Hello
I thought I would write this guide to help anyone who is unsure whether or not alloys wheels advertised on ebay will fit your motor or not, or the various other information tyres sizes, rolling radious, offsets, speed rating etc.
Alloys wheels can be excellent value on ebay and a huge saving over the new price, however there are lots of pitfuls and hidden sizes jargen etc you'd never think of until its too late and they don't fit properly, that is usully why a lot of people buy new wheels of shops suppilers to assure perfect fitment but with information below you shouldnt go far wrong.
There are three main things to check and ask the seller when buying alloys, a lot of sellers may not put this information on as it can be very confusing or may not even know it as there wheels sold to fit a pasific car when bought new so the shop only would know the sizes.
please be aware this is only basicly outlining processes it can be found in more depth from various profesional source textbooks, mechanics shops etc, but I will explain the general concept below.
1.
firsty is how many studs 4 or 5 studs bolts or stud holes, that hold wheels on and there are 2 main sizes 108 pcd and 100 pcd (pcd is pitch circle diameter the diameter on the stud hole) most cars are 100 pcd but some are 108 pcd mostly fords and peugeots most other cars are 100 pcd, some cars have other rarer pcds i.e 112 audi a4, 98 fiats and so on, as long as the pcd is correct they will fit even if the offset is well off which is how some sellers will say they fit but may not drive well on car at all.
2.
the offset this is very important each manufacturer has a different offset measurement the offset is basicly the distance from the hub of wheel to the mounting point of the hub surface mounting on car, the smaller the offset the more the wheels will pertrude into the arches the bigger the offset the more the will intrude and possibly rub on suspention mountings and brakes lines say if you fitted a 45 offset to a 20 offset car, very confusing I know its not just a case of fitting any wheel to any car as i learnt the hard way when I was srating out, if the offsets incorrect you can mess up the tracking geometery, and it may cause the car to tramline into cambered roads handling badly and moving a lot in crosswinds, and sometimes shakeing and and flexing through car and steering rack. If you stay close to manufacturers recommendations you should be fine but make sure all vauxhalls definalty have 49 mm offset or youll have very bad time in cross winds with tramlineing and bad handling.
3.
If the alloys are bigger than standerd it can put the speedo rating out and cause a awful ride(fidegty very bumpy) and strange hanlding if you go too big i.e over 17's on a small car i.e saxo, but if you keep the size simaler to original wheel size diameter including tyre then it sould be fine, this is known as rolling radius the time it takes for the wheel to do a revolution the distance from centre of wheel to outer of tyre
for example
as long as your tyres is lower profile each time you increase size of rim over standerd it will still be the same size or similar within 2 inches as original wheel and tyres say a 15 inch wheel has a profile of 60 if you go up to 16 inch the profile will go down to 50 or 45 then for 17 inch 40 or 45 and 18 40 35 andso on. (please be aware the lower the profile the harsher the ride will get usully 50 profile is best compromise) but thats the pay off for better handling and having biggers wheels and better looks.
