Gentlemen:
Yesterday, I woke up my cat from winter hibernation and
finally got the chance to put the new (to me) XK8 ‘revolver’
wheels – I collected all the parts over the winter months
while the car was off the road.
This topic (wheels, tire sizes) comes very often. Many have
done it and some pictures of the final result can be found
on the Internet, however, the details are hard to come by. I
figured I should cover it in a photo album:
http://www.jag-lovers.org/v.htm?1428199053
First, let me acknowledge Bernard Embden for writing a very
nice story on his rim upgrade decision:
http://bernardembden.com/xjs/rimtire/index.htm
This is a must read for anyone considering the change. Most
of the information applies to the later cars too. Kirby also
has some good info at the end of this page:
http://www.jag-lovers.org/books/xj-s/21-Suspmods.html
Brief comments from my own, 10 miles experience:
-
There are many Chevy/Corvette wheels that could fit, but
the center bore will be different. If you are using a non-
Jag wheel, hub-centricity must be preserved. In this case,
an adaptor to the wheel will be needed (custom-made most
likely, almost nothing can be found for CB 73.9 mm). Or the
wheel will have to be custom-machined. Longer nuts for
anything thicker than 8-10 mm. -
The Jag hub is 73.9 mm, not 74.1 mm as incorrectly listed
in many wheel catalogs. Bolt pattern is 5x4.75’’ and this is
not the same as the BMW 5x120mm. 4.75’’ is 120.7mm and while
a fraction of a millimeter could be neglected, safety should
not. -
I had no problems with rubbing anywhere. With or without
spacers. The use of spacers was dictated by my desire not to
alter the grease cap in order to fit the wheel center cap.
The Jaguar MNA6116AA wheel (also 17x8 and 33mm ET) from the
supercharged XJ6-R might fit the fro hub without a spacer –
a few listers here have them and should confirm. -
Going from aspect ratio 60 to 50 makes a noticeable
difference in the ride. I would imagine that if one were to
go for the XJR wheel, which also fits the XJS hub but will
require 45 or 40 aspect ratio, there will be less and less
‘‘red-carpet’’ ride. -
The car drives and feels different. I am not sure if it
is the tire (225 Michelin in the 16’’ vs 245 Pirelli in the
17’’) but more miles will tell. Tramlining? Or incorrect
alignment settings exacerbated? -
I think that, perhaps, the best ride quality/performance
combination will be in the 16’’ or 17’’ sizes using staggered
configuration – 50-55 in the front and 45-50 in the back.
Overall, very happy with the ‘‘upgrade’’ and with the car
finally back on the road for the summer.
Best regards,
Steve
PS Happy Easter (to all that celebrate today)!–
'95 XJS convertible - V12 6.0L
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
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