I was trying to find wheels for my car for a while... 4X100 kinda stink for aggressive fitments. Not a lot of lotus guys are interested in running super aggressive fitments, so that's not really an issue...
Regardless, I wanted a more aggressive fitment, so I decided to change to a more common bolt pattern: 5x114.3 (4.5"). Initially I thought I could do this with off the shelf skf parts... this is not the case, it is also not the case that hubs from us cars will fit... I have a few friends in the "auto parts industry" that allowed me to test fitment on a variety of USDM hubs... no dice...
It is known, however, that opel 5x110 hubs DO fit the lotus, abs/traction control compatible... but 5x110? EW, another lousy bolt pattern, but since I've got some talent and vast resources at my disposal, I decide to order them anyway...
Getting the hubs is not cheap, it cost nearly 200 dollars just to ship them (i'm working on reducing this cost right now).
Once I had the hubs and had confirmed that they do indeed it was time to convert them to 5x114.3, so i threw em up on my mill:
Since the studs I was planning on using had a 9/16 (14.3mm) knurl diameter and the bolt circle was only changing 2.15mm per side, the holes for the studs virtually blew away the old holes... (only the tiniest bit of thread was still visible in the redrilled holes)
[the math on this works out like this:
radius to inside limit of original threaded hole = 110mm/2 - 12mm/2 = 49
radius to inside limit of new stud hole = 114.3mm/2 - 14.3mm/2 = 50
Difference = 1mm]
Regarding brake rotors... right now I'm running redrilled/rebored stock rotors... this is obviously not the optimal solution, but it's gonna get me by for now... I'm working on sourcing some new rear rotors, the fronts are easy, I can simply machine new hats...
Wheels:
Since I knew my wheel fitment was going to require aggressive camber, I machined the front and rear hub uprights to allow more camber than the shim adjusters would allow.
I REALIZE THIS MAY NOT BE SOME PEOPLE'S CUP OF TEA, FITMENT, CAMBER, STRETCH, SIZE, ETC...
But I like it.
I'm running 5zigen proracer +520 in the following sizes
17X8.0JJ ET+19 w/ a 205/40/17 Azenis 615K
and
18x9.5JJ ET+24 w/ a 235/40/18 Azenis 615K
I'm think I could have actually ran a 17x9 in the front, which would have had substantially more concave, but hindsight is 20/20... at some point I may try to change to that size. I have NO RUB on this setup.
However, in order to achieve that "no rub", I needed to add camber, a lot of camber, much more than it I'd get by removing the shims, the solution? Machine the hub uprights:
So anyway, here's how my car looks now, needs to be about 1/2" lower:
Cool.
-ctn
Regardless, I wanted a more aggressive fitment, so I decided to change to a more common bolt pattern: 5x114.3 (4.5"). Initially I thought I could do this with off the shelf skf parts... this is not the case, it is also not the case that hubs from us cars will fit... I have a few friends in the "auto parts industry" that allowed me to test fitment on a variety of USDM hubs... no dice...
It is known, however, that opel 5x110 hubs DO fit the lotus, abs/traction control compatible... but 5x110? EW, another lousy bolt pattern, but since I've got some talent and vast resources at my disposal, I decide to order them anyway...
Getting the hubs is not cheap, it cost nearly 200 dollars just to ship them (i'm working on reducing this cost right now).
Once I had the hubs and had confirmed that they do indeed it was time to convert them to 5x114.3, so i threw em up on my mill:
Since the studs I was planning on using had a 9/16 (14.3mm) knurl diameter and the bolt circle was only changing 2.15mm per side, the holes for the studs virtually blew away the old holes... (only the tiniest bit of thread was still visible in the redrilled holes)
[the math on this works out like this:
radius to inside limit of original threaded hole = 110mm/2 - 12mm/2 = 49
radius to inside limit of new stud hole = 114.3mm/2 - 14.3mm/2 = 50
Difference = 1mm]
Regarding brake rotors... right now I'm running redrilled/rebored stock rotors... this is obviously not the optimal solution, but it's gonna get me by for now... I'm working on sourcing some new rear rotors, the fronts are easy, I can simply machine new hats...
Wheels:
Since I knew my wheel fitment was going to require aggressive camber, I machined the front and rear hub uprights to allow more camber than the shim adjusters would allow.
I REALIZE THIS MAY NOT BE SOME PEOPLE'S CUP OF TEA, FITMENT, CAMBER, STRETCH, SIZE, ETC...
But I like it.
I'm running 5zigen proracer +520 in the following sizes
17X8.0JJ ET+19 w/ a 205/40/17 Azenis 615K
and
18x9.5JJ ET+24 w/ a 235/40/18 Azenis 615K
I'm think I could have actually ran a 17x9 in the front, which would have had substantially more concave, but hindsight is 20/20... at some point I may try to change to that size. I have NO RUB on this setup.
However, in order to achieve that "no rub", I needed to add camber, a lot of camber, much more than it I'd get by removing the shims, the solution? Machine the hub uprights:
So anyway, here's how my car looks now, needs to be about 1/2" lower:
Cool.
-ctn
Comment