Alloy wheels for my Sprint

[pereirac]

I know the Elan had 4.5" wheels and on the +2 they were 5.5". Minilite do an 'affordable' 5" wheel. Does anybody know if this would fit the Elan without any modifications and with the standard 155 x13 tyres?
I remember my Elan had Minilites with lower profile tyres when I bought her but they used to rub on the anti roll bar if you tried a sharp turn and there was not a lot of clearance at the bottom of the rear wishbones.

Carl

[msd1107]

I changed to +2 wheels quite early on for my '69 FHC. Great upgrade, no headaches.

Every car is subtly different. You may get rubbing on the inside front wheel well on sharp turns, rubbing on the fender, rubbing on the inside rear wheel well, tight clearances in other locations. But, stock cars sometimes had these issues also.

David
1968 36/7988

[patrics]

Hi,
I have a set of 5 inch minilites but not fitted with tyres
If you ever got close to Solihull area your welcome do try one on your car
I changed from knock-on to bolt-on on my S4

Regards
Steve

[bill308]

I ran my S2 with 5-inch Panasports ko's for many years. I ran 165/70's on the road without incident. When I spun out on Lime Rock Park many years ago, I went off course, onto the grass, and lost a small chunk of the upper right wheel arch when at full lock.

155/R13 on 4.5 inch steel rims was a standard fitment on S2 SE's. If Minilite got the offset right on their 5-inch rims, you should be ok under all foreseeable conditions.

Bill

[7skypilot]

I fitted a set of 5" Minilites last year. The steel KO's are beautiful, but a little delicate for the tough driving the S4 occasionally gets. I've 165/70 tyres. There's lots of info on Minilites on this forum.

The front wheels fitted just fine; at the rear a fair bit of fettling was required. The lip on the rear arch was filed down to fit, but there was some contact between the inner rim and the outer A-frame bolt heads. Chamfering the bolt head sorted the problem. Beware of fitting balance weights too close to the edge of the inside rim - those A-frame bolts will remove them very nicely!

There was the occasional contact between the tyre and the rear arch under full compression; nothing to concern me too much, but this was fixed with stronger, adjustable, rear springs.

The wheels are strong, have a 'period' look and offer the choice of modern tyres.

Like a lot of things Lotus, jobs often aren't quite as straightforward as they first appear!