Sixteen inch wheel request, I would order at least 6 wheels

[h20hamelan]

Anyone interested in 16's for elan's

If you happened on my other thread, though it spoke of 14"...

If people wanted Steels made, would it make sense to build them in 13" when you can't get good Tyres. So what about 14" that option does not seem too much better. 15 would be a step up. Guess if it was my money, I would prefer the best quality tyre for the price. Hence 16



Or maybe I am way out in left field.
I suspect the Elan would feel great with 16's

[jcocking]

Moved to wheels forum.

[msd1107]

You do not have suffer the expense of new wheels if you get Michelin XAS tyres. Admittedly, the tyres are expensive, but the cost of new wheels and tyres would be more than just new tyres. If Michelin stops making 155 or 165X13 XAS, then we are in trouble.

14" tyres are in hardly better availability.

At 16", tyres with the similar rev/mile figures as our 155-13 or 165-13 tyres are 175/55-16 and 185/50-16 unless you go to wider section widths.

For 15", tyres could be 175/65-15, 185/60-15, 195/55-15, 175/60-15, 185/55-15, and 175/55-15.

Another thing to consider is the weight of the wheel. The Lotus steel wheels are quite light at around 12.5 lbs, lighter than many current 14" aluminum wheels. The weight of the wheel increases as the square of the wheel diameter so you would be looking at some unacceptably heavy steel wheels at 15" and 16" sizes. The weight of the tyre does not decrease as quickly as the weight of the wheel increases as you go up in wheel size and decrease the sidewall height (larger wheel, smaller aspect ratio).

There have been some replacement 13" steel wheels made, but they are much heavier than the Lotus steel wheel.

At 15" wheel size, about the only way to get a tyre/wheel weight combination close to the standard 13" tyre/wheel weight combination is to go to a magnesium 26R style wheel, surely a much more expensive proposition.

David
1968 36/7988

[h20hamelan]

Thanks for the words David

The Michelin AXS are fine, And there may be better stuff coming for the 14's.

Before I spend my money, I do want to weigh all the options.

So Thanks again

h20hamelan

[ceejay]

I have had 14" X 6" three piece alloy Simmons wheels (Australian made) on my elan since 1984,
while the tire selection at the time in Australia was really great. But due to the popularity
of the larger dia smaller profile tires available now, the choice of 14" dia tires
is not so great. Yokohama and Bridgestone used to be my favourites, but I've
had to switch to Continentals in order to get a nice high performance tire.

Note: Simmons wheels closed their business many years ago, Tempe tires in Tempe
Sydney NSW Aust purchased all of the tooling, and are remaking the famous Simmons
wheels again, but the sizes start at 15" Dia.