Styling New Alloys - advice needed

Currently reading:
Styling New Alloys - advice needed

simonmac

New member
Joined
Oct 9, 2008
Messages
65
Points
11
Location
Sussex
Hi,

just got the B a couple of months ago, hood sorted, so not many leaks now. Next up, need friont tyres, and to be honest rears looking not too good either.

well after some thinking i've decided that i can put about £400 in the kitty for some wheels and tyres. so i know that isn't a lot of dosh, but it can get some.

so questions are:

1. are cheap wheel ok? i have only used expensive OZ etc etc before, i don't expect the same quality, but also i don't want them to buckle the first drain hole i go over,

2. are wobble bolts safe to use, to allow fitment of 4*100 alloys on the barchetta?

3. what offsets are you guys using for a 7*17 alloy? i am thinking around 35mm. would 40mm be too far out?

4. everyone seems to go for mutli spokes, i am thinking maybe something different, as that is why am buying the wheels after all, want to be different. however i have never had such a hard time choosing. the barchetta seems to look odd with nearly everywheel i have looked at. very hard to get one that looks good.

was thinking maybe of attched wheel. AEZ's.

opinions?

thanks in advance.
 

Attachments

  • wheel.jpg
    wheel.jpg
    10.6 KB · Views: 202
I used Rochford last year and bought 4 new alloy wheels and tyres for about £400 and they are fine. The tyres are made in China and whilst they seem OK I guess they will not have a long life. This is not a concern for me as my B is used as a second car doing 6,000 miles pa. Sorry, but I am not technically minded so unable to answer your questions although Rochford suppled the correct spacers and bolts.
 
1. Cheap wheels will be heavier and the coating, plating, finish will be of lower quality. It's a fairly short term saving in my opinion. Good quality wheels are worth the extra money. Don't put £400 wheels on and then spend £100 on the tyres though, that would make even less sense.

2. Wobble bolts are fine.

3. Barchetta offset is 35 to 40 I believe. 40 offset will be farther INside the wheelarches rather than OUTside them. Any more than that and you will probably need spacers. These are fine as long as you get hubcentric spacers, and long enough bolts.

4. Wheels are a personal preference so no comment.
 
1. Cheap wheels will be heavier and the coating, plating, finish will be of lower quality. It's a fairly short term saving in my opinion. Good quality wheels are worth the extra money. Don't put £400 wheels on and then spend £100 on the tyres though, that would make even less sense.

2. Wobble bolts are fine.

3. Barchetta offset is 35 to 40 I believe. 40 offset will be farther INside the wheelarches rather than OUTside them. Any more than that and you will probably need spacers. These are fine as long as you get hubcentric spacers, and long enough bolts.

4. Wheels are a personal preference so no comment.

I agree that cheap wheels will always be inferior to better quality, you only get what you pay for. However, how much money should one spend on a car that is worth maybe £5,000 top whack, expensive wheels or not?
 
thanks guys,

still totally undecided, but at least i know i can look at 4*100 range.

do like those alloys TJA. i know what you mean about cheap wheels, but the budget can't stretch anymore, so i will keep hunting for some ex display ones or may see if i can do a deal with the many sets of vauxhall and audi wheels i already have.

i may just play safe and go for some mutli spokes after all.
 
I bought mine from eBay for £60 - they were a set of re-cond's that a chap had bought for his son's Punto HGT, his son decided that he wanted 17"'s and not 15"'s! I wanted turbine style multi-spokes and Fox R's fitted the bill - granted I wanted Oz' superlagera's but am happy with what I have!

A word of warning, if you go for 17" you will need 15mm spacers and long bolts, if not you will score the plastic trim in the rear wheel arches. Also, 17"'s change the ride of the car and make the ride quite a bit harsher - you will feel every bump and stone in the road!

I have 15" with 195 x 55 x 15 Goodyear tyres and have to say that they work very well, the car handles excellently and rides well - its been said already that wheels are a personal taste thing so I would not comment on the style (alright I would - multi-spokes suit the b), but I would say give a little consideration to the ride and handling when deciding what wheels and rubber you are going to invest in. ;)
 
As long as you don't go for 5-or-less-spoked alloys I'm sure it'll look good...:)
 
well i have decided on the OZ ultra or super leggera's, i'm going to keep an eye out for 2nd hand ones on ebay, i am maybe thinking on 15's or 16's now as an option, though tyres for 16's are quite expensive. 17's and 15's are about the same cost wise.

one quick questions i have been told two different answers by wheel sellers. can you get wobbly locking wheel nuts/bolts?

thanks guys, you've all been a great help.
 
