do I change to 18inchers?

[gilesn]

I cannot reach a decision on the following, so I need your help.

My SO2's on my SP6 have had it and are rapidly getting dangerous, so I need to replace them. The car currently has the original 16in wheels.

Do I?
a) buy 4 new Toyo Proxies for the 16in wheels = £400 max
b) buy 4 new 18in spiders and 4 Toyos = £1600

In spite of myself, I'd quite like to get the 18in wheels, even though I know it's more a fashion thing than anything which will improve the car's performance. Also, when it's time to sell it will improve the resell value. However the suspension will need a few modifications and I'd rather not run the risk of things not being quite right afterwards, e.g tyres rubbing wheel arches.

Then, there's £1200 different. That's a lot, and I'm having great difficulty justifying it.

My current thinking is to stick with the 16in wheels.

What should I do?

[tommomic]

Went through this one myself - my cerbera did at one time have 18" on it, but the drive was so poor they were returned to the original 16" on SO2s. I personally love my 16"! I would say stick with the originals and swop to Toyos - its a lot of money for a pure aesthetic change (and worse turning circle!).

But then again, the 18"s do look fantastic.......aahhhh - I'm sure when I spoke to a few independants you could source them cheaper than £1600 if you shopped around for the rubber yourself. If you do go for it - contact an independant rather than a main dealer - they can do all the mods. and save you wedge!

Cheers,
Tommo

>> Edited by tommomic on Wednesday 12th February 16:54

>> Edited by tommomic on Wednesday 12th February 16:57

>> Edited by tommomic on Wednesday 12th February 16:58

[bilton_d]

If you want to just buy the tyres look at www.mytyres.net they are the cheapest i can find but you will need to get a garage to fit them

[ro_butler]

I think the 18's are by far the best, but I don't think they will add much to the resale. When I was looking for a cerbie the wheels were the last thing I was worried about....

[arcbeer]

Personally I think the 17" or 18" wheels from the 4.5 look classier than the spiders. However, I have heard that some are porous. Still find ones that aren't and they're a bargain second hand.

[cammy]

Word of warning - it is not just a case of changing to 18". You will also I believe have to have spacers attached and also 'shave' some bodywork to allow the wheels to turn. I had my 18" wheels fitted at factory when they were building the car so avoided this problem.

Check my profile, I think they are trully awesome and who gives a flying **** about turning circles on cars like these. They finish the car off superbly!





>> Edited by cammy on Wednesday 12th February 19:34

[JedSteel]

Struggled with the same issue myself, gilesn. Then I did what I knew I wanted and coughed up the 1,600 squid for wheels and tyres. Aesthetics is part of the joy of owning a Cerbera, so long as it doesn't get in the way of good handling. There are other threads on the site covering the dos and don'ts of fitting 18" spiders. Fitted 235/40ZR18s front and 245/40ZR18s rear to 4 front spiders on my 97 Cerbera 4.2. Using front wheels at the rear is supposed to help avoid them rubbing on the wheelarches. It has on mine. Downside is that you have to take 8mm or so off the rear shafts with an axle-grinder where they poke through the wheel centres. Not difficult. I did it myself. And I also fitted the nylon spacers to the front steering rack (you need them to prevent the wheels contacting the chassis on full lock). Fiddly but perfectly doable at home. No special tools needed. The only thing I would do differently (and which I can rectify next tyre change) is fit 35 profile tyres in place of 40. I think this means you might have to downside to a 225 section Toyo. The lower profile should give just a little more clearence between tyre and body and make an attempt at reducing the rolling radius (and ride height which is significantly increased on 18s with 40 profile tyres - not altogether a bad thing in certain circumstances. I can go over speed humps faster now). All in all, I think that you really want to go for the spiders and are hoping someone will confirm it's justifiable. Only you can decide. But I'd do it if it was me (and I did)!

[tommomic]

cammy said:
who gives a flying **** about turning circles on cars like these.
>> Edited by cammy on Wednesday 12th February 19:34

Actually I do otherwise I wouldnt have written it!
As with all things TVR its really down to a very very personal choice.

After having 18"ers on the car previously, I personally find the ride much more to my liking on the original 16" - hence the reason they were taken off.

Purely aesthetically I still do think the 18" look fantastic - but so do all the Cerbera alloys!

[mlumb]

when i put 18's on my car(not spiders)i didn't have to modify bodywork or steering.

if you get it right the ride height should remain the same,as should the gearing:- 225/35front 255/35back.

[gilesn]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

I've made my decision - I'm going to stick with the 16in wheels!!!!!

I'm not convinced by the spider look and it's just too much money to spend on a fashion item, when, compared to anything else, it the car looks amazing anyway.

[gazzab]

They are fab - come and park yours next to mine and you will want spiders !!

[gilesn]

Stop it!

You're just giving me an excuse to vacillate.