Alloy Wheels for an S3

[billwill]

I've been contemplating too long on getting my spare steel wheels, grit blasted, zinc sprayed and black painted and the best quote I have at present is ?75 each plus carriage. One wheel has a slightly bent rim and as mentioned on this forum, getting steel wheels straightened is nearly impossible (expensive ? ).

So it strikes me that I should also consider alternatives..

What would be the right/best knock-on alloy wheels for my S3 Coupe and from where can I get them?

[Elanman68]

I've fitted 5 x 13 Revolution Knock Ons to my S4 which I sourced from Kelvedon.

The four spoke design has been around since about 1967 so they are 'period', they are light, not particularly expensive (?135 each +VAT) and don't need a thrust ring so go straight on. I'm not sure if they do a 4.5" wide version, but I believe you can fit 155 section tyres to a 5" rim if needed to give clearance.

[Paul Chapman]

Looks as though Revolution wheels are now only available as 13" x 5" Price looks good.
http://www.revolutionwheels.com

[alan.barker]

Why not fit some +2S Alloy Wheels
Alan

[billwill]

I've fitted 5 x 13 Revolution Knock Ons to my S4 which I sourced from Kelvedon.

The four spoke design has been around since about 1967 so they are 'period', they are light, not particularly expensive (?135 each +VAT) and don't need a thrust ring so go straight on. I'm not sure if they do a 4.5" wide version, but I believe you can fit 155 section tyres to a 5" rim if needed to give clearance.

Looking at their pictures it is not obvious how they can drill 5 locating peg holes on a 4 spoke design ?

http://www.revolutionwheels.com/wheels/ ... D20671BHR/

[Elanman68]

Obviously the knock on version doesn't have the 4 bolt holes and the rear face of the wheel has a flat area to mate with the hub. their is plenty of materiel there for the 5 locating holes. I may well be taking a wheel off this weekend, if so I'll take a photo of the rear face.

Slightly clearer in the picture at link below as front of the face which mates to the hub can be seen.

http://www.kelsport.net/parts/product_d ... ctionID=36

[billwill]

Ah, Kelsport website was not working for me yesterday, seems to work now.

Seems a hefty mark-up. The wheel at the revolution site is ?94 and then ?135 at Kelsport, but it looks actually a slightly different wheel, the one on the revolution photo above does not have that flat disk at the back.

[Stevie-Heathie]

TTR Minilites? ?126 + VAT a corner.

https://www.tonythompsonracing.co.uk/pa ... from-each/

I?m still running my original steelies on my S3 but not sure I trust them on the track.

Watching this thread with interest.

Best
Steve

[Stevie-Heathie]

Spotted this lovely looking S3 on Minilites on Facebook this morning:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Lotus.E ... 107032407/

[Elanman68]

Ah, Kelsport website was not working for me yesterday, seems to work now.

Seems a hefty mark-up. The wheel at the revolution site is ?94 and then ?135 at Kelsport, but it looks actually a slightly different wheel, the one on the revolution photo above does not have that flat disk at the back.

Kelvedons website can be very slow. It may be a hefty mark up but I don't see Elan wheels on the Revolution website, other than a 26R 4 Peg fitting in 13 x6? An even heftier ?204 each!

http://www.revolutionwheels.com/wheels/ ... -1157MBHR/

As the demand for the knock on fitting is going to be less than the Midget wheel shown I suppose they can ask that price, I note there's an addition for special orders. I'm pleased with mine and will post a couple of pictures if I have the car out this weekend. I also have a set of the original Spyder 14x6 Minilite copies, if I ever do track days in this car I'll use these. I have 6 or 7 of the original steel wheels, unfortunately I don't have 4 round ones! Hence the Revolutions.

[Elanman68]

Weather wasn't good here today so Car stayed in the garage while I did a number of jobs on the list. Did take a wheel off though so here's front and rear pictures

[billwill]

Thank You.

[billwill]

My present tyres are Dunlop SP sport 155/80 R13 79T (yes rather old!), I note that the Lotus maintenance manuals did not note/quote the profile figure on their recommended tyres back in the '60s -> '70s

Perhaps needless to say my enquiries about Alloy wheels in this topic ties in with a high desire to get new tyres. I've had messages now from Revolution wheels but somewhat annoyingly no price quote, but I have been offered the ability to buy a single wheel for fitting testing and a refund if it is not suitable (provided that it is returned in pristine condition). Anyway, even to do such a test I need to choose my tyres and I had thought that getting 155/80 R13 79T would be difficult, but in fact I am amazed (and lost for choice) on all the tyres available of that size.

This is the list from one of the distributors:
https://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop ... o_Seite=50

I also found some classic tyres at: https://www.vintagetyres.com/shop/en/ty ... response-2 where the Dunlop Street Response 2 looks like a very similar tread to my existing Dunlop SP Sports.

So I haven't made any decision on tyres yet. Any comments folks? I fancy a tyre that would be good in the wet but not too inefficient in the dry, as we never know, in the UK, when rain will come down; this is the same policy that led me to buying my Coupe not an open Elan 49 years ago.

[gherlt]

Personally I would stick to to big brands and discard no-names. And then look - if available- at the EU label, there are three indicators: A-F for consumption and rain and dB for noise. The rain classification is the interesting one. In Germany the best one was B, I think it was the Continental.
Consumption is not important in our case, maybe here we should even think contrary to main stream: I suppose that an F tyre sticks more to tarmac then a B ...
And regarding thread, I once had a good looking tyre from Firestone, it was a total desaster. It was acceptable in dry, horrible in wet conditions.
Since then I do not care if the look of the thread is more modern or classic. When I am at the steering wheel I do not seethem.