Agree ~ larger diameter wheels are not an issue here. All they fuss about is speed rating of tyres which of course with modern tyres is never going to be an issue with our old cars. If you run a tyre with a lower speed rating than OEM fit any insurance claim will be rejected & you can get into trouble. Higher speed rating obviously fine.

Another thing they police is load rating of tyres. Our Taxi owners (mainly Toyota Quantum Minibus) like white wall tyres. Many white wall tyres sold here for cars do not meet the load rating requirement for an 18 seater that tends to be overloaded. Endless road blocks checking load rating of tyres.

South Africa's road death statistics are appalling ~ many due to pedestrians. (drunk or high).

 

The maximum you can fit on a Jaguar 3.8s is a 245 in the front and a 255 in the rear with the right offset with ideal wheel of 8.5" wide.

I would recommend a 17", 18" or even 19" as there are much better quality tires for better performance and cost. I am running a 17" 245/40/17. If you want exact height of stock a 245/50/17 or a 245/45/18 or 245/40/19 all give you the exact height of stock wheel/tire; I would avoid 16" as the prices are more for those smaller size wheels as all modern cars are generally taller wheels and less quality tire options.

Once you use the Jag 5 lug you have an infinite choice of wheels as the bolt pattern is so common. Obviously the better quality and lighter wheels will be 3 piece and better as you can then put the widest tire with no rubbing. There are aftermarket brand wheels that have the same look of most of the factory Jag wheel and many are 2 or 3 piece which will give you more custom off set sizes to maximize the width of the tire. I think it is worth getting a wheel that can have a custom off set so you can maximize the tire and also you can replace the barrels if they get ever get damaged, etc.

The Jaguar 3.8s with 245's on all four wheels handles so much better than stock and the modern wheels all are higher speed rating, better handling, and overall just better quality materials. I am fond of the Bridgestone run flat 245's for a daily driver tire as they are very quiet, good all season tire, have long wear, decent handling, not expensive, and I do not need to worry about having a spare tire as you can drive 50 miles if the tire has a leak/flat; they come in those 3 sizes I mentioned above that will match the stock wheel height.

 

From 17" & upward SA is well catered for by the premium tyre brands.

Michelin 185VR15 XVS or 185HR15 XVS-P 93H are the only 185X15 tyres still available here by special order. Fortunately a highly rated tyre built to modern standards.

Prior to that Hankook Optimo K715's were available but they have also gone now. Looked all wrong with huge branding on the sidewalls.

 

Thank you for all the replies. Due to English not being my daily language, I should have changed the wording from "compatible wheels" to "alternative wheels", but the replies are at least all in this direction. Love the Dunlop Style wheels on Nigel's car exactly what I do have in mind, but at the price on the internet, I am sure there might be more affordable alternatives and yes, I do revert back to the 5 bolt Jag hub.
Hope I do not get criticized too much for posting other vehicle types on this forum, but the Alfa guys in my view got it spot-on with their GTA type wheels on the Giulia which also has an overhang on the rear fender similar to the S and that at a very reasonable price. I have enquired about them, but they are only available in a 4/108 PCD. So my search for alternatives will continue.

 

I owned multiple Alfa's in my youth from Giulias, to Berlinas, to GTV's to Spyders. and also loved the GTA wheel.

 

My old GTV had those wheels (or similar in steel? - it's a long time ago). Certainly, I remember that they looked very good.

I think you find the best or least bad prices on the Dunlop wheels if you go directly to Realm or to Image rather than the re-sellers, but they still aren't cheap, certainly not compared with secondhand ones from a pre-X350 XJ.

1950s MGs used steel wheels similar in pattern to the aluminium Dunlop racing wheels. I'm surprised no one produces similar steel wheels today. They wouldn't cost more than £100 absolute max - at least not until someone added a Jaguar label.. There are some 4x4 that vaguely resemble them.

 

Yes ~ Alfa made a similar wheel in steel

The MGA Twin Cam used a similar wheel. In fact I think the MGA TC used Dunlop wheels.

 

 

Wheel tech - MGA wheel types

All you might like to know on MGA wheels.

 

Thanks Peter. So the Dunlop decal was never standard on the TC wheel. Good to know. That is a very good forum.

 

Ok, for all of you old, old school people stuck with the old look, here is a cool company that will make those old school rims but do so from 14" to 20" diameters and up to 16" wide rims, and will do custom offsets so you can then maximize the widest tire keeping the stock body.

https://www.imagewheels.co.uk/billet-46-alloy-wheel/

My custom Jaguar 3.8s uses custom offset 17" x 8.5" rims with 245 wide tires on all four corners with no tire rubbing or clearance issues. That is because of measuring the right offset you can then squeeze the most tire. That requires a higher quality wheel where you can choose not only the width but how much is on either side of the center wheel face as typically a three piece wheel will use different width barrels for front & rear or two piece wheel makers will weld those custom width pieces to the center to get your ideal offset.


