14inch wheels v 16inch on an early 308.

So envy you could try out 16", 14 x 6.5 and 7.5, I can imagine 14 x 6.5 would look too narrow from rear, especially when seeing some nice photo shot from rear for 14 x 7.5 from pervious post, my concern is whether 14 x 6.5 would give less drag when the car moves from stationary. Clearly 14 x 7.5 would give better cornering IMO.

Perhaps you can tell me more opinion on this.

Best

 

By the way, original factory single pipe looks better on your GTB, and I guess 4 pipe system exists only from GTBi with different rear grille. Your GTB looks stunning.

 

The set you have is for the later cars....

I would trade you, for a set of 14"s......not sure I have five of the 6.5"W but I am sure I have the 7.5"W ones....in several makes...

 

The FULDA Carat Assuro, made by Goodyear in Germany.....

 

With 14" rims the tire becomes a part of the original suspension design.

The shorter sidewall of the 16"s makes a much harder ride, on normal streets.

 

Appreciate for your response Bigtex. Please email me [email protected] to discuss further.

Feeling excited.

 

Nick you just try to feel it or actually going for a non-return swap? Will you want to try metric 390s before getting a set abroad?

 

Looks like you have a set for me to try. ;-)

 

My original TRX is in the storage with antique tyres, but it can still be used if you just want to try the feeling

You know where to find me

 

Hi All, reigniting this thread (which I have loved reading) and I hope I am not being too myopic with a 14" vs 14" Tyre question!
Apologies to the 390&16" brigade!

Like many in this thread I have the 14 x 7.5" Cromodora's and have no intention of swapping out to larger diameter wheels. The car has had a great set of Avon Turbospeed 225/60 tyres on it since I've owned it, they go round and round, stay black and don't leak, so are bang on for function, and have a nice tread pattern, so no complaints about form either. In line with other comments, some tyres seem to compliment the deep option spoiler as well, which they do. The Avon's are over ten years old now though (maybe a lot more) so regardless of their condition its time to change them out. So i dragged out the spare, and it has the original (unused) XWX on it, a 205/70 VR 14.

I have visually tested that wheel in place and love the decrease in "gap" to the wheel arch - It now looks correct. But I am curious if anybody fits the 215/70 XWX on the wider rims? There is a lot of posts across all of F-chat but its mostly 6.5 vs 7.5 it seems, no mention of the 205's vs 215's. Am i missing something? Has anybody tried both widths and has found a preference for either for whatever reason?

I am sure you have surmised that I am more concerned about aesthetics, I stopped vigorous track days when I started worrying about banging up what is not a cheap car anymore!

Cheers, Russ.

 

Whichever XWX you end up with, you're going to be very happy with the result. The new tyre is VERY soft and sticky, but no way will you get 10 years out of them. They go hard and lose grip will before the thread wears out and in my case, was about 5 years.

 

My Speedines, 16" 7" front 8" rear, became an option in 1978, part of the "sprint package". The option came with P6 cams and the larger tires which was a racing set up. The cams are so hot you can't run them on the street, but the 16" wheels make for a much better highway ride with OEM suspension. I'm running Firestone Wide Oval 225/50R16 front, and 245/50R16 rear.

 

I thought the same thing about the 16" wheels for decades; but discovered that they are actually listed in the very first print run of the spare parts book in 1976. The existence was confirmed when a friend bought a 16" wheel with a 1976 date stamp on it. They are exceedingly rare because they were hideously expensive at the time, something like 20% of the cost of the car.

I have a set of original 16" wheels for my Vetroresina; but never use them. I find the ride and handling on the XWX shod 7.5" x 14" to be nicer.

 

Wow! I didn't know the 16s went that far back. It could be my imagination, but I feel the car sticks to the road better with less drift on the 16s over the 14s.

 

All depends on the tyre in my experience. XWXs stick like glue when they're new.

 

Ultimate handling on 16" wheels with equivalent tyres to modern compound XWX's is likely to be higher than the 14's. Ride comfort is superior on the higher profile XWX's though.

 

i have a match set of 308 14's cromodoras in storage. i no longer have any 308s. they are dated 79 for carb cars. they will need to be repainted. no major gouges or cracks that i can remember. one has rash that will be an easy fix when repainting, one insert needs to be pressed back in.

i prefer to buy used vintage wheels unpainted and unrestored over a restored set so it can be inspected before hand....especially the early high content mg ones since they are prone to corrosion and stress crack problems. im wondering if there any interest here?

 

Always an interest, although down to one car I am selling rather than buying!

Agree on the OEM finish, I hate to repaint it at all on the back and in the tire width, why bother??

 

I would be willing to buy them or trade for my 14"s........?

 

Just like me! I bought my vetro with both sets and the 16” on. I decided to change to 14”and I have no intention of getting back to 16”. I find handling more precise and better looking car. XWX are mandatory

I have a set of original 16" wheels for my Vetroresina; but never use them. I find the ride and handling on the XWX shod 7.5" x 14" to be nicer.[/QUOTE]




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Given the difference between the two setups, you can clearly see that the ride and handling would be dramatically different. After driving both, from a look and ride perspective, the 14" setup is my preference. From an overall grip perspective though, the 16" outperform in my experience.

 

Do you have the front face pics and centre hub ferrari hubs and what type of tyres are on them ?

Let me know how we can co-oridinate the swap?

 

Last year I read a German magazine comparison test of 14" XWX, CN36 and Vredestein. The Pirellis beat the competitors in every performance category and were less costly as well. I believe there's a link to the test on Longstone's web site.

 

I'd like to see a test that includes the new Dunlop Sports. These have a modern compound and publish the normal stats you find on modern tyres for road noise, braking etc (something the other classic tyres escape because of low volumes)