Help needed to choose some new alloy wheels

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MULLEY
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Help needed to choose some new alloy wheels

Post by MULLEY »

I have been reading the forums in this club & getting advice from a few shops & basically i am confused as hell as everyone seems to recommend dfferent things.

I was hoping someone had experience of fitting some aftermarket alloys to their bx.

For reference purposes, i own a 1990 GTI 8valve model, it currently sits on some steelies shod with 170 might be 175's /65/R14's. The dilemma i have is that i want to fit some 15 inch alloys & then need to choose a suitable tyre size which will match the car well. It was recommended that i go for some 195/55 tyres, but most people seem to mention fitting 185/60 tyres. Who is right & who is wrong, or should i just stick to buying some 14 inch alloys?

I was also advised that the BX is like the C4 for alloy spec size i.e. 4x108 offsett of 25-30, again being a bit clueless, dont u have to be careful with offsett so that it doesnt foul the bodywork? Any ideas on what offset size i should use?

Sorry for the lengthness of this, but it seems a bit complicated.

Oh & by the way, the reason for changing wheels is for cosmetic & performance reasons as the current setup can not handle the power, it spins up way to easily in 1st & 2nd, & thats in the dry, i take it steady in the wet... Hoping someone can shed some light on this or at least share their experiences.

Many thanks for taking the time-out to read this.
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AndersDK
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Post by AndersDK »

The 19GTI - even as 8valver - is easy to get animated driving with :lol:
Dont think alloys will cure the spinning - this is solely up to your racing experience level - and your wallet capability :shock:

The problem with the BX is the tyre width. This is limited unless you want to get out the anglegrinder and do something about it.
On front - there is a limit inwards against the McPherson strut.

On rear there is a limit on the overall width to avoid rubbing against the wheelarch either side.

My own experience is that 195 section width tyres are maximum - unless you mod the wheelarches and/or the wing cutouts.
At present I use 185 tyres on a standard 16RS - and that is so close I had to bent out the rear wings a bit.

Go for the wheels you want - and can afford. In principle there is no limit to what wheel diameter you can put on. This simply defines the section height (profile) of the resultant tyres you need - i.e. the last 2 figures in the size designations 195-35 or 195-40. The larger the wheels - the lower profile tyre you will need.
Your dealer will help you with the correct rim + tyre profile size combination to keep in tolerance with the original setup - for the speedometer readout - and hence the MOT. Or you may get them as big as you can throw in there (looks great 8) ) - and keep the old ones for MOT :twisted:
Just remember to do up a correction list for your speedo - as it can be quite expensive in camera shots :cry:

For the offset figure - dont worry - as this is also a dealer issue. He knows from his lists which offset figures fits the BX - and hence which offset shims may be needed to get it right.
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cavmad
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Post by cavmad »

Mulley, I`m running non standard 14`s on my estate which have 185-60-14`s and it`s right on it`s limits as regards width. They were rubbing to start off with (on the inner arches) but seemed to have stopped now. Being honest they`ve done nothing at all for the handling, quite possibly made it worse if truth be known as it seems quite skittery now and wants to tramline all the time.
There is a website somewhere that tells you the PCD/offsets of just about every car made so once armed with this info you should be able to trawl through eBay and boy racer type magazines to find the wheels you want. I`d be tempted to stick with 14`s, though I think Vanny has or is running 17`s on his TD. I`m sure he`ll be able to offer advice as to what wheel/tyre combo is best.
The standard GTi or 16V alloy wheels seem to do well enough btw, once my 1.9TD is roadworthy I`m going to do a comparison test between my aftermarkets and the std silver BX alloys I have.
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Ian_Fearn
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Post by Ian_Fearn »

Mulley, speaking from experience i'd stick with the standard alloys. I've found that anything bigger can cause the car to tramline and above all you can lose that lovely ride that Citroens should give!

Go for either the sinister anthracite colour or the silver ones. I think both look great. If you want handling stick a set of Pirelli P6000's on some 16v alloys (half an inch wider than the GTi 8v option alloys)

Image

Image

By the way, where in Derbyshire are you?
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

I would echo Ian's advice.

