The 'E' Type Forum

I'm looking for wheels for my s1 1967 2+2,but I've heard some "horror" stories... I want as wide wheels as possible. I think 16*7 could work? But I've heard they may hit the inner side of the body, I need to remove the bump stop (no biggy), but do anyone know how much rubber I can have? Also heard that some bigger wheel my not come of if you need to change after a puncture at the side of the road, because you'll need to remove the damper... And the ET on the rim, should I change it for better clearances or to fill in the wheelwel better ?... Anyway, have looked at some wheels at borrani with huge lip, kinda like the eagle's have at the rear, anyone who know if those actually fits an original car?

https://www.borrani.com/jaguar-wheels/e-type.html

The standard wheels and tyres suit the E-Type perfectly. If you want or need anything else then your driving ability or ego is at fault, not the car.

The Boranni link depicts a wheel with a large lip, and the description says it's a 5x16. So the offset would have to be ridiculous. In any case a 5" wheel would not accommodate a wide tire.

I'm using Dayton 6x15" hub laced wheels. The offset is slightly greater than for the standard bead laced wheel. That plus the extra rim width provides a noticeable lip. A 205/70 tire on this wheel fits on the rear with very close clearances. A 215/65 tire on this wheel contacts the rear inner fender at large suspension deflection. A 215/65 will definitely work with a Dayton 6" bead laced wheel. I suspect a 225/60 tire will also work at the rear with a standard offset bead laced wheel (no lip). The tires on my car are 205/70 on the rear and 205/65 on the front....very similar diameters to what the factory offered for competition back in the day, but much wider and spaced farther outboard. Steering effort is very heavy when parking (small diameter steering wheel), but go cart or Lotus Elan like at speed. Front grip is remarkable. The tires still look narrow from a rear-on view, but the trolley car look is less apparent. (Click on the photo for enlargement)

I'm with David. Mine is on standard tyres and is fine. I guess jaguar specified the tyres for sound engine reasons and not how they look....

About the widest wires you'll fit at the rear are MWS 15x 6.5, which will fit a 205/50/15 tyre comfortably, and maybe a 215.
I have no experience with the Boranni wheels except to note that one of them costs the same as a full set of 4 MWS wheels.
If you want to (relatively cheaply) experiment you can get Minilite aluminium wheels of any diameter or offset fitted to splined hubs for a little less than the MWS or Drayon wires.
The wider your front tyres, the heavier the steering. To the point where 205/65's are unpleasant for parking or in first gear. Similarly, the rear wheel arch is narrow and there's little room in there for anything wider than a 205.
Let us know what you find.

Hello Thim,

I have stainless 6.5 inch MWS XW5721s with Michelin XWX 205/70 15s and the rear bump stops removed.



I have a 15 inch steering wheel too- which I raises an inch, by removing the column spacers.

I dont find the steering heavy, even at parking. I do have new steering , new suspension and correctly inflated tyres.

The MWS XW 5721 wheel is the center laced one with the rim (like 50EE) and an offet that pushes the wheels out into the corners a bit.

Most wire wheels are bead laced.

They are not cheap!, a set of 4 with VAT will be around £2,200.

Here I am twiddling the steering wheel.



James

First og all I would like to thank you all for some great answers. I'm new here, and this is my 7 year into the restoraton of my e-type. I started when i was 15, and really wish I had registered myself here before... would have saved alot of time..

Anyway, I have red all the topics on wheels now, I think, and the conclution must be as your are saying. the 185x70 tire is probably best for the driving abillities of the E. But for me I dislike the pizzaslicer looks, and are building for apperance and performance. Performance that fits me ofcourse. So I think I may try at least the 205 tires, and go for a 16x6 wheel. The problems of heavy steering I think can be fixed by adjusting caster and camber for lighter steering, but I'm aweare that I should not go to crazy on them as negative camber is better "corner handling" and to much posetiv caster gives much roadresponse to the wheel. (correct me if I'm wrong).
Would be great if I could get some pics of Heuer's and James's Etypes from the front/back to see this angle :)
-The least thing I want is that the car catches the road and steers randomly around... This has happen on my precious volvo which has some very wide wheels, but I have not correctet this yet by adjusting the steering the geometry. I also "know" that this effect may come by having modern tires that are more square in shape than the original more rounded shape. (again correct if wrong) :)

A 16" wheel really opens up the selection of modern profile performance oriented tires. Speed rated tires in the 15" size are becoming difficult to find in sizes that work with the E-type. The diameter of a 225/60 16 is 26.6", which is very close to the 185 diameter (minimizes speedometer error). And I suspect you could get them to fit on the rear with the proper wheel offset. That size would likely rub at the front, but you could use a 205/70 on that end. In any case, if you want a "lip" on the wheel, you will be likely limited to a 205 tire profile.