I will also explain what the measurement on the tyre sidewalls mean, you will proberly know anyway but thought id list it anyway
eg 195/45 r 16 80v
195 means width ot tyre in mm
45 this is aspect ratio or profile of the tyre or sidewall height to relation to tyre width expressed as a percentage in this case 45% so 45% of 195mm == 88mm or height of sidewall from edge of the locating bead to top of tread
r radial
16 wheel diameter in inches
80 load index (lbs)
v speed rating
speed ratings
t up to 118 mph
h up to 130 mph
v up to150 mph
y up to 186mph etc etc
a lot of cars have similar offsets, i have some sizes off popular cars below
audi a3 5x100 pcd - offset38
audi a4 5x112 pcd offset 38
tt 5x100 offset 38
bmw e30 4x100 pcd 35 offset
e30 m35x120 pcd 27 offset
bmw e36 4-door and coupe 5 x 120 pcd 42 offset
citroen ax gt 3x98 pcd 14 offset
citroen ax gti 4x108 pcd 20 offset
saxo 3x98 pcd 14 offset
saxo vtr / vts 4x108 pcd 16 offset
citroen xsara 4x 108 pcd offset 19
daihatsu charade gti 4x100 pcd 45 offset
ford focus 4x 108 offset 52
fiat seicento+cinquecento 4x98 - offset 36
fiat uno 4x98 45 offset
fiat punto4x98 40 offset
bravo 4x98 pcd offset43
fiat coupe 4x98 40 offset
all ford are 108 pcd in list below
ford ka +fiesta mk2 +mk3 4x108 pcd offset 41
ford puma 36 offset
ford escort mk3-6 36-41 offset
ford focus 52 offset
sierra 40 offset
mondeo 41-49 offset
probe 115.3 pcd 40offset
vw all vws 4x 100 pcd are 38 offset i.e polo golf mk2 /some mk3, corrado, jetta etc
honda civic 91-95 and 95-00 and crx 93+ are 4x100pcd 45 offset
hondaprelude 92-97 4x114.3 pcd 50 offset
hyundi coupe 96+ 4x114.3 45 offset
lancia delta 4x98 pcd 42 offset
mazda 323 89-94 + mx3 are 4x100pcd 45 offset
mazda 323 80-89 114.3 pcd 45 offset
mazda mx5 5x100pcd 35 offset
mazda mx6 5x114.3 pcd 42 offset
rx7 5x114.3 pcd 42 offset
mitsubishi lancer evo 1-3 + IV-VI 5x114.3 pcd 45-46 offset
nissan almera 4x100pcd 45 offset
nissan 200sx 95- 4x114.3 pcd 40 offset 45 offset -95 model
300ZX 5X114.3PCD 23 OFFSET
peugeot all 108 pcd
106 small arch 3x98 pcd 20 offset
106- 16 offset
205- 19-28 offset
206- 34 offset
306+309- 19 offset
406 19 offset
renult models listed 4x100pcd
clio+ reno 19- 42 offset
megane 36 offset
rover 200 old and new 4x100pcd 40 offset50 offset
600 4x114.3 pcd
seat ibiza/coroba 93+-45 offset
subaru impretza+legacy 5x100pcd 55 offset
suzuki swift 4x 114.3 pcd 45 offset
toyota mr2 mk2 5x 114.3 pcd 37 offset
mr2 mk1 + corolla 97+ corola 92-97 4x100pcd 45 offset
supra 86-93 5x100pcd 37 offset
supra 93+ 5x114.3 pcd 50 offset
toyota celica 90-00 models 5x100pcd39-45
vauxhall nova, corsa, astra mk2 3 and 4 caviler, calibra all 4x100pcd 49 offset
vectra 5x110 49 offset
citroen saxo vtr/s 4x108 pcd 16 offset
you can see even on similar models and within a brand sizes can vary a lot, easy to buy wrong sizes hence why wheels usully go cheap second hand, even on the same make off wheels manufacturer, i.e for example all toyotas wont nessicererly fit all the range off toyotas they can vary in pcd and offsets,
also ask the seller what model it was fitted to as different manufacters have different spigot ring the ring that clicks onto wheels to make it fit onto hub tightly, sometimes you may have to buy them seperatly for around 15 quid as ones for vw seat wont be the same as a result for instance
not got listings for vans 4x4's and people carriers or commercial vehicles
If this review helps one person from buying the wrong wheels for their car i will be pleased as I wasted a lot of time and money if i'd just researched a bit i could have found out few simple rules, hope this review helps would very much appreiciate you time in rating review so i know its helped you or not.
please dont hold me responsible for any information written its only my advice but found out from professional sources.
If you need any tips on suspention/lowering I have a guide on that too that may be of use :)
IF YOU HAVE TIME PLEASE FEEL FREE TO READ MY OTHER CAR RELATED GUIDES,
.. Thanks so much for rating these guides 'helpful' - thanks a lot for your messages asking for help and how useful you found the guide, I tried my best it nice to know its helps people, theres so many nice people on ebay
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME
HI IVE JUST ADDED A SUSPENTION GUIDE ASIVE HAD SO MUCH THANKS FOR THIS GUIDE HOPE IT MAY ALSO HELP
all best good luck - britman
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