[Alfatakesitall]

If you all should buy other rims in addition to those you have now, which size would you choose (inches and ET)?
What is the best option for our Alfa?
This is my doubt now.... better 16" or 17"?

From the aesthetic point of view 17" wheels are certainly the most beautiful but... in practice?
What you lose in comfort? Is it still acceptable?
Not that I could bend the rims at each hole of the road?

And anyway: better 7, 7,5 or 8J?
Better ET 20, 25 or 30?
Better 205 or 215 tires?

I was thinking as my next solution to the following:
205/40 7J x 17 ET 20 front
205/40 7,5J x 17 ET 27 rear.

Suggestions and advices please...

 

[Mound Dawg]

To an extent, bigger wheels and tyres ruin the ride, handling and steering to be honest.

My pal Tim and I both have 75 Twinsparks with the Alfaholics handling kit and Koni sport dampers. The only difference chassis-wise is that I've got 7x15 Revolution wheels with 205/50 Yokohama AD08 tyres, he's got standard size (14x6.5) Revolutions fitted with standard size 195/60 Bridgestones.

My car feels like a modified car with slightly heavy steering and it tramlines a bit on uneven roads, his feels lovely, nice light steering with loads of feel, the ride quality is great and the car feels nimble and pointy.

I'll agree that my car has loads more grip and is much faster through any given corner so it makes a much better track-day weapon but as a car to drive quickly on the road, Tim's is much nicer.

So the answer is, 14 inch wheels to drive on, 15 inch wheels for trackdays, 16 inch wheels for posing and 17 inch wheels if you want to impress your younger brother's 14 year old friends...

 

[fatdarryl]

I run 16-205, at the mo they are totally too big at 50 profile (wheels and tyres straight off a modern gtv), I'm changing down to 45 or maybe even 40 next time round to get the right effective final drive ratio (45's) or possibly even go a little nippier with the ratio (40's) they will blatently be harsh, but hey.. I like it, and the vibration helps my little girl go to sleep haha!

 

[Alfatakesitall]

Fatdarryl put the 205/45 16 as soon as you can... and then tell me!
That is the right size!
Since I changed the stok 11/39 with a shorte 11/43 final ratio I was thinking to try 215/45 16 as well... but I am not sure with my 7,5J ET 26 if they fit in the wellwheels or rub on the front.

 

[fraz]

Fatdarryl put the 205/45 16 as soon as you can... and then tell me!
That is the right size!
Since I changed the stok 11/39 with a shorte 11/43 final ratio I was thinking to try 215/45 16 as well... but I am not sure with my 7,5J ET 26 if they fit in the wellwheels or rub on the front.

I've done a lot of homework on this and I have been on 16" wheels (3 sets) and have only run 205/45/16 tires of many flavors for as long as I have owned the car like 15 years. My current wheels I highly recommend at Team Dynamics Pro Race 16x7 and I believe they are 30ET offset. My older Borbets were 16x7.5 with a 35ET offset and neither of them rub. You need to run a little higher caster to ensure no rubbing though. Also make sure caster rod bushings are happy and in tact. I run between 3-5 degrees depending on what effect I am looking for.

Yes on the street the lower profile tires are a little slotcar-like on grooves in the road but the stability and handling improvements far outweigh me ever wanting taller tires.

 

[fabiogtv6]

So the answer is, 14 inch wheels to drive on, 15 inch wheels for trackdays, 16 inch wheels for posing and 17 inch wheels if you want to impress your younger brother's 14 year old friends...

I agree!
It depends on what one wants from his/her car.
Unfortunately technics, dynamics & beauty don't always go together...

 

[fatdarryl]

Fatdarryl put the 205/45 16 as soon as you can... and then tell me!
That is the right size!
Since I changed the stok 11/39 with a shorte 11/43 final ratio I was thinking to try 215/45 16 as well... but I am not sure with my 7,5J ET 26 if they fit in the wellwheels or rub on the front.

Will do! I'm still slightly tempted by the 40's, add a little accelleration, lose a bit of top speed, basically because I very rarely get up into 5th apart from to make my exhaust a little quieter. I am a tiny bit concerned about having massive wheel arch gaps at a decent ride height though, it's bad enough on the 50's with cut rear springs

 

[Alfatakesitall]

I don't think 16 inches rims are just for posing.
They improve very much the roadholding and steering precision, the car is certainly more rigid but comfort is not compromised beyond repair.
I don't know with 17", since I never tried on a 75 (on my Alfa Brera lowered I ride everyday with 235/40 ZR 19... yes hard but great handling and still acceptable comfort).
15 inches are the minimum in my opinion but be serious friend... 14 are much too small!.

 

[NMMilano]

Also not much tire choice in 14 (at least in US) More tires again available in 15 due to Miata spec. but much greater choice with 16

 

[nizam]

"Good" tire choices are getting less and less in the smaller sizes due to market pressures. Every new car manufacturer puts on bigger wheels on their cars, and tire makers will make their better models for those sizes.