Last edited:
This post contains affiliate links which may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
thanks alan, i missed out on some OZ's on ebay today, so i have purchased my step fathers apple macbook with the money, only went for it as i got it at a very nice price, decided it was about time i got a laptop to get online as i am moving about a lot at the moment.

anyway i have decided to just put some new tyres on the B and the new wheels can be purchased in the spring, so they won't get a winters worth of crud on them. also i picked up some 2nd hand novitec springs off ebay this evening for £20. so am happy. B has cost me a bit lately with new roof etc, so it's nice to buy a performance/looks enhancing item for once.
 
Keep your eye on eBay, also search for Punto alloys as they are the same dims, you might pick up a bargain. I noticed a set of Punto Sporting alloys on the forum a week or so ago, might be worth a look!

Check the springs when you get them, I think Novitec's are a 55mm drop and the most that you can get away with without changing the shocks is 40mm - might be OK but worth checking.

Welcome to the world of modding, now you have started you will find it difficult to stop!! ;)
 
Fiat have periodically done some real bargain alloy and tyres sets. Many of these are still possibly buried away in the depths of Fiat Warrington. You might like to go to your local Fiat dealer and get them to dig deep into there current and past accessories specials. you may be able to find a pleasant surprise and get genuine Fiat / Barchetta wheels and tyres for a very good price, like £400 including VAT all shod with Pirelli or other good makes of tyres.

Nick /////
 
cheers guys.

re welcome to the world of modding. you haven't seen my list of current cars and pasts! no stranger to modding,

currently have 450bhp audi a4 1.8T i've rebuilt engine ground up with big turbo.

how about an bmw e36 318 saloon with a z3 m44 1.9 engine in running after market ecu and a easton m62 supercharger!

if only i thought the B's chassis could handle a coupe 16v turbo engines power, i'd do that. on the 20v's i have had in excess of 650bhp from them.
 
oh re the springs, i got them delivered today, after reading above, i'll wait and order some bilstein shocks to go with them. thanks for the heads up.
 
i work on small stuff on cars as a bit of money on the side sometimes, my mate used to work at auto-integrale in Reading and i came across the owners B when i was there once, did a few days helping out on integrales.

by trade i'm an IT bod. but i trained as a mechanic at college and decided i wanted to sit in a warm building behind a desk instead.

i have done a lot of projects of my own, trouble is each one gets more expensive and the last. so the B was purchased as a cheap run around to take my mind off the Audi, was originally after a mx5, but they are two a penny.

also just got into bikes and got a zx7r at the moment.

anyway been looking at the price of 16v turbo coupes at moment. might get one with rough body work/damage. keep the engine and front leather seats to go in the B. keep my eye out for a bargain.
 
i work on small stuff on cars as a bit of money on the side sometimes, my mate used to work at auto-integrale in Reading and i came across the owners B when i was there once, did a few days helping out on integrales.

by trade i'm an IT bod. but i trained as a mechanic at college and decided i wanted to sit in a warm building behind a desk instead.

i have done a lot of projects of my own, trouble is each one gets more expensive and the last. so the B was purchased as a cheap run around to take my mind off the Audi, was originally after a mx5, but they are two a penny.

also just got into bikes and got a zx7r at the moment.

anyway been looking at the price of 16v turbo coupes at moment. might get one with rough body work/damage. keep the engine and front leather seats to go in the B. keep my eye out for a bargain.


Wow, we should meet for a coffee!! I originally trained as an HGV mechanic but got fed up with being cold and covered in oil so decided to find an office job - 16 years later I have 12 years experience in IT (although I have not been tecchy for 10 years), looked at MX-5's, TVR's, and a few other 2 seater's before buying the b and have modded a few cars in my shady past - including sticking a 2.1 Ford Pinto into a 1972 Vauxhall Viva!!

I noticed that you are in Sussex, depending on where we could meet up for a coffee at Goodwood next time I am down that way??
 
hello,

I have 15'' wheels with 195/55 r15 tires now... and for winter i wanted to buy 195/65 r15... anyone of you tried this size of tires? will i have problems?
 
Back
Top