After hunting round for the right set of wheels and tyres for the Coupe for over 18 months, I finally had a new set fitted over the weekend. Here’s the criteria I had in mind all along, in order:
17”
8” wide to accommodate the tyres I had in mind
Straight fit on the Coupe, no wobbly bolts or spacers etc
Lightweight
5 spoke design
Silver
After realising that Compomotive were back in business at the start of this year I made some enquiries as to fitment for the Coupé. They were, as usual, not helpful in the slightest despite having an Integrale on the front page of their website… I asked Joe (Magooagain) how he got on with the MO5 (MO1783) he had bought the year before intending to prove to Compomotive that they had made these alloys in the past and that they did fit. As it turned out, Joe hadn’t used them and he was now thinking of selling them as they were still boxed up! I told him I’d have them and that was that.
Size: 17” x 8J
PCD: 98
ET: 37
Centre bore 58.2
Weight; 10.3kgs
Two months after making the deal, Joe was over in the UK from his home in France and dropped them off on the way to see his family. He arrived at mine on Saturday and I had them fitted in the afternoon along with a new set of Yokohama Advan Neova AD08Rs in 235/40/17.
I’ve covered round 60 miles since and I’m very happy with the performance so far. They certainly do feel heavier (2kgs per corner) but it feels better oddly - much more like the solid feeling in the girlfriends 350Z (that is fitted with 18” Ray Engineering 6 spokes). I’ve driven down the usual bumpy, jiggly, pock marked, test road near me to see how it rides and, although a little worse than before, it’s no-where near as bad as I was expecting. Some bump frequencies actually feel better in fact? Very pleased.
As for the handling balance, the near standard offset has resulted in a wheel / tyre that sits pretty exactly much where the original wheel / tyre did. Now that the wheel is an inch wider however, this means it reaches 12mm further into the car and 14mm further out. With the type being a 235 section it means it reaches 13.8mm further into the car and 16.2mm further out over the 205mm. The wheel does tis and clears the Brembos by a greater margin than the standard wheel!
As for the tyres… well they’re just plain crazy. My only experience of high performance tyres would be the Hankook RS2s I had years ago or the Eagle F1s on the 350Z; these Yokos are miles better than both of these and they haven’t even been scrubbed in properly yet. No spinning in 2nd gear at all and decent traction is there in 1st gear now. A heavy right foot mid corner in second gear now results in the slightest squeal and a great deal of shove rather than just rampart understeer followed by lift-off oversteer; they’re epic!
In terms of aesthetics, I am very happy with the look of them too. I wanted a 5 spoke design from the off but they also had to be in keeping with the ‘standard look’ I’m going for. I’ve seen a lot of alloy wheels that look great but can draw the eye from the rest of the car. I wanted something that would complement it without being too overpowering. Bing Compomotive MO5, they are well known as 90s rally car wheels and for this reason really do fit with the time the car came from. I am also particularly fond of the silver centre caps. Combined with the brand new bolts, it does look like a little piece of jewellery, much like the fuel cap and also recently fitted rear light rings.
From the back, the 235 section tyres really do add a great deal to the poise of the car. I always felt that the 205s looked a bit weedy and the new tread pattern is also pretty impressive.
The only gripe at the moment is that the back right tyre rubs the wheel arch over large bumps / undulations at speed or through bumpy long left handers. The car has sat a little lower on the right hand side for while however and I feel it may be tired suspension causing this.
Here are some pics
![[Linked Image]](http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o74/coupedummy/coupedummy.jpg)