Alloys help please

[scottydogg38]

Hello guys and girls out there, i was planning to buy some alloys for my Nova 1.2i, for my first set i wanted to buysecond hand so i went to my local Car transplants centre and saw a nice set of TSW alloys along with others, but i was told they wouldnt fit on my Nova because the wheelstuds were a different pattern, but the look the same as the standard wheels. So i queried this and the bloke said i would need universal alloys if i wanted to fit some, or actual standard vauxhall wheels, is this correct? if anyone can clear this up for me it would be a great help, thanks alot :)

[Dod]

Ok, your Nova ia 4 stud, the studs are 100mm apart from one, straight through the centre hole in the wheel to the next, to the stud oppisate. This is called a PCD. Your PCD is 100

Your wheels have an offset of 49mm (et49). This means your wheel sits 49mm from a certain point on the car. Cars differ, eg BMW's with a PCD of 100 have a 25mm offset.

Most wheels will fit your Car, with exceptions of Ford, Citroen, Puegot, Hyundai PCD 104 and Larger 4 Stud Cars, Honda Accord, Nissan Primera and Rover 600, PCD 108


The TSW wheels must have been one of the above.

[Matt2107]

You need a pcd of 4 x 100 and an offset of ET49.

Offset can be fudged a little closer towards ET42 if it has to be.
Some fellas on here even run ET38 but you might start catching your arches.

[scottydogg38]

:confused: thanks but i was told i had to get alloys with like 5 million different stud holes, this is what i cant understand, if my car has a 4 stud wheel system, why do i need the universal alloys, sorry if i'm missing the point in your answer, i'm not always very good with things like this

[Dod]

I run an ET35 on the front of one of my Novas, its too much.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y92/Dods1/Pic344.jpg

[Dod]

You dont need universal fitting alloys. You need wheels with a PCD of 100, found on most 4 stud cars with the exceptions I've listed above, and an offset of 49 or close to it as found on most Vauxhalls.

[Stuart]

universal wheels tend to have 8 holes.. one set for one particular PCD and anotehr set for another PCD... This means one wheel can fit two brands of car, therefore double the market for feck all extra cost to the supplier.

If you look at the Articles section there is a link to a site that lists various PCD/Bore/offsets of other manufacturers so you can get wheels "that fit another brand" to fit yours.

you can get "higher" offset than 49 too and then use spacers to move the wheel back to where it needs to be.

[scottydogg38]

ah right i see, so these wheels must have to different an offset to fit a Nova, ok thanks for all your help guys, thats cleared it up a little for me now

[jimbob-mcgrew]

the offsets a safety feature mainly scotty - i dont know how to explain it in technical terms, but vauxhall run that higher offset (49mm) incase of high speed blowouts (tire going pop @ motorway speeds), so the car can be controlled better and steered to safety, they say.
id imagine as the majority of there cars are setup for this offset youll probably get the best handling and stability, and probably most even tire wear too, worth sticking with vauxhall rims for these benefits.
could probably pick up some classic 3 spoke sr 14's with good tires for under a ton, personally i never used to like those 3 spokes myself, but there growing on me alot, vauxhall have a prety big selection tho, ill leave it upto you.

[Stuart]

you dont NEED to have "vauxhall" rims... just wheels with a PCD of 4*100 and an offset in the range of ET40-50

[Matt2107]

Multi hole wheels look gay IMO.

But if your ever likely to break the car and sell them on then you'll double your market as well.