CR500 tyres etc

[justasking]

Hi troops,
I am new here and am after a bit of info/advice! I am looking for some wheels for a caterham that will take the Avon CR500 195 15 fronts and 245 15 rears. Does anyone know of some manufacturers/suppliers out there of any quality? As light as poss is best for me. Many thanks in advance Just

[CatMatt7]

If you are after something light you won't do much better than Mike Barnby wheels: www.mb-racingwheels.com

The only problem is that they are 13 inch not 15, but the CR500's come in 13 inch sizes too, plus IMHO the car looks good with 13 inch wheels.

Good luck.

[casbar]

I've been using a couple of sets for slicks and wets from Compomotive, CXR's seem to the choice for Caterhams, you can buy them direct or from George Polley. They are motorsport quality, and lighter than the standard mini L's

[fergus]

I've got a similar dilemma. I'm looking to run the larger sized Kumho V700s this year, but only have the stock SLR (non MB version) wheels and ML equivalents available, which I believe will be too small (narrow).

What would the recommended 13" rim sizes be front and rear to run these tyres, and what sort of offset is needed?

Many thanks

[rubystone]

Russ Savory runs some wide wheels on his Levantes. I'll give him a call and see what make they are. They'll be light and top quality.

[justasking]

Thanks everyone so far. The Levante runs Image wheels. I am looking to see if there are any non splitrims in a more contemporary style :-)

Edited by justasking on Wednesday 13th January 22:14

[Shaun_E]

I don't have experience of using 15" rims but would suggest someone like Image. For 195s Caterham use 6.5" wide and for 245s they use 9" wide but look on the Avon website for their suggested width range.
For 13" rims Kumho recommend 7-8" for 215 and 7.5-9" for 235. I am running 7.5" front/8.5" rear with a 215/235 combination. They are Image 3 piece rims - lots of styles available and they do a light weight style for cars 500kg or less. I didn't go for the ligthweights as my car does several thousand road miles as well as sprints/hillclimbs/trackdays and I preferred to get a more substantial design.
The advantage of split rims is you can get almost any offset you need which is not always possible with forged or cast wheels. I couldn't get Compomotives in the correct offset for the size of wheels I wanted although it might be possible with different widths to the ones I am using.
215 section front tyres will require a wider than standard front wing and you will have to pay very careful attention to the offset to prevent fouling on the wingstay.

[fergus]

Shaun

Thanks for the comprehensive reply! Are you able to let me know what offset you're using with the wider rims? PM me if you like. Thanks

[Shaun_E]

When I ordered from Image I just specified the backdepth (hub face to inner rim edge measurement) as it is the inner edge that is the limiting factor on a Caterham. Fronts were 111mm and rears were 139mm as measured by me. I later found out that 110mm and 140mm are the backdepths Caterham use so my measurements were pretty close.
I can send you a copy of my Image order form if you like. I have since worked out that the offsets are about ET5 front and ET20 rear but as I don't have an accurate measurement for the total width of the wheels, there may be a couple of mm error in that. Any wheel supplier should be able to build a wheel based on the backdepth and your required wheel width - Image certainly had no problems.