Why no deep dish wheels any more?

[biggles330d]

I was looking at images of older sports cars and many had classic 'deep dish' wheels, where the wheel hub was much more central to the width of the wheel. It got me wondering if there was a technical reason why the central face of wheels are now much further out and the world haas gone mad on diamond cut / flat faced wheels. Is it suspension geometry, fashion or aerodynamics?

I have wandered what my A110 alpine would look like with a more classic dished wheel, but I assume the hub centres are too far out these days to make that possible without rims that stick out far wider.

Just curious.

[Louis Balfour]

biggles330d said:

I was looking at images of older sports cars and many had classic 'deep dish' wheels, where the wheel hub was much more central to the width of the wheel. It got me wondering if there was a technical reason why the central face of wheels are now much further out and the world haas gone mad on diamond cut / flat faced wheels. Is it suspension geometry, fashion or aerodynamics?

I have wandered what my A110 alpine would look like with a more classic dished wheel, but I assume the hub centres are too far out these days to make that possible without rims that stick out far wider.

Just curious.

This sort of thing, you mean?


My guess is fashion and aero, in that order.

Dished wheels looked altogether more exciting than the modern crop of kerb-unfriendly "flat" models.

[PositronicRay]

Love deep dish. TR6 had it right.

[Funk]

I would suspect packaging convenience more than anything else. Non-dished rims allow the hub and brakes to be pushed out further from the centre of the car, freeing up more inboard space that would otherwise be lost - especially as discs and calipers have increased in size over the years. It's also possible aero plays a role too.

[randomeddy]

PositronicRay said:

Love deep dish. TR6 had it right.

Loving that.

[Red9zero]

Louis Balfour said:

This sort of thing, you mean?


My guess is fashion and aero, in that order.

Dished wheels looked altogether more exciting than the modern crop of kerb-unfriendly "flat" models.

That is absolutely gorgeous. Yours ?

[Louis Balfour]

Red9zero said:

Louis Balfour said:

This sort of thing, you mean?


My guess is fashion and aero, in that order.

Dished wheels looked altogether more exciting than the modern crop of kerb-unfriendly "flat" models.

That is absolutely gorgeous. Yours ?

No, Google image.

I have a fondness for 70s and 80s Porsches with dished wheels though. I remember seeing a Turbo bodied 911, 1978 vintage, in abour 1983. I was driving some crappy British car and the Porsche looked like a spaceship in comparison.

[DodgyGeezer]

love deep-dish alloys - something about them looks 'right'

[Louis Balfour]

DodgyGeezer said:

love deep-dish alloys - something about them looks 'right'

Those aren't what I would call deep dish alloys.

[Funk]

Louis Balfour said:

Those aren't what I would call deep dish alloys.

Indeed. They are not.

[E-bmw]

Correct, deep dish alloys have the spokes set deep in the wheel, hence the name.

[PhillipM]

Packaging space. You're using all that for big beefy uprights, brakes and decent geometery with the power and weight of todays vehicles.

[mmm-five]

Two of mine with nicely dished rears...

[DodgyGeezer]

E-bmw said:

Correct, deep dish alloys have the spokes set deep in the wheel, hence the name.

ahhh - I was conflating deep-dish with concave

[HealeyV8]

Yeah they do look right on classic cars.

[Pitre]

I'm guessing the wind tunnel is the perpetrator of the disappearance of deep dish wheels. Shame.

[InitialDave]

I may have misunderstood the question.

[arfur]

InitialDave said:

I may have misunderstood the question.

That deserves a lol !

[E-bmw]

arfur said:

InitialDave said:

I may have misunderstood the question.

That deserves a lol !

Nah, that is definitely thin & crispy, just a bit under done.

[budgie smuggler]

InitialDave said:

I may have misunderstood the question.