17)..TheRainMaker said:
jamieduff1981 said:
They're the pinnacle of garage queen wheels. Look nice.
Apart from when on mine, which did over 70000 miles on them.Garage queen it was not.
The exception doesn't disprove the rule.. Also the argument definitely still stands about how they are massively inferior to drive on Spiders.. And this is due to physics not opinion.
Jhonno said:
Also the argument definitely still stands about how they are massively inferior to drive on Spiders.. And this is due to physics not opinion.
Never really found them to be a problem.
Maybe I'm not a driving god, there were always more important things to spend money on than the wheels.
Most alloys are built from your regular alloy that will do just fine until, well, they don't. I have experienced this with my car and cannot afford the, rather averagely made, OEM wheels as they are over priced and will fail again so I decided to look further afield to the companies that make racing wheels. I went with Compomotive initially but they are heavy, probably rally orientated, now I have the new flow formed Revolution wheel.
I got them made as soon as they were available as they could make them in the correct sizes front and back and could manage the unusual offsets and bolt patterns for my car.
I gave them all the details, direct from the parts manual and I also sent them a front and rear wheel to be sure they were perfect. Worth noting I don't have marginal tolerances with calipers etc, there's loads of room so I wasn't too worried but it was suggested to be on the safe side.
The chap I dealt with at Revolution was very helpful.
I also didn't pay anywhere near £2k for them which is daylight robbery if you ask me.
I got them made as soon as they were available as they could make them in the correct sizes front and back and could manage the unusual offsets and bolt patterns for my car.
I gave them all the details, direct from the parts manual and I also sent them a front and rear wheel to be sure they were perfect. Worth noting I don't have marginal tolerances with calipers etc, there's loads of room so I wasn't too worried but it was suggested to be on the safe side.
The chap I dealt with at Revolution was very helpful.
I also didn't pay anywhere near £2k for them which is daylight robbery if you ask me.
Edited by Oilchange on Sunday 12th September 15:26
TheRainMaker said:
Jhonno said:
Also the argument definitely still stands about how they are massively inferior to drive on Spiders.. And this is due to physics not opinion.
Never really found them to be a problem.Maybe I'm not a driving god, there were always more important things to spend money on than the wheels.
It's not even about being a driving god, a decent set of wheels ride a hell of a lot better.
Jhonno said:
TheRainMaker said:
Jhonno said:
Also the argument definitely still stands about how they are massively inferior to drive on Spiders.. And this is due to physics not opinion.
Never really found them to be a problem.Maybe I'm not a driving god, there were always more important things to spend money on than the wheels.
It's not even about being a driving god, a decent set of wheels ride a hell of a lot better.
Jhonno, I think I recall you saying that the optimum IYO was 17" (presumably anything 18" and over takes the profiles too low?) but will they also become effectively obsolete soon given the trend on new cars for larger wheels and stiffer sidewall tyres. How I wish that (16") tyres were made specifically for lightweight sports cars like ours ...and incidentally, Lotus... what are they using?
I come from an age where everything was 13" and it was only a question of the subsequent 'J' number!
so I would really appreciate someone posting the definitive sizes incl offsets for front and rear wheels and tyres... not for looks alone but what actually works to make it drive right, as you say above. Perhaps add it to the Wiki, as I'm sure it would help others too.
Cheers.
Rik
Gassing Station | Cerbera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff