Wheel/tire selection, help needed

[No Quarter]

From many angles the E-Type S1 is the prettiest car in the world IMO. However, the wheels are too far in for my taste, so considering going non-OEM here.

I have the probably original wheels. They are painted and a little rusty, could probably be saved, painted or chromed. Curly hub. Tires are almost 4 different and disintegrating. The cheap option and most OEM is get those wheels done, and buy the Michelin ZXZ(?).

The alternative is to get what I like. The picture below, don't know the car, don't know the brand or size of wheels, just love the look



Xmas coming nearer, here's my wishlist, some may be mutually exclusive:
-look like picture
-widest possible track
-widest possible tire (to a degree)
-absolutely no rubbing (modifications are ok, maybe, need a list to decide)
-well handling radials
-a little harder steering is acceptable
-curly hub
-chrome
-spinners with ears
-white stripe, approx 2cm wide max (picture below)
-cheap ( )
-bought as a package
-preferably EU vendor, alternatively UK (damn Brexit )

Experience from people that have gone the non-OEM way? Happy? Drive well? Rubbing?

[Gfhug]

Mikael, there are many opinions about tyre choice. What you’ll find is if you can work out a way to try different tyres/wheels on a car then you’ll get your own opinion not those of others. A friend tried my standard 15 inch wheels with the wider 205/70 tyres and we both felt the standard 185/15 tyres were much nicer and in keeping with the age of the car.
Try a search for “offset” and you will find comments about wider wheels and offsetting to not rub on the wings of the car.
Some find that if they are planning on having power steering then the wider tyres can work ok without any tendency to “tramline” or become too heavy steering.

Geoff

[bitsobrits]

I run the U.K. made MWS 6.5" wide center lace wheels. I've run 215/65-15 Coker RedLine tires without rubbing issues, and now run 205/70-15 Michelin XWX because they just look more period correct to me. I did turn around the rear bump rubbers above the axle housing as a precaution, but not sure that was needed. Steering effort goes up some, but really only an issue if the car is moving at walking speed.

It's your car, do what you want.

[No Quarter]

Steve beautiful car and wheels. What tires are on, in that picture? Any closer pictures?

[bitsobrits]

Mikael,

Those are the 215/65 Redline tires from Coker tires. A BF Goodridge design, I think. Good looking, but tended to squeal easily on low speed turns. Late last year I fitted the Michelins now on the car. I don't seem to have any close up photos of the wheels, per se, but here is another view that perhaps shows better how the wheels/tires fill the arches.

[mtnjag]

Running 15x6 Daytons with HD spokes and nipples I bought 25 years go.
Last year I bought 5 205/70 Pirelli CN12s from Longstone.
They are quiet, steering and handling are great, and IMO they look perfect.
Put one in the boot on an original wheel and the floor boards fit-tight but fit.

[Series1 Stu]

I have MWS XW474 6x15" Aston Martin DB6 Mk2 wheels on my Series 1 FHC. These are technically incorrect for my car because they have flat hubs but I have vented discs & 4 pot calipers on mine and curly hubs foul the calipers.

They are fitted with 215x65 tyres and fill the arches nicely while still being easy to get on and off the hubs. There is no need to deflate them.

I have a 5x15" standard wheel fitted with a 185x15 Michelin XVS as a spare because the wider wheels won't fit in the spare wheel well.

If you want curly hub wheels then you could use the MWS XW5745 6x15" wheels, which have a very similar inset and back spacing to the XW474.

I must say, though, that I am being swayed by the arguments on this forum in favour of standard size wheels and tyres.

Regards

[No Quarter]

Thanks for input. Decision is still WIP for me, also I'm visiting E-Type owners here in DK, but they often don't know brand or part#. Also made a spreadsheet on all curlyhub models MWS have for mine, to calculate how wide each model is, in and out, vs original. I don't need wheels before spring time, so have time, and get more knowledge all the time.

My thinking right now: I'll of course keep the orig wheels, so a buyer one day can go back. And frankly I don't mind the orig are narrow, but I do prefer wheels to sit further out. Not for track times, only for look.

If I end with MWS, there are three 6.0 and one 6.5 option. This weekend I looked at an E with 6.5 and 225 tires. Maybe. Maybe a bit too much. If I stick with 6.0 and 205, maybe a bit more harmonic look...

If my Excel math is right, look at the yellow areas, the first two 6.0 are very similar, but the XW5958 is further out. That may be what I like, but again, don't want rubbing. Not decided yet

(is there a reader here that has XW5745, XW5778 or XW5958???)

[mgcjag]

Hi Mikael......note that you cant determine a tyre position in the wheel arch or if the spokes will clear the calipers just by the inset/backspace.....you need to know the actual center hub dimensions of the partucular wheel........the inset/backspace dimensions are taken from the rear face of the wheel center.....however the distance of this rear face to the taper where the wheel center actually mates to the car splined hub can vary.....look at my post 8 in this thread for more detail and wheel center differences.....note the photo below is just to show taper to rear face of wheel center....ignore the catual wheel codes Steve viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20264&p=164594#p164594

[No Quarter]

Steve, you're right, yes that matters. The more I learn about wire wheels, the more complex. My OEMs are the curly hub, so I would have the 12mm, right?