Had 15 x 6,5 front and 15 x 7" in the rear with 205 wide.
No issues other than the rear bump stop.
Doesnt have to take of the rear shocks to take them off either

Incidentally those Borrani's you linked to are stock images and for the Ferrari 250 GTO. Those for the E-Type look very similar to the stock items i.e. no huge lip.


Best combination for looks and road holding are Dunlop SP Sports 185VR15 on 15" x 5.5" wheels. They fill the arches and look wide from the front/rear compared to other 185's.

This is a car fitted with 16" x 7" Dayton wire wheels




Bear in mind the wings have all been modified to accommodate the 7" width. You could get away with 16x6 or 16x6.5 though.

Having noted in a post above that 16" diameter provides a greater selection of performance tires, I must say that I don't care for the appearance of the larger wheel when installed on the car (photos in previous post). I believe the vintage look is compromised when the sidewall height of the tire is reduced. The offset Borrani wheel on the 250 GTO is classic 60's performance to my eye. It's the one area where Jaguar got it wrong on the "E".

The 250GT used 15" x 5.5" wheels and was fitted with 185VR15 Pirelli Cinturato tyres. The 275GTB used 14" wheels and was fitted 205 R14 Dunlop SP Sport tyres.

The 250GTO was a race car and used 215/70 R15 98W on the front and 225/70 R15 100W at the back with 15" x 6" wheels at the front and 15" x 7" wheels at the rear.

So all a bit of an optical illusion caused by the offset.

Hi,

What was the standard rim size ? 15 x 5“ ?

I am still not sure what I should do. On mine there is no terrible rust, I guess they could be overhauled.

I could remove the tyre locally, maybe cut out any spokes minus 5 to leave the hub there, and send a pair of them to England to have them re - worked ?

Or buy MWS or Dayton, of both of which I read horror stories in another thread ?

Carsten

Standard was 15" x 5" although 15" x 5.5" were offered for competition use on the rear only.

So, would you recommend a mix of 15x5.5 on the rear and 15x5 on the front ?

I have two cars with extreme differences front - rear: The Centaur is 14 inch rear and 10 inch front (YES), and the Smart is I think the same 15" but variies in width (175 to 145 rear to front)

Carsten

... I have just found Mr. Hallewell´s Website, and written a mail- maybe he could re-furbish my old wheels ?

New ones in chromed are around 400 Euros each, stainless about 500. Mr. Hallewell seems to advertize them on his website for 325 /chrome and 375 / Stainless?, in UK pounds.

Now if I only had an idea about Brexit....(pardon me for that!)

Carsten

"Or buy MWS or Dayton, of both of which I read horror stories in another thread ?"

I can only speak from personal experience, Carsten, but I've been running tubeless Dayton "6X15's for about 4 years and have absolutely NO problems. They hold air as well as modern wheels do and there is no vibration at any speed. I think the only problem is that you have to find a shop to mount them that knows how to properly mount and balance them. I was fortunate enough to find such a shop just a few miles from me and when I replace my worn tires this spring, I will again have them do the job.

when considering wire wheels I can recommend the Turino polished alloy option(s)

Mark Gordon wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 14, 2019 12:57 am

"Or buy MWS or Dayton, of both of which I read horror stories in another thread ?"

I can only speak from personal experience, Carsten, but I've been running tubeless Dayton "6X15's for about 4 years and have absolutely NO problems. They hold air as well as modern wheels do and there is no vibration at any speed. I think the only problem is that you have to find a shop to mount them that knows how to properly mount and balance them. I was fortunate enough to find such a shop just a few miles from me and when I replace my worn tires this spring, I will again have them do the job.

No horror stories here for Daytons. Two years with no issues on 6x15 center laced. Stainless spokes on chromed rim. By the way, I selected the Dayton center laced over other manufacturers because I preferred the appearance of their offset rim design...slightly cleaner and more pronounced "lip". Before the Photo Bucket losses there were some excellent comparative photos of wheels from all the manufacturers in an old string. I did have to trim about 1/4" off the wheel arch at the 10 o'clock position to address clearance at extreme suspension compression. Virtually Impossible to detect. Depends on the tire...probably not required for a 185.

Thread's are still here Eric!

There is a full (and forthright!) thread on various wire wheels here:
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?t=196

Ditto the subject of wide wheels here:
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?t=152

Ditto the subject of painted or chromed:
http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?t=1419