If you go to a good tire shop or rent the offset tool you can measure what offset will be the widest then you can easily put wider tires than what you folks have ever seen on a stock Jag. Tire width makes a huge difference in handling!

 

Yes ~ as Peter mentions Image is very good for old style wheels.

One word of warning on maximising tyre width. Wider tyres are not always better handling & grip wise on normal cars that produce no aerodynamic downforce. (Many the reverse at speed). A matter of looks over performance.

Best handling & grip is achieved by a careful calculation of weight/force over contact patch area. A good Tyre company like Michelin will advise you in detail in this regard & even do the calcs for you providing you give them the data. They will also take carcass behavior & compound into consideration if requested.

 

The issue is also that the stock 185/80/15 and in general most 15" diameter tires of good high performance are all discontinued. This is the reality of the tire industry, tires for old stock sizes get discontinued and you are left with expensive tires that have low quality compounds, tire patterns, and all of the advancements in tires will never be available to those old sizes. The really good newer modern technology compounds that will provide way better performance are simply not produced for the stock Jaguar original tire sizes. If you want that old school look, upgrade to a larger diameter and wider wheel with a wider tire. You can then finally get much better high performance tires instead of the Vredestein tires, etc. The car will handle much better with the wider tire, lower profile, and much better quality tires only available on today's modern larger diameter wheels. You can still keep it visually looking stock and the performance will be well worth it.

My car had the Vredestein stock tires and the car handled horribly in my opinion. Now with the 17" x 8.5" wheels with 245/45/17 tires the difference is enormous. The car handles curves more than twice the speed with ease, the braking is better, and just a much more pleasurable driving experience. The old stock tires was scary driving at speeds of modern cars but with my wider tires and larger diameter setup this old Jag is shocking many modern high performance cars as I pass them by...

 

Vredestein's are terrible. There is nothing wrong with Michelin 185VR15 XVS or 185HR15 XVS-P 93H. They are built to the very latest standards, carcass construction methods & speed ratings. Our cars need no more than VR rated tyres for those that wish to stay standard. They are rated to 149/150 miles an hour. Even HR tyres are rated to 130 miles an hour.

I have no issue with going to larger diameter wider wheels if that floats your boat as long as as it is understood that best handling & grip is achieved by a careful calculation of weight/force over contact patch area as I explain above. It does broaden choices.

Both sides of the fence can be kept happy & safe. Upgraded Dunlops are also available & people are very happy with them. Orlando has them on his S Type.

Not everybody want's to be a boy racer.

 

The other advantage to larger diameter wheels & tires even if you want to stay to the same or close to the same width is there are far better quality options for tires than those Michelin of Dunlop for the stock diameter. Those may be better than the Vredestein tires but still are NOT as good as the quality available for 17-19" wheels. Glyn you are so funny and so anti deviating from stock, you can keep the stock height with a larger diameter wheel and lower profile tire keeping the same width and thus get better grip. That will retain the stock height, look, and get much better handling with both lower profile tire and way better tire options than what you are able to choose from with the stock size. 15" tires just do not have any of the modern and better quality tires available today.

 

A Michelin 185VR15 XVS is built to full modern tyre standards. Even the asymmetric tread pattern has always done a fine job & can hold it's head high. They are as good as any other VR rated tyre.

As I say both sides of the fence can be kept happy & safe.

Also as I say ~ I have no issue with going to larger diameter wider wheels if that floats your boat as long as as it is understood that best handling & grip is achieved by a careful calculation of weight/force over contact patch area as I explain above..

I am not "so anti deviating from stock"

Read my comment properly.

The majority of people here run Jaguars that are close to stock by choice. Many want it that way & don't want to drive a Heinz 57 varieties.

It's a free world. Let people do as they wish.

If I had a Mk2 I would go the Coombs route because I like it. If I could run a compact Holden HSV style IRS on it I would do so. Horses for courses. However you get to the stage that you are not driving a Jaguar. You are running a silhouette.

I'm not anti modding. I modded my Alfa's considerably. As an example to run 45 DCOE twin side draught Webers you have to do a hell of a lot to the breathing & volumetric efficiency over stock 40 DCOE's. I also ran substantially modded suspension & wider wheels & tyres properly calculated.

My S type was built with another goal in mind. To be as close to concours as possible. It has some weak spots modded. They are just not visible. Wider tyres would improve the S type but probably not as wide as you might think.

There are good reasons that Formula 1 has stuck to such high profile tyres for so long. Next season's low profile tyre regs are going to require drastic suspension changes. They just felt they required to become more road relevant. They are going to have many headaches to solve & likely some track curb changes.