MWS tells me their XW455 is per Dunlop specifications, so should be like mine. I just measured the Back spacing incorrectly between rim edge and where tapered ends, to 110mm. With the 12mm deducted that your drawing shows, that's 98mm, and MWS quotes 97mm ("+/- 3mm"), so now I have a starting point. I should now be able to trust MWS inset/backspacing data on their curly hubs for my car, right?

A quick look at the current wheels on my car, I see:
-the limiting factor is the rear wheel, right? It seems tighter in the back than in the front? Anybody had wheels that rubbed front but not rear?
-if assuming rear is the limiting factor, I have with my FR78 15, about 50-55mm out to rear fender lip (not rolled) and about 0-1mm inside to bump stop

So any of the MSW wheels with 205 would fit would be my guess... They all go less in, and they all go 34mm out (with the tires in my spreadsheet.

[Gfhug]

Mikael, be aware that fitting 205 tyres to the rear wheels may need the bump stop brackets grinding off as the tyres can scrape on them.

Geoff

[max-it-out]

Or you can reverse the bump stops which gives a few extra mm clearance .

[politeperson]

I just checked the price of MWS 5721 and 5738s. These are the ones that push the wheels into the corners a bit to give it wider shoulders.

They come as flat hubs (MWS5721) or curly hubs (MWS 5738) and are centre laced with 6.5in wide rims and 97mm backspacing.

The last stainless set I purchased was @£443 each + VAT. They are now £850 + VAT each!

The chrome version is now about half the price @£442+VAT. I dont want chrome, so they are painting them silver for me for a bit extra, a bit like the car below.

[Gfhug]

Or you can reverse the bump stops which gives a few extra mm clearance .

205/70/15 on standard wheels scraped against the bracket with no bumps stops fitted. The bracket itself needed to be ground off.

Geoff

[mtnjag]

With the bump stops removed and bracket ground back what do you use for bump stops?
Are there inserts for the shocks?

[No Quarter]

I'm now mostly considering XW5745, XW5778 or XW5958 (6"). But also considering 6.5". And a club member has an Eagle with 6.5" (and 225/60), and I had a chance to look at his car from all angles. I like how the rear wheels fit, I can get a finger in between tire and fender lip (rolled), and there looks to be plenty space on the inside, but that has been accomplished by griding off bump stop entirely. I asked him to find the part# via Eagle, and it's XW5721C/3-TL.

But...it's not a curly hub wheel. And mgcjag just taught me that backspace and inset isn't measured on the actual area that attaches to the hub, but further in on the hub. So unless I misunderstood, two wheels with same nominal size and back spacing/inset, will sit differently depending on type of hub?

Here's what I (also) don't understand. The MSW 6.5" curly hub (XW5738) is stated to have Inset/Backspacing of 2/97.5. But the Eagle wheel with flat hubs, the XW5721, is also stated as having 2/97.5. I would have assumed that the different hub would have an impact on these numbers. Unless of course MWS makes these wheels so they are exactly like curly hub, just without the curly hub. ( )

??
Writing this confused me a bit more...

[mgcjag]

Hi Mikael..
Don't assume...you have the inset/backspace dimensions....but you also need the wheel center/hub dimensions.....mws can supply this if you contact them.. Steve

[No Quarter]

I've now ordered MWS XW5738C/3-TL. They're 6.5", so width according to google must be max 215, ideal is 195-205, but a local guy has 225, doesn't look too crazy. I think I prefer 215 though if possible...

Any recommendations on brand? Here's what I'm looking for:
-215 +/-
-OEM look
-OEM diameter
-Good modern handling
-A white stripe! ½"-1", not a whitewall US type

Pictures very welcome

[bitsobrits]

I run the MWS 6.5" wheels with Michelin XWX 205/70-15", with no clearance issues at all. Rear bump rubbers have been reversed, but not sure that was required. MWS have done their homework on proper backspacing for this application. You do have to have the rear of the car fully lifted to fit/remove them, but no deflating of the tire is required as some pundits here have suggested. When fitting the rear wheels, the trick is tilt the wheel inward (towards vehicle center) at the top to clear the arch, then lift it up and to vertical as you slide it on the splines. Reverse for removal.

Previously I ran 215/65 redline tires (BF Goodrich clones from Coker). Again no clearance issues, but those tires seemed to squeal rather easily, with low to moderate grip, so I swapped them for the Michelins which are plenty grippy for the street and have a great period look (more '70's than '60s actually). Michelin make a 215 XWX tire, but with a roughly .5" larger diameter. They are expensive, but personally I find modern tire sidewalls to be an abomination on an otherwise beautiful classic car. But to each their own.

Keep in mind actual tire width dimensions can vary by manufacturer, even if they have the same specified section width so check their measured specs carefully. Also, the point of closest possible contact is the trailing edge of the rear arch, something that can vary a bit from one car to the next due to the factory build process.