Although It would seem that Jag-Lovers has banished me from their numbers because of my inability to log on any longer, truth be known Andrew is working diligently behind the scenes to restore my good name. But enough of my trivial problems …
Since my '89 XJ40 (no, we don’t usually name them on this side of the pond, but if you insist lets call it “Mr. Jaguar”…groan) has been behaving so well these past few months I’ve decided to reward it with some new wheels and tires. Now since wheels are right out of the “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” category It’s difficult to ask your “boy racer” friends for his advice. So I turn to you, my cultured associates.
I currently have 15" “teardrop wheels and Michelin tires. I’m planning on going with 16” wheels and
NO BIGGER !!! I am neither a gangster or a rap artist/gangster so I don’t want wagon wheels on my
ride, dude.
I’ve always had Michelin tires on my car and while they have been of the highest quality they are also rather noisy. My wife’s BMW came with Continental tires and they are both quite and well behaved.
So that’s the tires I’m planning on buying.
As far as the wheels go I believe the same gentleman who designed the bulb failure modules also had a hand in the wheel design of our era cars. Nothing there that I like ! So I submit these two candidates for your approval. Both are BMW wheels that have the same bolt pattern as our cars. 120mm vs 4.75" which according to the internet wheel guys are interchangeable.
Groove,
Four years ago I needed to replace the tires on my car and the original 16" Kiwi style wheels were showing their age, so I treated my '94 XJ6 to a new set of wheels and tires. I really liked the looks of the 17" Coventry Whitley wheels - black with a polished silver lip - so I ordered a set with Kumho Supra tires. The tires are OK, but I really like the way the wheels look on my black car, and I have received a number of compliments on them. I bought them online from Discount Tire Direct (no affiliation) and the cost was reasonable. Here’s a link to Coventry’s site if you’re interested: http://www.coventrywheels.com/Jaguar-wheels-rims-whitley/.
Sorry, these aren’t the greatest pics but perhaps you can get an idea of how they look on my car.
I might be leaning towards class rather than sass, but to my mind, the best 16" wheels Jaguar ever used are the diamond cut exposed bolt Aero alloys offered in '94 and '95 …
Mike did you have any clearance issues with your 17" rims ?
While I’m reluctant to relive the Battle of Britain when it comes to Teutonic vs Anglo wheel designs, I don’t feel that it would be too hypocritical to use a BMW wheel with a Jaguar center cap (unless of course I happened to be in either one of those countries).
Of course a little bigger might not look TOO bad !!
Really Dennis? What’s wrong with a set of Jaguar 16" Lattice Alloy wheels? Classic design and British (I think!)
I quite like the second picture of the two BM wheels but if you insist on fitting a set of German wheels to a Jaguar, (yes, I know that a number of components of an XJ40 were made in the fatherland) why not go the whole hog and fit a half track. Lots to chose from here. :-)))
Oh, and while we are on the subject of the BM wheels in that second picture, who was the criminal who fitted clip-on lead wheel weights on the outside rim! ;-(
Groove, the tires I chose are 225/55-17s. The tires that had been on the car were 225/60-16s. The 17s are 3mm larger in diameter at 679mm vs. 676mm, a 0.4% difference, which is not much. I have found that with a full-size front seat passenger aboard and with the wheels turned sharply to the left whilst traversing an incline (say exiting my driveway onto the street) the right front tire rubs slightly on the fender liner. Not horribly, but enough to be audible and to rub the dirt off the liner. I don’t know that the 1.5mm larger radius is enough to cause that - I believe a spring that is 23 years old and has endured 178,000 miles may have something to do with it. I should also state the Coventry wheels are designed specifically for Jaguar vehicles so the offset is correct, so I don’t believe incorrect offset can be an issue in my case.
Ah yes Bryan, same thing on my car, and yes those balance weights were there when I bought the car - also the tires were fitted with the wrong rotational direction …
Incompetency abounds out there in today’s “professional” tire and repair shops - one more reason why I like to do my own work …unfortunately, mounting tires/balancing wheels is beyond my ken - even after a can of spinach.
I had great difficulty when getting my Lattice Alloys re-balanced after fitting new tyres.
I had fitted brake dust shields behind each wheel and that meant that the tyre fitters could not use the normal stick-on lead weights in the inner bole of the wheel because they fouled the dust shields when trying to re-fit the wheels. I therefore was forced to accept clip-on weights on the rims - but I insisted that they used the plastic coated variety to avoid dissimilar metal corrosion on the alloys.
Dust shields all round on mine too Bryan - maybe that’s why the weight was mounted on the outside - got to love the dust shields though, my beautiful wheels always look fresh and clean!
