160 wheels

[Kelly959]

Looking to change my 160 wheels for some alloys. Not wanting to go much if any bigger just not a fan of the steels. 
It would seem that the size is unusual as is the 4x100 PCD. 
Any suggestions for a source of wheels or ideas most welcome!

[Wrightpayne]

Have you done any googling / ebay searching? Understanding the offset / ET number would be useful. This is how far the rim of the wheel sits in or out in relation to the mounting face of the wheel.

 

I found a 5.5J Toyota Yaris wheel with the same PCD, however, the offset might be wrong as this is a FWD car. This would be 1 inch wider than the steels.

Ian

[Wrightpayne]

Looks like early MX5 wheels were 100 PCD and this was RWD - there are some that look like minilights.

Other consideration is the bore of the hole in the centre as this is designed to locate onto a collar on the hub.

Ian

[Adam Godfrey]

I know that Mini wheels are 4x100 pcd (R53 and R56 versions).
You would have to check the centre bore was compatible (you may need to use spigot rings) and as mentioned, the offset.

I would have thought most alloys are going to be quite a lot wider, the downside is they may end up spoiling the feel of the car. 

 

[Golf Juliet Tango]

How about contacting Revolution? They will look nice on a 160 with a slightly period look.

And take up their offer to members.

https://www.lotus7.club/membership/special-offers-members/revolution-wheels

[7 wonders of the world]

If you call Revolution speak to Warren....  

 

[Tazio]

You could also talk to someone like these people, as it seems they can make bespoke wheels www.imagewheels.co.uk.

 

[Mrp]

https://translate.google.fr/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seven-160.com%2Foptional_item.html&edit-text&act=url&fbclid=IwAR1NI-PJD8usAM6WTKcr-i6BUVws2WeDMdZnc_7ALRa1VilFj2_o3oD2k-g

Have you seen this it might help with your search.

Mrp

[Wrightpayne]

Mrp

Those Volk racing wheels look nice!

[Kelly959]

I just want the look without going wider - I like the (relative)  lack of grip!

[Kelly959]

Thanks - the translations certainly help and those Volks wheels look great plus only 1/2 wider

[Kelly959]

Thanks. Yes lots of time on Google. Caterham themselves can't tell me the offset!  
I'm going to take it into a tyre place I know and ask them to tell me then I can start being more precise with what I want. 
given that I want it to be as narrow as possible to retain the same feel, I think the 14" diameter, 4x100PCD and Offset is likely to make it very difficult to source 

[Wrightpayne]

You will be able to measure offset yourself. Just need a straight edge (piece of wood) and a ruler. Just google it - lots of 'how to's' on the internet.

It may even be stamped into the steel around the bolt holes.

Ian

[simon_h]

Standard steel wheels are Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo 

[arthur rayner]

Hi Simon

 

Are you saying that the standard steel wheels on a 160 are Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo? I'm trying to get a new steel wheel for a spare and apparently GP Sevens are saying that Caterham are unable to supply one. if so perhaps i can go this route?

Arthur

[Wrightpayne]

If they are the ones ET39 - lots on ebay. Cheapest new Toyota rim is £33 in black. Bit different to £163 from caterham!!

I've looked at images of the two wheels, caterham and toyota and the pressing looks very similar.

[simon_h]

Arthur, check for yourself obviously but that was the wheel spec originally from memory. Scrapyard eBay would be worth a try

[rkeywood]

If that's the case then I've full set of 160 wheels sitting on my drive on a '58 plate Citroen C1! For the price that Caterham charge I'd throw the car in with a set of second hand wheels. 

I've bought new original Toyota wheels from Toyota Official Store on Ebay for £34 delivered. Crazily the identical C1 wheels are £65!. The wheels are stamped on the humps between the studs 4/2J x 14 H2 ET39. They are 4 x 100 PCD with 54mm centres. Only available in black

For the OP there's plenty of 5J alloy options for the Aygo/107/C1. Revolution seems a good shout (as suggested above) as the size / offset needed looks like it fall into their 4 spoke machine to fit sizes

Hope that helps

[Wrightpayne]

Easy enough to spray / get powdercoated.

I looked at the 14" alloys on ebay for the Aygo et al and there are some quite nice wheels.

This one almost minilightesque...just need to check they fit!!

 

[Chris and Kate]

I've looked all over the internet:

The problem is the wheel size 14 inch x 4.5J - 4x100 - 39ET or 5.0J is very unusual for alloys and, if you draw it out (I'm an engineer, I can't help but think like this), doesn't leave much room for the thicker spokes on alloys anyway.

Traditional Minilite wheels are much lower offset in the narrower sizes. I checked the sizes online for Minilite, Minator, JBW, Compomotive and Image and the offsets are all considerably less than the required ET39. Japan Racing make the JR19 but again ET values are very low.

This is the only Minilite style wheel that I think might fit - Watanabe. They make the 14-05 F8F (aluminium and magnesium versions). Standard Alu ET is 45 with lower values available to special order, the Mag version comes in ET40 which I guess is close enough. Assuming you want silver alloys you'll need to specify that as well which brings the total to £276 (Al) and £303 (Mag). Those figures are based on the manufactures website, I don't know what they'd cost after you pay for shipping or order through a UK distributor.

Volk Racing make the CE28N if you like a modern look. Personally I think Caterhams suite more traditional looking wheels but it fits.

Unfortunately they are also even more expensive than the Watanabes.

[aerobod - near CYYC]

For a 155/65-14 tyre, wheels up to a width of 5.5J can be used. A safe offset range should be from 35 to 42mm. The number of alloy wheels available that fall in that range goes up somewhat.

[Chris and Kate]

There are tables of wheel-tyre sizes on the internet, I've looked at tyresizecalculator, and 155/65 isn't recommended for a 5.5 rim. It isn't listed for 5.0 either.

Watanabe do produce a 14 - 4.5 as well as the 14 -5.0. Wheels in these sizes are rare and wheels that actually suit the 160 are rarer still.

So it looks like 155/65 on 14-4.5 or 165/60 on 14-5.0.

For the bigger size it might be a good idea to use a higher ET, maybe 42-45, to keep the width the same as the rear wheels are very close to the edges of the arches.

So it looks as if there isn't much choice if you want a traditional looking wheel.