Should I just get some rev 5 alloys?

[StuartTheFish]

My car's currently on some 16" JDM Sprinthart CPR alloys, that have been kurbed to hell before the car was imported. The polished lips are all dull and pitted, and also my car is rather bumpy and likes to tramline. 205 45 16's on front, 225 45 16's on the rear. I'm putting a lot of this bumpy handling down to the black billies on the car, as I suspect they're shot. Before I fitted my eibach springs, I think the ones that were on the car were chopped, which will have ruined the full travel of the dampers I think. I've got some KYB inserts and some strut casings for me to replace them with, but I'm just wondering if the increase in profile will make that much difference to the currently hard handling too. How wide are the standard rev 5 alloys front and rear? Perhaps that'll sort the tramlining kind of issue too, though a lot of people on here run the same size wheels as me so I'm unsure. The 'tramlining' won't be caused by worn topmounts or steering rack ends as I've replaced them all! Any thoughts?

Also, how much do the rev 5 alloys tend to sell for in good condition?

If anyone's interested, this is how the car looks at the moment, minus the MR2 badge on the centre panel and the grill before I folded it up:



I kinda like the contrast of white on black too, but not sure if I should repaint them if I bought any alloys to replace these. Though white only looks good for a few miles, then they're black anyway!

[MGMgrand]

I run 17's on standard shocks and 17's on Koni's. On standard the ride is firm on Koni the ride is hard especially with all the lovely potholes that have appeared. When I had Koni and 15's the ride was pretty comparable to 17's with standard suspension.

Overall I would say it is mostly in the dampers/springs and dropping to 15's will make little difference in terms of the hard ride.

[StuartTheFish]

That's what I thought, just figured I might as well do something about my tatty wheels too while I'm at it. I'm not sure which would look better either, as my 16's look small anyway due to the white inner bit going inwards before the lip starts, so thought 15's with no lip would look about the same size wise? So as above or like this one below?



And how wide are the standard alloys? Any idea how much they go for in good condition?

[ken mckenzie]

Stuart gtschris is breaking a rev 5 at the moment i was there yesterday there was rev5 wheels on it but i didnt take much notice of there condition, if you want his number i have it ken

[StuartTheFish]

Cheers, I've dealt with him before so I've got his contact details still. Which would look better though?

[shinny]

Stock wheels are 15x6J front and 15x7J rear

TBH, even if I were going for the stock look, I'd just find some nice simple 5 spokes in 16" or 17"... like the TSW Heats on my (then Carol's) old rev5:



The TSW heats don't come staggered, but you could look at Dezent Type Ts or Enkei RP 01s?

[StuartTheFish]

Thing is, if I'm going to change them then they'd be 15's, so not sure which ones would look okay. Figured the standard ones will at least be staggered and the correct offsets already.

[StuartTheFish]

6j and 7j, would that mean I'd still be using 205's on front and 225's on the rear? Or would they be 195's and 215's instead?

[shinny]

Stock sizes are 195/55/15 and 225/50/15

[peteV6R5]

6j and 7j, would that mean I'd still be using 205's on front and 225's on the rear? Or would they be 195's and 215's instead?

Stuart, 225 is quoted as max in 7J, I have 235 on 7J and never had any issues apart from MOT time when they say you do know that they are to wide for the rim.
as for rev 5 wheels - I changed mine to 17" and sold them on eBay for £225 + P&P to the good old USofA.
215 front and 235 rear both 40 on 17"

[StuartTheFish]

Cheers, I've never known much about 6j and 7j, etc as I've never bothered buying new alloys before.

Stock sizes are 195/55/15 and 225/50/15

Would that mean my current alloys will be 6j and 7j too? How come the standard alloys have a lower profile on the rear? As wouldn't that make the entire rolling radius smaller on the back?

Could a bit of my 'tramlining' be down to my having 205's on the front instead of 195's?

[jimi]

There's a very good tyre/wheel calculator about half way down this page CLICKY also has offset difference calculator and a tyre width calculator. The whole site is very informative Car Bibles

[StuartTheFish]

Cheers for that, though like I say I won't be looking for replacement aftermarket wheels, I'd be either getting some standard rev 5 alloys or getting my own refurbed. Just wondering if the difference in size would make much difference in how the car handles, and also wondering which would look better, mine or some rev 5's?

[StuartTheFish]

Right, I think if anything I'll be getting mine refurbed. I recently found out the spigot rings are missing, so while searching online for info on my alloys and hopefully what size rings to get, I stumbled across what they're worth. Over £1000 at least when second hand!

How much do refurbs cost?