 

If you are a concourse person yes then the Michelin is probably as good as you can get. But if you are not focused on concourse but just wanting to have fun and all the way to more extreme performance then at least a larger diameter wheel will improve things as you will then open up a huge variety of better quality tires. You can still retain exact stock ride heights using different height tires. If you are more focused on performance and handling then the addition of a wider wheel will greatly improve the handling and braking. There was no way my Jaguar S would remotely take curves at the speeds it can now when it had the 185 wide tires...

It does all depend on your goals. If you are concourse then you have very few tire options and you live with what cards you are dealt with. If you are not concourse then your options greatly open up with a larger diameter as well as larger width. You would be surprised with the right offsets how much wider of a wheel/tire can fit without any body modifications. Look at my S type it can take 6 tire sizes larger as it runs 245's on all four corners; yes that is the extreme but even a mild upgrade of a 205, 215, or 225 improves things a lot. Tire companies continually advance the performance but not for old small diameter tire sizes as 15" wheels are no longer the norm and as time goes on there will often be fewer and fewer options.

If you are a concourse person I would recommend to buy a spare set of the Michelins or whatever you like as many brands especially Michelin are known for dropping their low sale tire sizes and never making them again. I know that as one of my favorite 16" tires that Michelin used to make got eliminated and will never be made again; they do that all the time without any notice.

 

And they bring things back at short notice as they did with the XVS (A modern construction XAS.) They still make the XAS but wihdrew the 185 X 15. At a guess without asking Michelin to run their programme. The ideal for an S Type is likely 205 or 215. Force to contact patch. Michelin has continuously advanced performance. XVS uses latest carcass construction & compounding.

Anyway a lot of members here are happy with their Jags as designed. Definitely the majority. They like the feel of a classic as is. It has it's own charm as wire wheels have their own charm & looks. Wider wires are available for those that want them which also opens up tyre options.

As I say both sides of the fence can be catered for safely.

As I also say with F1. Tyres & suspension go hand in glove.

Someone like Gregory (sov211) is not going to change his lovely Mk2 or newfound 37K miles S Type

 

Generally speaking and other things being equal, wider tyres give more grip especially in the dry. The increase in grip isn't linear and isn't the same for all directions as increasing the width of the contact patch tends to shorten its length. Obviously, a wider tyre has to work harder to clear water in the wet and at some point wet grip will reduce with width: "a little skittish in the wet" as the old road testers used to would say. Also, to take good advantage of the extra width, the suspension has to have good enough geometry (and/or be stiff enough) to maintain wheel camber.

One of the worst features of modern cars is the ride with ultra-stiff suspension and ultra-low profile tyres. David Marks told a story of chauffeuring Jim Randle in an XJ40 at a Jaguar celebration. Jim Randle was always uncomfortable about making conversation. After about ten minutes in the car he said, "I'd really forgotten how good the ride and handling of these cars are - totally superior to the modern XF, which is nothing short of ... awful." The fact is that with XJ40, X300, X308, Jaguar hit a peak of the ride-handling compromise that's not been equalled or surpassed. For me, it’s the compromise to aim at for my Mk2: larger diameter wheels, say 16 or 17 inch, a less than 70% profile and a nice width, say 215 to 230.

Aesthetically, I like the bigger wheel, better filling the wheel arches, especially Coombs at the rear. I’d like the style of the wheels to be in keeping with the car. In after market alloys, that seems to limit to Aluminium Dunlop Racing and possibly Minilites. I don’t like spokes and if someone would spin some steel wheels in the right size and in the style of the Dunlops, I’d be very happy. I prefer to ‘waste’ money on engine mods rather than on wheels.

In the end, it’s personal taste and prejudice. I’ve heard people enthuse over the wonderful characteristics of old cross-plys, the Dunlop RS5. I remember driving my Mk2 for the first time after the switch from cross-ply to radials. My god what’s wrong with these tyres – the steering pulls every time I go through a puddle. That was it: the radials went through the water instead of plaining over the top of it. Those 30deg drift angles in photos off old racing cars may look spectacular, but let’s not live in the past. Whether you follow Gyn or Primaz, either is way, way better than that.

 

I'm purely repeating Michelin's advice & explanations when they co sponsored our racing team that I ran for over a decade. The head technical honcho of Michelin proved the point to me on a Honda Prelude that a colleague had over tyred & was less than happy with. In both cases with Michelin XAS's at that time. With the recommended narrower tyres fitted there & then by our fitting crew the Prelude became the sweet handling car that they always were. This was on our Kyalami race track & lap time improved. This French guy could drive & was no slouch behind the wheel. While there are a substantial number of factors to consider vertical load over contact patch plays a large role in adhesion or grip & needs optimisation. There are endless white papers on the subject.

Agree regarding ultra low profile tyres. A friend has a Porsche Cayman S. It's great fun to drive but one of the most uncomfortable cars I drive in. I prefer my standard Merc with 225/45ZR17 Fronts & 245/40ZR17 Rears. Michelin Pilot Sport 4's