Hi All,
After reading some other posts about alloy wheels I decided to take a look at vauxhall spares.co.uk for alloy wheels for my ex-police omega (2000 model).
I am very confused about this whole alloy wheel thing. You can get them with tyres? Vauxhall spares only have one alloy that would fit my omega - the 16" x 6J (ET44) 5 Stud one at the below web site.
www.vauxhallspares.co.uk/alloy_wheels.html
The guy that I spoke to say they "will go on, just a couple of mm out - they will be ok" - mm ok, been to background web sites on alloy wheel in general and they say they have to be exact or you could b***** up the alloy and other things! You have to go check them after 50 miles? my typres are 195 but these are 205 - is that a problem?
Can I fit alloys myself? Who do I get to do them, since they have to be weighted and everything... confusing :-((
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I'm sure my CDX alloys were offset 33, which being rear wheel drive, differs from the Vauxhall standard. As long as you keep as close to that as possible you will be fine.
As for other sizes, 16" as you may know is the standard size for 1998 model Elites (5 Spokes) although most facelift models have 17" alloys. Older V6 models came with 15" alloys and 205/65 tyres. 205mm being the wide, and the sidewall is 65% of the width hence 205/65/15.
The wide is not terribly important. I run 245/45/17 on the rear and 235/45/17 on the front. You could exceed that width on the rear, but not on the front.
also, my wheels are 8J in width, 6J seems a bit narrow. What car did they come from? Vectra SRI?
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Well I have the new face lift model so I should go for 17" alloys?
Did you fit your own alloys? can you do this?
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Go for whatever you like and can afford. You can fit, probably upto 19" if you can afford 2K worth of wheels :) I feel that 17" or 18" (if your splashing out) is more than enough, but only go for 18" if your car is remotely sporty.
I had my alloys fitted by a local tyre fitter, although I bought the alloys elsewhere.
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The thing to watch out for is the offsets. I fitted tsw 15" alloys to my vauxhall cavalier and found it constantly would pull sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, in effect "tramlining" down every groove in the road. It totally ruined the handling of the car not to mention increase tyre noise, tyre replacement costs and wear out wheel bearings. My omega GLS currently has standard vauxhall 15" alloys (twin spoke), 195-65-15's. I would really like something flashier, say 17" but I am worried about spoiling the ride quality that I currently have with the car. This tempted me therefore to go for vauxhall's own branded wheels, but the prices are ridiculous if you compare with other manufacturers. I will therefore probably look at breakers such as mentioned in this thread and hopefully a nice set of 17" might crop up one day.
I understand that omega's can take up to 18's, and the offsets differ between front and back! Too complex I say and might just stick to the present wheels!
S.
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SVPworld (incorporating PSRworld)
www.svpworld.com
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My 17" Mille Miglia 245/45R 235/35F's has increased handling tremendously. When I had the standard 205/65/15" alloys I couldnt go round a round-about above 5mph in wet the as the tail would go way out. As I tend to be fairly heavy in the pedal I was most unhappy at the Omega's ability to instill confidence. This may have been hampered by the cars budget tyres and "seen better days" suspension though :)
As for ride quality, well, it was fine with the alloys, after all the facelift models have similar tyres. Fitting the Koni & Eibach suspension kit has made the biggest impact on ride quality :( a tad bumpy on the back roads. Excellent on twisties though!
19" wheels can be fitted without modifications, but of course will require even lower profile tyres.
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Before you buy any wheels, you need to know the effect on rolling radius, and thus the profile of your replacement tyres.
This summarises it visually:-
www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
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