Help - Tire and Wheel swap on my 308 ?

I went with the 16" reproduction wheels from Ted Rutland's on my 1980 GTSi with Yokohama tires. There is a lot of information on this, try the search feature.

 

It's going to be a tough search if you've got a budget. If your not on a budget then there's not much of a problem

5x108mm bolt pattern, but the offset is the killer.

If you are willing to look into spacers then it opens a lot of options.

308's are probably one of the hardest after-market wheel fitments out there.

 

A set of QV wheels (actual or repros) or you can bolt on 16" or 17" R41 or LZ style wheels from FChat sponsor www.ronalusa.com/wheels.html, or you can have custom modular wheels made (big bucks) from Kinesis or other folks. You can also use 328 non-ABS wheels but you do have to do some minor modifications to your front grease caps.

I've seen the R41's on Dr. Tommy Cosgrove's 308 and they look great.

 

the Ronalusa wheels use an adaptor/spacer(hub centric) to get the correct offset. And, the owner I either talked to on a really bad day or he is a total jerk. I have never been treated so poorly on the phone when i was looking to spend money. And, I was very nice on the phone. So, good luck with that option.

 

What is the stock offset for a 308 front and back? Are all QV's the same?

 

exact stock offsets on the 16" 308QV wheels are:
Front: +11.15 mm (7" wheels)
Rear: +11.45 mm (8" wheels)

Yes, all QV wheels are the same.

 

I always deal with Gary and he's been pleasant and helpful. He's also occasionally here on FChat.

 

Are you sure that is "mm" vs "cm" 11 mm is under a 1/2". Thanks for your imput.

 

gast308,

Debated various rims, did price checks, quality checks, etc. In the end the decision turned out great! Went with Kinesis K27 as they make rims that properly fit (no spacers), and in fact a SECOND set arrived here today so i have a set with track dry R-compound and another set for daily beater/track wet driving. Kinesis makes very high quality rims for enthusiasts and TRUE race car guys. FYI, the owner of Kinesis was a founding member of the Wheel Industry Council (WIC) and is also on the council of the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA).

There are a myriad of 'cheap' rims that weight A LOT out there. Any more than 1 lbs per inch of rim i feel is excessive. If you want to LOWER the performance of the already underpowered 308, the heavy but inexpensive rims are a good way to go about it.

If not Kinesis, the 16" reproduction is also a good alternative and others here gone that way.

 

Here are the wheels Mike referred to on my car (I just use them for my track tires). EXCELLENT price too.
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Those look nice, Dr. T......

It should be noted that there are several "308 wheel" specs based upon year, from 1975 on.........

I have stock matching front/rear, then there is the later smaller front/larger rear set up......harder on the half shafts, during burn outs, IMO.......

 

Are those available in 16", Steven?

 

Alas, no as there probably is not much of a market for such things. See their whole lineup at http://www.kinesismotorsport.com/forged.htm . They go from 17 to 19 inch. If you look at modern rubber, it appears once you go 17 inch on up the choices get very plentiful (for higher performance rubber).

i CAN NOT stress enough you NEED to make sure the rotating mass (weight) of your rim does not go up too much. This is UNsprung mass folks.

<Nomex Suit ON> But, and sorry and all as this may piss off a few here, some people do not drive their Fcars to anywhere near their performance aspects... at least they BETTER NOT on public roadways. Take it to the track

My apologies, just that the more i chat on the phone with some owners...

 

They are Compomotive TS wheels with Ferrari logo added to center cap.
www.usacomp.com/ts.htm