At least in the USA, 13" and 14" tire choices are not going to be easily available and when they are, they can be expensive.

I moved to 16" wheels back in the early 2000's and am now forced to go into 17" wheels due to tire choices. It's important to separate size and mass as a bigger wheel doesn't necessarily mean it's heavier. My 16x7 SSR Competitions (SSR Type-C) weighs 10.8lbs per corner, which is a LOT lighter than the stock 15x6 Benzoni or Campagnolo "Phonedial" wheels.

The present 17x7 Team Dynamics wheel that I have on now is about the same weight as the 15x6 Benzoni, so I didn't regress in terms of weight compared to stock. Unfortunately, tires do weigh more as they get larger. Mathematically (weight wise), I've probably come out the same or on the cheaper tires, in deficit. The gain I get is better tire choices and a larger contact patch for my Milano/75 for more grip

Team Dynamics 17x7 Under full lock and full load conditions, there is no rubbing:



The Verde behind me is wearing Volk TE37 16x7's. Even lighter and stronger than my SSR Comps.



Same car with 16x7 SSR Competitions (aka Type C's). Made a big difference in how the car switched directions.

 

[Publio]

Will MB C230 wheels fit on a milano?

 

[nizam]

Nope. MB's have 5x112 bolt pattern.

 

[Alfatakesitall]

So no rubbing issue with 7J x 17 but I hope also with 7,5J x 17.
If I upgrade to 17" I would prefer not to come back in width, since now I ride on 7,5J x 16...

 

[nizam]

I'd say you could make it on 17x7.5 as long as you went with something like 205/40/17 tires.

And make sure the offset is not too aggressive.

 

[onename]

I've been using 215/40-16 for a few years. The car handles fantastic, however for everyday driving it's a bit rough. I just bent a rim 1 hour ago

I'm looking to get higher profile tires in the future.

 

[ToonRboy]

I totally agree woth Mound Dawg http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/mil...75-rims-tires-option-matches.html#post1007399

Keep in mind that the GTV6 does not have power steering and at low speed, steering is heavy. Naturally, I've got a much bigger contact patch with 225's over the 205's, so friction (traction) and of course weight (mass). http://www.alfabb.com/bb/forums/alfetta-gtv6-1975-1986/172945-best-wheels-gtv-6-a-6.html#post997278

I can pick up the stock Milano rims (with tire mounted) with one arm. The 16's with the 225's? Requires a "two-stage" pull, like doing squats with a barbell. Much heavier.

 

[trainwreck]

15's are perfect. Not only do they function best but the tires are cheap too!

The only issue I forsee is the lack of variety in 15" wheels although Team Dynamics makes a few decent ones. It would be nice if Volk and BBS would show some 98x5 love

 

[Alfatakesitall]

In my opinion 16 inches is the minimum.
215/40 16 was to low and it was not good!
The importance of weight of the rims is exagerated: think about the different sizes of BMW 3 series coupè from 17 to 19.
If it was so nobody put the 19 inches rims which - on the contrary - almost all put!

 

[nizam]

It would be nice if Volk and BBS would show some 98x5 love

Last I checked with them (both), they WOULD make a set in 5x98mm, with the correct bore size for the Milano/75/GTV6 ... just need to give them a hefty deposit and wait 6-8 weeks.

Plus, since it is not a common request, be prepared to pay a slightly higher cost for the wheels.

And don't bend or break them, else you'd have to go through the same process again

 

[superloaf]

just a couple things:

mounddawg: i'm surprised you're recommending 14's although i put falken rt-615's on mine and it actually sticks pretty well. ahh, but how would the same tire feel in a 15 or 16? probably much nicer.

and many things might be contributing to your tramlining and other issues. i would have never believed it until i experienced it firsthand, but on my 951 when i switched to manual steering, it was so tough to steer that i thought i had made a big mistake. then with only a switch to different tires (and up from 205/50-17 to 225/45-17 no less) the steering was perfect. no more fighting to turn, no more tramlining, so much better in every way. old tires had no unusual wear or other obvious reason for why they were so horrible. (old tires were sumitomo's and new tires are pilot sports.) anyways, again i never would have believed this but there it is. still a mystery but at least a happy one.

fatdarryl: i wouldn't go with 205/40's as i think the gap would be much worse. i have 205/40-16's on my scirocco. on the scirocco, the proper size is somewhere between those and 205/45 so i went with the 40's but kinda wish i did the 45's as for some reason, the 205/40's look too small almost for the car. and even thought the car is lowered quite a bit, it still looks like it is smaller overall than the OEM 185/60-14's, so much that i matched them by placing them side by side only to find that the 205/40-16's were actually much bigger in all directions! but for some reason, it's almost an optical illusion or maybe just the way the lower profile tire mounts to the wheel. again, another mystery. anyways, just saying that if i had this problem on the scirocco, then on a milano with its horrible fender gap, i fear it would just not look right at all.