Topic

Hi All, I'm wanting to upgrade the wheels on my TF115 to 16" eleven spoke as I'm wanting to do the big brake conversion eventually. The wheels I have are wider on the back than the on the front, Can someone tell me is the 16" wheel setup the same?

Also is there anything else to consider like speedo calibration?

Saint2710 wrote: wrote:

Hi All, I'm wanting to upgrade the wheels on my TF115 to 16" eleven spoke as I'm wanting to do the big brake conversion eventually. The wheels I have are wider on the back than the on the front, Can someone tell me is the 16" wheel setup the same?

I've got a TF160 with 16" 11 spokes. The wheels are the same width all round but the tyres are different front and rear.

Saint2710 wrote: wrote:

Also is there anything else to consider like speedo calibration?

The 16" wheels also have lower profile tyres so the rolling diameter of the tyre will be the same. On mine it's 195/45 R16 on the front and 215/40 R16 on the back.

Saint2710 wrote: wrote:

Hi All, I'm wanting to upgrade the wheels on my TF115 to 16" eleven spoke as I'm wanting to do the big brake conversion eventually. The wheels I have are wider on the back than the on the front, Can someone tell me is the 16" wheel setup the same?

Also is there anything else to consider like speedo calibration?

Your existing 15" wheels are the same width the rear tyres are wider that the fronts 185/55 R 15 front and 205/50 R 15 rears, the profile reduces as the width increases to maintain the same overall diameter (rolling radius) so the gearing is not affected. if you have a steel spare wheel it is a 14" wheel with a narrower higher profile tyre 175/65 R 14 .

The eleven spoke wheels you propose fitting will need 195/45 R16 on the front and 215/40 R16 on the rear and if you get a fifth alloy as a spare it will need to have the narrower tyre, so in the event of a puncture and is fitted to the front it will not affect the steering, and will obvoiusly be ok on the rear as a "get you home" providing you keep to 50mph.

Choose your tyres carefully when you get the wheels, you know that these cars are very tyres sensitive.

bryan young wrote: wrote:

Your existing 15" wheels are the same width the rear tyres are wider that the fronts 185/55 R 15 front and 205/50 R 15 rears, the profile reduces as the width increases to maintain the same overall diameter (rolling radius) so the gearing is not affected. if you have a steel spare wheel it is a 14" wheel with a narrower higher profile tyre 175/65 R 14 .

Ahh, Didn't know they were the same size wheels, just assumed they were different as the tyre sizes are different, spotted the 14" spare and nearly binned it and got a 15" as I thought the previous owner just put any old wheel in there to fool me.

Do you really think uprating the brakes, new wheels and tyres is worth it - both overall effort, cost and end result?

I have a 115 with 15" 6 spokes (the best IMHO - and I did add these and XPower springs) and the brakes are fine and balanced. If you uprate the brakes, and I am NO expert, without uprating the suspension, especially at the front, won't the extra size of the front brakes (as the discs are bigger than standard and you have 4 pot calipers) make the car more likely to "nose down" under heavy braking and thus disturb the balance?

Bryan will know faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more on this than I. Just a thought

The AP upgrade is a fairly common route taken by people to improve braking.

It does improve the overall braking force.

It can and does often mask the fact that the brakes overall are not in a good condition, lacking maintenance.

It does unbalance the brakes because the front brakes take over the majority of braking. This is true on all cars even those fitted with front APs as standard. The balance of braking bias was not altered on these either.

It does nothing to address the woeful handbrake.

It is expensive, the callipers are £200-300, plus discs, and then you need a set of 16"11spoke alloys and tyres.

If your standard brakes are in good working condition then the brakes on the car are OK.

The standard brakes, especially the rears, need regular maintenance to maintain working efficiency.

The upgraded brakes look nice, and pedal pressures are a lot lower, but the standard set up stops my TF115 fine., especially when you are terrified. For track use I'm sure you need to upgrade as the rather small discs would get hot and fade.

David, your comments are very interesting and quite true You know that Kim (Kimshros) has recently got a 2005 TF Spark (15k miles) and has said that she felt that the brakes (AP set up as standard) were not as good as the poorly dented TF135 that went to the MG graveyard! The front and rear discs and pads had been replaced with new (rear discs were badly cracked and were an instant MoT failure) before she took the car to Zurich. what i am trying to say, is to agree that the standard F & TF brakes in good condition using good parts are sufficent for the car.

I have said that if the AP set up still feels "lacking" to get them checked by Saint Russell

BTW ~ Saint Russell has recently done a Cam Belt, oil and coolant service for her on the TF and found tha the alternator belt was badly shredding and obviously replaced it. i have advised all of our club members to have their checked or replaced because of the possible results of one getting wound around the bottom pulley. ( the cam belt was changed on "Time" rather than mileage as there was no record that it had been changed previously! better safe than sorry)

Bryan I had both my cam belts done the other week, they were both on their way out !!!

If a car is designed around a 15" wheel, would fitting 16" off balance it ?

Only asking as when I first got Madam I loved the big brakes, looks rather than use I have to admit ..
I was talking to one of the old boys who worked on the design of the F and was told not to change them to a 16" as the design runs on a 15" ..

Your thoughts

Although I'm not Bryan, I will field this question.

In Winter we run 15s and in Summer 16s. The overall size*(tyre and wheel is virtually the same).
The main differences in ride are due to the greater sidewall measurement. ie More of the total is rubber on the 15s setup.

The 16s give a harder ride, but also make the handling more sporty. Cornering/steering feels more precise.
The 15s give a more comfortable ride, but also make the handling less precise.

Our car, a Freestyle came with 16s as standard and being used to that, I feel the car is a bit wallow-y(good word) and feels less sporty with the 15s on.

Someone going from 15s to 16s might think the ride hard.

Thank you David, even if your post was number 6666

Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! Spookyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
6667 now
6668 now - edit