Grooveman , I have fitted my 90 with these , they are 18" and fit the car well ( rear guard lip needed to be rolled ) but other than that no other mods needed.Cars ride height has settled , so car sits a bit lower than in pics.
All great pictures of beautiful cars that you have “made your own” !
I realize that when it comes to my dislike (that’s really too strong a word) of larger wheels that I am surely in the minority. But hey I still love whitewalls !
Well, maybe not so much …
I put my new tyres on today. 225/55ZR16 and theyre amazing. BFGs are the way to go for me. I have em on my 996 and now my Big Cat. No road noise, control, and great price
Hi Groove, just my opinion. I like both style of wheel you have posted but I reckon the second one with the spoke style fitted with a jaguar centre cap would look the best on an XJ 40 out of the two of them.
I’ve always thought the Jaguar lattice was the nicest of all the options offered. I’ve also seen some that have been mirror polished to a chrome like finish, I’ve no idea how much it would cost to have an old set refurbished to that type of finish but if it was cheaper than the BMW set it’s an option you could consider.
I’ve had Pirelli P6000 on my car for the last 4 1/2 years 225 55 16. They’ve covered around 17000 miles and have about 6/7mm of tread left. I don’t rate them at all in wet conditions, they lose traction and grip far too easily for my liking, and I’m nothing like a boy racer.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I know asking someone what wheels they like the best is the same as asking what color you should paint your car. Beauty is in the eye of … the guy writing the check !!
What I was looking for was a tribute back to the old jaguar wire wheel look. Just a tribute mind you because I wouldn’t want to deal with real wire wheels. So I’ve decided to go with the bottom wheel
(with a nudge from my wife), BMW 750iL 16" Style 4. To me it looks a little old school. You can actually get them in a chrome finish but I think that’s a bit over the top, not to mention double the cost. I think the alloy look works just fine.
Now need to source a set locally if possible. Hopefully pictures soon to follow.
Groove, just a thought that came to mind, I know you have checked the PCD is the same as Jaguar so the stud spacing is the same, but have you determined the centre hole is identical too, particularly the chamfer on the inside, and also if the off set is the same ?
If the centre hole is too small it obviously won’t go on, and if it is slightly too large the wheel will rely on the studs to keep it mounted centrally which will be almost impossible to achieve.
A difference in off set might cause the tyre to foul on the wing edge or another part of the car on full lock, or may even foul the calipers. This particular problem appears often in the tech advice columns in the JEC magazine even when using wheels from other Jaguar models that otherwise look identical.
Never ask for opinions from highly opinionated people:laughing: I did consider I might be raining on your plans:worried: but the thought of you shelling out cash on some more ornaments for your garage prompted me to point it out. If the inner hub was smaller in diameter you could have a few thou machined off, but the bevel on the inner edge has to be the same size and angle as on the Jag wheel too.They fit so snugly on the hub that here in the U.K it’s not uncommon for the wheel to seize to the hub and you have to lie on your back and kick the tyre to get it off.
The reason for this tight fit was explained to me when I asked the Jaguar R&D engineers why they always insisted the wheels were tightened with the vehicle raised and not on the ground. The tiny fraction the wheel is pushed up when the car is lowered before the nuts are correctly torqued was enough to cause the wheel to run slightly eliptical and it would show up on the graphs of the vibration measuring equipment.
I’ve no idea if !/2" difference in the off set would cause a problem by fouling anything, I suppose it depends on which way the offset is and what profile tyre you fit, but seeing first hand how many wheels and differing offsets those R&D guys experimented with before deciding which one was ideal for the XJ40, I’m thinking changing it all by 1/2 " at each corner won’t be an improvement.
Of those two BMW wheels, I think you made the right choice aesthetically with the style 4 wheels - they should look very good. I like the narrow and really finely machined looking spokes on them. They’re light too.
Have you given any thought to tyre size - I assume you’ll go with 225/60 16 tyres for the smoother ride they offer over the 225/55 16 size which are more focussed on handling?
I recently changed my wheels from the 15" teardrops to a set of 8J 16" lattice alloys. I fitted 226/60 16 tyres to them, though Jaguar fitted 225/55 16 tyres to the 8J wheels. I’m not sure whether this was to give greater clearance with the wheels being 8J, or whether it reflected the more handling-focussed nature of the cars they were originally fitted to (Sports pack cars and the XJ12).
I noted that some people have experienced rubbing with 16" wheels, so chose a tyre which had as narrow a tread area and as tapered shoulders as I could find. Happily, the tyres don’t rub.
I don’t know why but I never considered the lattice style wheels (they always reminded me of the XJS) but yours look absolutely stunning on your beautiful car. So maybe I’ll have to take a second look at this before I pull the trigger.
