16"s on the front?

[grand-one]

Have recently seen a newish chimeara with what appeared to be 16" rims on the front? Anyone know if its possible to upgrade older cars to 16" fronts, ie would you use rear rims on the front, and if so with what size tyres? IMO it brings the car up to date appearance wise.

[M@H]

I think the Newer Chim 500 has 16" on the front.. you can put 16"s onto earlier ones, however I suspect you can over-tyre the front quite easily especially if you don't have PAS.. something like a 225/45/16 would be a maximum for non PAS I reckon. (Doubtless shpub will correct me shortly )

Cheers,
Matt

[GreenV8S]

M@H said:

I think the Newer Chim 500 has 16" on the front.. you can put 16"s onto earlier ones, however I suspect you can over-tyre the front quite easily especially if you don't have PAS.. something like a 225/45/16 would be a maximum for non PAS I reckon. (Doubtless shpub will correct me shortly ) Cheers, Matt

I run 225/45/16 all round (V8S not Chim) without any handling/steering problems. IMO it's the optimum tyre width for those rims.

[jellison]

Chim 500's only came as the std Griff 500 with 15 and 16's but can have the 16's on the front - look better - but a wider (cos they are backs just fitted to the front) and heavy, so give less turning circle, sizes from the griff 100's 225 x something. Will more than like effect handling.

[K3NJW]

I had 17" wheels all round on my 4.0 Chimaera, the tyres were just dimensioned to come up with the same circumference. Mixed with the Nitron suspension it handled almost as well as my Tamora did ... and I think it looked better than the original wheels. There's a picture on my profile.

[budd]

The 16s are a straight swap for the 15s,however they are like hens teeth to get hold of,I have two friends with SE Griffs(the last 100 Griffs were SE's)and the factory can't (or won't)supply replacement front wheels for this model even to these owners.Does this this mean if a front rim gets bent/damaged all the wheels most be replaced with after market non std rims?

[ribol]

I went the 16" front and rear route on my 400 Chim - Griff ones (straight swop). You have to fit rack stops on the front and as a result you get the turning circle of a 747 but I can live with that. Tyre sizes that work are:

Front 225/45ZR16
Rear 225/50ZR16 or 245/45ZR16

Have the larger rear tyre on mine and feel the ride quality has suffered as a result, when they die will try going back to smaller size.

Ivan

[flygirl]

you'd be suprised how good the turning circle is on a 747.....mind you a three point turn can be a bugger as they don't like you selecting reverse gear. No wing mirrors you see.....I'll get me coat!

[ribol]

flygirl said:

.....I'll get me coat!

Blimey, I've pulled

Ivan