After market wheels for S1

[FunElan]

Yes, they work quite well too...so is there any downside with these 17"-ers?

eg stiffer sidewall + harder to steer? expensive tyres? 'crashey' over bumps? etc

I went from 16s to 17s on my e36 BMW and all of those things became true. Looks awesome though

[Nemesis]

To answer a couple of questions,
Rambo: I fitted springs surplus to requirements from an old Elan Central project which are 20% stiffer than standard. The reason there appears to be a lot of arch showing is that the ride height is correct. Most M100 have sagging springs so it's unusual to see one with the original setup. The stiffer springs work well and remove front wheel tramp on acceleration. Also fitted the Protech 2 way adjustable alloy dampers.

In my State we are allowed to alter the vehicle track by no more than 25 mm. so an ET of 50 is OK. My track is now 1505 mm.,whereas original is 1486 mm. I'm just being a bit careful in case some eagle-eyed mechanic picks up the difference.

In my opinion both Lotus & John Miles gave the car a setup which characterised the car as user-friendly,forgiving of fools & bland handling. Much like an MG ? In the day the huge offset was regarded as necessary for FWD. Modern FWD cars are set up differently because we know more about what makes them better. For example I've increased the castor to 3 degrees and I'll give it a bit more toe-out than the 0.5 degree standard setting.

Glad to see some are experimenting with alternative wheels.

To answer a question about removing the casting ridge from the calipers, With new pads there was no clearance between spokes & caliper. I removed the ridge to give about 8 mm. clearance. As the pads wear the sliding caliper will move inboard & increase the clearance. If you are not happy with machining the caliper you can fit partially worn pads which will then give the clearance. A half worn pad would give you about 4 mm. clearance.

[chrism]

Nemesis, thanks for the update + adding more flesh to the bones of 'alternative wheelership'. It's good to swap experiences.

FunElan, yeah I s'pose that's the product of smaller, stiffer sidewalls. But the effect doesn't seem to be linear. I reckon small decreases in in sidewall produces increasingly more stiffness; hence crashier progress.

[Nemesis]

My experiences with low aspect ratio tyres have not been good. It is too easy to destroy the tyres on rough roads,quite apart from the harsher ride. I fail to see that there are any advantages,apart from the "look at me" factor.

[exeterjeep]

Anyone tried or looked at MG3 alloys, they seem to be 4x100 and ET 50. Think they are 56.1 centre bore like the old MG ZR/ZS. They are 16", usually with 195/55/16's.

[exeterjeep]

s-l1600_(4).jpg

Well ordered 1 of these so hopefully have it as a spare 16" wheel for my S2, in case its needed. If it looks ok on the car will possibly get another. Will have to find a suitable tyre.

[simonbuk]

So it sounds like the 'nearest fit' are the Mini wheels - a few to choose from. (And yes, I know they still aren't the correct offset)