anyone running on 16" steels?

speedsterboy · Post by **speedsterboy** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:46 pm

Am thinking of changing the wheels on my pre A speedster (currently on 4.5 " original chrome sprintstars). Dont know whether to purchase a set of 4.5"x 15 original style or I already have a set of 16's original slotted style. But I hear some people say you have to have a deathwish to run on them...anyone here using them?

55 speedster
57 speedster
renault spider
nissan cube nismo

Helen · Post by **Helen** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:15 pm

umm. i don't have that much experience with 356s yet But.

my (apal)1957 speedster came to me on 14" and drove like a dream, very comfortable.
i swopped them to prettier 15" and the ride quality is now awful, the car feels skittish at higher speeds and the brakes feel spongy.
the only thing i changed was the wheels

Larrys changed the wheels back for me and the cars a joy to drive again.

912uk · Post by **912uk** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:32 pm

not sure 15's would change the car that much. I know 16's are a bit death pan ish I am not sure even finding a set of 16's is going to be easy or certainly not for under €2500 so 15's are realy a sensible bet I would say certainly cheaper.

Barry Wolk · Post by **Barry Wolk** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:41 pm

I think the issue is more the tires than the wheels. I have 16" wheels on my '55 Cab. It made a huge difference when I went to Michelin X radials in a 5.50R16 (175R16). Since no wide whitewalls are available in that size I had Diamondback Tire apply an authentic size whitewall to a stock tire.

Granted, I'll not be using the car anywhere near its limits so I'm not terribly concerned about stressing the wheels.

Personally, I think the 16" wheels are more appropriate looking for the pre-As.

Then again, I've got a couple that are quite wobbly, if you'd like to part with yours..........................

912uk · Post by **912uk** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:22 pm

I still don't know why they can't remake these some where 16" rims surely some one can

speedsterboy · Post by **speedsterboy** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:56 pm

hmmm.. still not sure . I have a full set of 16" wheels ,so I would only need tyres . just worried that I might pay the premium for the tyres then find I hate the way it drives.
I agree that 16's look better but I do use my car and in all conditions so its got to be able to cope with modern driving conditions..
wish somebody could lend me a set for a day so I could compare.

pb911 · Post by **pb911** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 11:45 pm

have a look here:

http://www.sierramadrecollection.com/st ... ail&p=2863

paul

svens · Post by **svens** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 7:55 am

speedsterboy wrote:hmmm.. still not sure . I have a full set of 16" wheels ,so I would only need tyres . just worried that I might pay the premium for the tyres then find I hate the way it drives.
I agree that 16's look better but I do use my car and in all conditions so its got to be able to cope with modern driving conditions..
wish somebody could lend me a set for a day so I could compare.

Driving on 16" is different from 15", you'll get more pronounced oversteer. You do go from 4.5" to 4.0"... they are skinnier and taller.
If you go for the 16" you will need good tires, Michelin X (radial?) sounds fine.
With the wrong tires (read crossply) you only have to think "turn" and it turns without using the steering wheel.

Personally I like the 16" over the 15"...

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 8:56 am

Helen wrote:my (apal)1957 speedster came to me on 14" and drove like a dream, very comfortable.
i swopped them to prettier 15" and the ride quality is now awful, the car feels skittish at higher speeds and the brakes feel spongy.
the only thing i changed was the wheels

Are you sure Helen?
I thought all the wheels with the car were 15"....
The shiny wheels have oversized tyres and I agree that the ride quality on those 'bling' wheels was crap, that's one of the reasons I ran the scruffy wheels.

Mick Cliff · Post by **Mick Cliff** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:01 am

Correction:
Thinking about it (the Apal) I seem to remember that the scruffy set are 4.5" wide and the bling set are 5" wide, or is it the other way round?
Thinking some more - the tyres are all the same size on all 8 wheels therefore the the bling set might be the narrower set and that would effectively 'over-tyre' the narrower wheel set.

onion · Post by **onion** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 9:14 am

I run dunlop R5 radials on my 16" rims. had crossplies before and it was horrendous . it drives very well now that its on radials. 1955 preA.

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:10 am

I drove a 356 A cab with 4.5X15 rims with crossplys on it on a 400 mile jaunt and found it to be one of the best 356 driving experiences I have ever had!!

As for 16" rims I like them on the Pre-A's we have about 18-20 of them at work!

svens · Post by **svens** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:45 am

Graham wrote:
As for 16" rims I like them on the Pre-A's we have about 18-20 of them at work!

Interesting - would you like to tell us more about this? I'm very curious...

Schläfer · Post by **Schläfer** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:20 am

All the myths of 16 inch wheels is due to the lack of decent tyres, this has changed more recently though. It has very little to do with the rolling circumference because comparing something like an Avon Tourist 5.50x16 tyre - 688mm and a Michelin 165x15 - 646mm, a total of 42mm taller, so the centre of gravity is 21mm higher.

The rim width dictates the tyres you can choose. The first wheel Porsche used were 3.00 inch solid centre taken directly from a VW split bug, Porsche changed them in 52 to the slotted version and increased the width to 3.25 inch. Barndoor Bus wheels are also solid centre and have a 3.5 inch rim, so could be used on a 50-52 356, although they're made of heavier gauge steel (to take load as a van) which means the unsprung weight goes up quite a bit. You could try and find a set of Spyder wheels which were 16x4.5 with a slotted steel centre and an alloy rim, which are the ultimate early 50's performance wheel and ticks all the boxes with a good width tyre and light weight, but every up has a down, so the offset's are a little different and if you're lucky enough to find some you'll need to sell your house to fund them.

The best bet on the Speedster might be your slotted 16x3.25 with "Avon Turbosteel 165/80 R16" you can buy them from Longstones, they're not that cheap, but nobody ever said cheap tyres were good, after all your balancing an expensive car on them!

Spyder wheel with R5 Dunlop Racing Tyre (Road Legal):

16x3.25 slotted with Avon Turbosteels:

Graham · Post by **Graham** » Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:49 am

svens wrote:
Graham wrote:
As for 16" rims I like them on the Pre-A's we have about 18-20 of them at work!
Interesting - would you like to tell us more about this? I'm very curious...

I work for Roger Bray reatoration,when I started there when I left school we found alot of pre-a owners wanted 15's because of fitting radials,so we ended up with the 16's,I have also cut up 2 pre-a coupes,both had a set of 16's!
Have a complete set of 16's with the holes drilled for the aluminium beauty rings and an original set of those for them too!