They look good too...

Image
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Post by cavmad »

I prefer the anthracite coloured ones on some cars and the silver on others. Have to say Philip your car looks stunning and those anthracite wheels really set if off, you should be proud to own a car as nice as that and I`m sure you are.
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Thanks. Yes I am especially as it's got a new MOT and Tax on it. Still got a couple of niggling faults like a slight LHM drip from the acc. sphere area - might need a new one or a new seal - and a slight oil leak from the cam belt side of the engine - a seal needs replacing - but I think I'll get the engine overhauled and hopefully that will all get dealt with then.

I agree, I think the anthracite speedlines are (to repaet another member's verdict) ubercool 8)
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Cornishbx16v
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Post by Cornishbx16v »

wheel sizes you can go to what ever size you like! as long as you get them in the correct fitment which for the bx is 4x108, central bore of 65, offset of 15-22! 7 1/2" rims will fit as thats what i had on mine!!! but in 17"!!!
Image

your troubles with spinning up on the 8v are that your tyres are too thin! you should have 185/60/14's on there for a gti and 195 60 14's for the 16v, the 170/175's you have are too thin hence why it spins up! my 16v on 185's wont spin up in the dry unless i purposely do it! (yes i know my tyres are 10mm to thin!!) the tyres i had on the 17's were 205 40 17's and they were fine! the bigger the wheel the les flex you get in the side wall the harsher the ride becomes! worth taking into consideration!
i am not overly sure quite what some have meant by changing them for the mot??? i put mine through with the 17's on! as long as the wheels dont stick out over any part of the body of the car and dont rub on any of the bodywork there isnt an issue!
as for the speedo issue, i would say that 95% of all the cars on the road will OVER read, i know that my 16v over reads by 6mph through out the range on the std 14" tyres, on the 17" the speedo over read by 1.5mph (all gps tested on the flat) but by changing your wheels from 14's with for instance 185 60 14 to 15's with 195 50 15's your speedo will not read any diffient as the rolling radious of the wheels and tyres combo is the same!

if you want to fit the C4 wheels then you will need a spacer of 10mm - 15mm to bring the offset intot he range for the bx! (adding a spacer to the wheel reduces the offset as it is based on the measurement from the centre of the middle of the rim to the bolt face of the wheel!)

for those that dont know the sizes of the tyre refer to the width in mm - 185 mm, the profile is the percentage of the width as the sidewall - 60% of 185mm and the diameter obviously - 14"!

here is a tyre size calculater too! very useful as it lets you know an estimated difference on the speedo too!
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
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Post by AndersDK »

Thats me mentioning the MOT issue.

But thats not the "size" I have in mind - thats the overall running diameter of the tyre. This must be kept within the original fitment to have the speeedo reading correct.
What i meant is : you could more or less forget this - if you have the original wheels well within the correct diameter - and then put these on for MOT.

You still dont get me :?:
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Post by DavidRutherford »

speedo is not tested for at MOT, and hence this really isn't a problem.

Nor is the tyre width. Think about this.... with narrower tyres there's less rubber in contact with the road, but the ground pressure (force over area) will be higher. This means that the grip available is the same regardless of the tyre width used. 145 section tyres have the same grip as 195 section tyres. The only difference is that the 145 section tyres will bend more, and hence the general handling won't be as good.

when it comes to straight-line performance, what matters is the tyre rubber compound. Cheap nasty tyres have a low co-efficient of friction, and hence do not grip the road very well. Better quality ones will have a higher co-efficient, and hence grip better.

To prevent the "spin up" problem (IE to be able to grip the road better) you need better quality tyres.

