Wheels for the Spider

[Kentish]

Taken from another thread becasue I don't want to go off topic!

euroboy said:

Because they look nice:






Still cant believe this is a 10yr old design, put some new wheels on it today and I think it really freshens it up - long live Alfa!

Nice wheels, what style and make are they?

I have a set of these 18" alloys but not sure they'll suit the Spider (I didn't buy them for the car) but they are BRAND NEW (still in the boxes) and have never been fitted on any car as yet. I think they are a bit too chunky looking for a GTV Spider??

They'd probably suit some other models and are for sale for less than half the price they cost me (£200).

But then again, maybe they will suit it; what do you guys think?

Edited by Kentish on Tuesday 13th March 15:21

Edited by Kentish on Thursday 29th March 13:26

[stuartalfa]

Multi spoke wheels look best on a Spider for me, very cool
Stu

[pdV6]

Not sure I like either of those styles on the Spider

Do your spare wheels even fit? 916 GTV/Spider hubs are 98mm PCD x 5 bolt as opposed to the more common 100mm

Zender Siennas look the business on the Spider, as do Alfa's teledials.

[Kentish]

I have seen some alfa teledials (same as ones you posted a pic of), very nice and the dealer will take my set of new alloys off me for £200 in p/x. Trouble is they are in Scotland so in effect I'll only get £140 for a £500 set of alloys by the time I pay for carriage. Uhhmm maybe not a great deal!

[Kentish]

What width of 17" tyre are you running Alex?

I checked and I should replace my 205/50x16 with 215/35x18 or 205/40x18 - do you think I'll have clearance issues with either of those?

[richb]

euroboy said:

However Zender no longer make them in the 18"

Is that a fact? Wow, I have a couple of spare 18" Zenders in my garage which were dinged on a pot-hole and teh council paid for replacements. I think I'll hang on to them now, was considering chucking them away!

[Kentish]

Thanks Alex, I'll plump for some 215/35x18 to be on the safe side. I may not leave them on the car and go back to standard but I'd like to try them and see.

They probably fit my next main daily driver anyway (VAG fit as well).

[correlejco]

Euroboy - what the hell are wobble bolts?

If this is a serious suggestion (forgive me if it's a joke I haven't understood) then you seem to be saying that special bolts can allow a 100mm PCD rim to fit onto a 98mm PCD hub.

I don't think so. Not safely, anyway. Unless it's a mod approved by Alfa or the wheel manufacturer (approval by a bolt-on goody wheel shop isn't worth a ball of chalk), don't touch it. When you're leaning round a long bend at 70+, a front wheel disintegrating just won't make your day. And if you live to make the claim, your insurance company will be laughing all the way to the police station. Both police and insurance look very carefully at non-standard wheels after an accident.

You may be able to find bolts that will go through both items and look OK, but they won't be.

[Kentish]

That's a bit dramatic!

All collar bolts (apparently also known as wobble bolts) do is allow the wheel to centre properly on the hubs which is how a wheel should be centred and not by the bolts. The bolts are in no way weaker than any other wheel fixing bolt.

[richb]

Kentish said:

That's a bit dramatic!

All collar bolts (apparently also known as wobble bolts) do is allow the wheel to centre properly on the hubs which is how a wheel should be centred and not by the bolts. The bolts are in no way weaker than any other wheel fixing bolt.

Oh is that what they are called? I have them on my 18" Zender Sienna alloys but not to compensate for an incorrect PCD. I assumed the "washer" or collar was simply to protect the alloy from getting badly scratched as the bolt gets tightened up!

[Kentish]

So, I decided to sell the 18" rims I had to a chap with a new VW Bug (should look really nice on that).

I must agree those Zender wheels look great but I think my standard 16" rims have really grown on me :-

[Kentish]

euroboy said:

Kentish said:

So, I decided to sell the 18" rims I had to a chap with a new VW Bug (should look really nice on that).

I must agree those Zender wheels look great but I think my standard 16" rims have really grown on me :-

I also like the originals, Alfa did a pretty good job!! I Have kept mine as a set of winter rims. My only complaints with them is that they are not big enough and that they also sit quite far inside the arch, a new wider set of alloys give a much more purposeful stance.

Yes, I agree that the offset isn't small enough with the Alfa wheels especially on the rear. I think the front is fine but I may widen the track on the rear a little, see how it feels and if it's not as good to drive I'll remove them again and they are pretty cheap so not much of a loss.

I've decided that if I do go for a set of wheels they'll probably be 17" so as not to spoil the ride too much and they'll have to be a set of Alfa wheels or replicas, I want to keep it nice and original looking.

[Kentish]

Found these 17" Zender Sienna to fit the 147 on Gazella site for £499, they are the same fit as GTV aren't they?

http://gazzella.cc/cart.php?target=pr

Edited by Kentish on Monday 26th March 11:39

[richb]

Suggest you talk to Lars at Gazzella, he's a really helpful guy and will advise you if they will fit. For what it's worth I think they will; you need a 6mm spacer for the V6 (like I have) but on the 2.0 like yours I think you should be fine, but as I say, please check with Lars. p.s. drop the letters GTV from you profile, it's a Spider, plain and simply not a GTV Spider Rich...

[Duke Thrust]

I'm looking for a set of 17's for my GTV, if any one has a set for sale please let know, I like the teledials a lot, but those zenders look great!

Cheers

[Kentish]

Duke Thrust said:

I'm looking for a set of 17's for my GTV, if any one has a set for sale please let know, I like the teledials a lot, but those zenders look great!

Cheers

See last two posts

Pick up phone and call Gazella

[Duke Thrust]

Kentish said:

Duke Thrust said:

I'm looking for a set of 17's for my GTV, if any one has a set for sale please let know, I like the teledials a lot, but those zenders look great!

Cheers

See last two posts

Pick up phone and call Gazella

Those Zenders look nice, better value than the £185 + VAT (each) the dealer wants for the teledials....

[Duke Thrust]

pdV6 said:

Not sure I like either of those styles on the Spider

Do your spare wheels even fit? 916 GTV/Spider hubs are 98mm PCD x 5 bolt as opposed to the more common 100mm

Zender Siennas look the business on the Spider, as do Alfa's teledials.

Are those Siennas 17's?

[Kentish]

I can't justify changing mine for the Sienna rims, they are too similar!

I do also like the teledials, a work colleague has them on his phase 2 53 plate GTV V6.

I think I'll stick to my standard 16" Lusso spec wheels though but I may fit a pair of rear spacers since I feel the offset isn't small enough and they sit too far inside the arches. Fronts look fine though.

[richb]

I think the question was to find out of the Sienna's are 17" or 18"?

I fitted the 18" Siennas to my wife's 3.0 Spider and they certainly do make a difference, visually on 18's the car has a much more agressive stance which makes it look like it goes!