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Wheels and tyres
Monty2556 - 9/2/14 at 11:17 PM

Just bought my first Locost. It's got very skinny wheels and tyres and just doesn't look right. What's the maximum width of wheel and tyre I can go to?
Many thanks, Monty

Matt21 - 10/2/14 at 07:16 AM

what size do you have?

I think the majority of people will run 195 or 205 15/13's

I have a set of 205/50/15 r888s and a set of, i think, 205/580/15 slicks
Used to run 195/50/15 prada's

as for max width, depends on the rear arcjh and front wing widths. my 205 888s justttt fit in the wings i have

benchmark51 - 10/2/14 at 09:41 AM

I'm running on 195/60/15 toyo Tr1 at 20 psi. With 19mm spacers on the back.
Reduced the rear arches width by 30mm. It looks right and works well.

JAG - 10/2/14 at 11:09 AM

My car has 185/60/R14 Toyo R888's

Don't forget these cars don't weigh much and increasing tyre width will decrease tyre-patch contact pressure.

adithorp - 10/2/14 at 11:28 AM

We'd need more info really. What size are the tyres and what is the car spec/engine/weight, etc. All those things have a bearing on tyre size required. The tyes fitted to locosts often bear no relationship to those fitted to a perfomance tin-top, so might well look odd to the unfamiliar eye.

I've got 185/60/13 front and 205/60/13 rear on my R1 powered Fury. Those sort of widths are fairly common but it's not unusual to see 165 or 175 on a lower powered car.

Monty2556 - 10/2/14 at 07:59 PM

Thanks for all the info so far. Weight is 302kgs and it's a 1.3 Escort xflow engine. Currently it has 155R13C tyres all round. I assumed the width of the front and rear arches were fairly standard. Am I wrong?

Sam_68 - 10/2/14 at 08:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Monty2556
Weight is 302kgs and it's a 1.3 Escort xflow engine.




And the chassis is made out of knitted helium, I guess?

Add another 200 - 250 kilos, I suspect...

quote:
Originally posted by Monty2556
Currently it has 155R13C tyres all round.


Those are certainly skinny tyres by the standards of current trends, but in terms of dynamics I wouldn't necessarily say that they're under-tyred for a 1300 Crossflow 'Seven'.

Caterham themselves admit that the tyres they fit are bigger than optimum for handling, but are what customers demand on the basis of fashion.

If you want something that looks a bit more chunky, I'd suggest that 185/60 x 13" all round would be about as big as you'd need or want to go.

adithorp - 10/2/14 at 09:32 PM

Got to agree with that ^^^

(don't let it go to your head sam)

185/60/13 would only be fractionally bigger diameter (+5mm) so shouldn't have much effect on your speedo either

Monty2556 - 10/2/14 at 09:46 PM

Many apologies!! I got the weight info from the VOSA approval certificate. However, being a numpty, I only read axle 1 weight!! If you add axle 2 weight it come to 790kg.

Sam_68 - 10/2/14 at 10:12 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Monty2556
If you add axle 2 weight it come to 790kg.
'

Off topic, but the weights on the VOSA certificate are for maximum gross weight (ie. the maximum weight that the car is 'designed' to take on each axle, including occupants, fuel and luggage). It won't be that heavy, either!

I was probably being a bit optimistic before when I suggested another 200-250 kilos. A really light Crossflow engined 'Seven', like a Sylva, might be down around the 500 kilo mark, but realistically, I'd guess a Crossflow Locost would be maybe 550-600kg, typically.

Monty2556 - 10/2/14 at 10:25 PM

You learn a lot on a forum like this!! Really helpful - many thanks. I'll be asking more questions soon!!

unijacko67 - 11/2/14 at 12:17 AM

If you do decide to get wider rims it will effect the off set (ET) if you need to keep the wheel in the same place either inward or outwards. If you know your rim size and ET you can work it out, I found this wheel calculator http://www.1010tires.com/Tools/Wheel-Offset-Calculator very helpful.

Matt21 - 11/2/14 at 06:58 AM

seven type cars seem to range from 400-600kg usually i guess?

so say yours is around 500....

do the wheels look stupid in the arches? like they need 50mm spacers?
if i was you i would get a cheap set of wheels off ebay that are bigger and just try them, see if it handles better and looks better, then you will know whats best

benchmark51 - 11/2/14 at 08:57 AM

If I were you I'd take the time to study other peoples cars both live at events, shows ect and on the net.
A lot depends on what arches you have. 13" wheels in arches meant for 15" can look wrong. Once you have
got the diameter right, how the wheel fills the arch can look wrong too. I reduced my rear arches by 30mm to
get the right look as the track width was as far as I wanted to go
From what you've said this is your main concern and I get the impression that your not out to make it a racing
car anyway. Find the look you like and ask, copying someone else's idea isn't wrong but exactly what kit cars
are about.

Monty2556 - 11/2/14 at 09:04 PM

Monty2556 - 11/2/14 at 09:08 PM

Thanks for all the info. I've had a lot of feedback on this thread alone and taken the advice on board re tyre sizes. I'll be going to the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh so I think I'll wait until after that before I make any decisions. Once again, thanks.