I've proven this in the past. I used to have a Talbot Horizon Diesel (1.9XUD) running on 145 section tyres, and it was possible (just) to break traction in 1st gear. To try and remedy this, I changed to 175 section tyres and it turned out to be exactly the same. The car would break traction at exactly the same places and under the same acceleration, and locked it's wheels at exactly the same level of braking. (on dry tarmac or concrete road)

But, the handling of the car was improved, and the grip on loose surfaces (chippings, gravel and the like) was greatly improved so it was well worth it. It's wet weather grip also improved, although it was also more prone to aquaplaning too.
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Post by Cornishbx16v »

Anders, i do now understand what your saying! although the speedo in the car is not as accurate as you may believe!! if you are able to lay your hands on a portable handheld gps its an easy way to test! find a long straight section of flat road (gps is unable to distinguish hills!!!) and with the gps on drive at a constant speed and check the display on the gps to give you your true speed, then speed up a little more to another constant speed and check the gps, you can then see what the differences are between the speedo and the actual speed! mine is 6mph overread throughout the range on the std 14" wheels! on the 17's on the same section of roads at the same speeds it was only 1.5mph overread! so theoretically if i had got some 19" rims my speedo would be almost spot on if not a little underreading!
almost every car that comes out the factory has an over reading speedo to some effect! the old Vaux digi dash was notourious for over reading in and around 12-15% on occasion! its a saftey barrier if you like from the manufactureres! (never could spell that!!!) At the garage i tested 3 brand new micras all with consequetive vin numbers with the gps and found that all 3 were different loL! one was 6mph out, one 8mph and one 11mph out! so it does vary car to car but well worthy of actually getting it tested so you know how fast your going! quite funny to pass everyone at a true 70mph and see quite how slow they are actually going! :D

as for the width yes theoretically it is true that the extra width will give barely any more contact area! one of our members Ziga posted up a long explanation of this a while back! but as a matter of course the tyres ont eh car are to thin! and there is defo a difference between good and cheap rubber in the tyres! i have goodyears on the front of mine and they are good! and the abuse i give it they stand up well! infact its one of the only things i wont scrimp on is tyres! you may be able to get 'hedgefinder specials' at £15 a pop but for an extra tenner you can often get a good tyre! my goodyears were only £26 each!

as for wheels if your after 15's then i meant to dsay have a look on ebay! the bx is the same as saxo and 106 4 stud fitment and the speed they go through wheels means lots of good cheap second hand ones! and with the addition of a 20mm spacer most ford 4 stud wheels will fit!
if youhave a look ont he 16v.com site a d mooch through the garage you can see a fair few of the guys have 15's and there is a wheel generator ont he bx shell there too to give you an idea!
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Post by AndersDK »

Just now I realise that speedo reading is not an MOT issue :oops: :roll:

Apologise for bringing in this off topic element :wink:
Yes I'm fully aware that all car speedo's readout are some 5-10% higher than actual speeds - as they must be by legal requirements - in most of the world. I.e. they must never read lower than actual speed - under any circumstances.

I seem to recall that our dutch BX-friend Ron had a BX setup with lowered suspension an extreme large dia alloys (18" ?) and low profile tires. It looked G*R*E*A*T - much like yours :lol:
But cant find the image on his site :
http://www.citf.nl/
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Post by Cornishbx16v »

i have to admit, as good as the 17's look i have returned to stock!!
for unknown reasons i suffered severe bottom bush wear due to the extra pressures caused by the wheels! although i will freely admit i didnt and dont drive it easily! it gets driven how it was intended! so that might have been somehtign to do with it!!!! but yeah they did look great! a couple other of our members have 17's with no problems so an odd onme but hey ho! 15's are the better choice tbh and i should have gone for them when i got the 17's but you know how it is!
i have a set of pug 1.9 alloys coming my way for very little coin which will be refurbed to black with a polished rim to go on the car as the std wheels do nothing for me!
i have lowered miune by the easy method of cutting an extra slot int he lever gate so that i can return it to normal with out any issue!
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MULLEY
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1992 TZD Turbo Estate - SORN
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Post by MULLEY »

Many thanks for all the feedback, guess the easiest & safest route is to stick to some 14" alloys, i would prefer some originals, but where from? Anyone know of some lurking in the back of garage or scrapyard?

To answer the where abouts in Derbyshire i am question, its Clay Cross.

Typical, today thought i would give the car a run, battery dead. Will have to try & jump start the car tomorrow.
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Post by cavmad »

Mulley, put a `wanted` note in the BX for sle and wanted section of this forum. Bet someone will have some standard alloys knocking about.
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