I have a 2002 VDP with stock rims and I'm looking for something a little nicer. I don't want bling or huge rims. Suggestions??


What rims do you suggest?

 

Well, I like the following XK8 rims (photo below) probably the best, although I forget their name.

Also the Asteroids and "Solar"? wheels from the VDP are nice.

 

Yeah, you're right! I can't believe some jag engineer said those wheels would be acceptable on that car. Really?!?! Those are right around hubcap quality rims for that car. Me personally, I would end up with some 99' XJ8 VP crown wheels.

 

Asteroids are the way to go if you want something sporty, but not flashy. I'm tempted to try to fit the x350 xjr 5-twin style wheels (the 19's offered on earlier x350's) onto my XJR, but that requires more research, and I'm not sure how it'd look on the x308.

 

Those are Double-Fives, an optional wheel on the ~2001 XKR.

I went through the exact same considerations as you, as I wanted to have style, a bit larger but not too large, and certainly no bling.
It took me a year to figure out I wanted to stay OEM (for technical reasons such as hub-centric, and for the 'feel' of it), that I wanted 18", and that I wanted concave rims.

With all that, there are not too many OEM rims left, and I decided on the Double-Fives, mainly due to a good deal I could get in Japan.
I guess your options are much more in that respect.

The advantage of the Double-Fives over the more common (and beautiful) Astroids are the width.
Double-Fives are staggered (8J in the front, 9J in the rear),and allow for the about the 'thickest' and widest tires possible, filing the wheel arches perfectly.
Many people on this forum ask if my cars is lowered just because the wheel arches are full.

All in all, it took me a whole lot of head scratching before I bought them, but I still appreciate how they fit, and how the rims flow with the rest of the car design.

 

I thought all the 308 VDP's had the center cap wheels?? My 1998 did?

 

Won't fit. Different bolt pattern.

 

True. But you can get spacers made that allow you to adapt one bolt pattern to another. The only problem there is that you might not have enough clearance between the tire and fender, once the spacer has been added.

 

I know you'd need a 5x4.75 to 5x108 adapter spacer to fit the x350 wheels. Rockauto has the x350 wheels listed at +49 offset and x308 at +33, so a 15mm spacer should come close to oem? Then of course there's the hub flange to deal with.. for all that effort oem x308's are the best option, for now...

 

Here's a picture of both my cars next to each other during spring cleaning of the garage. The 98 XJR has the Pentas and the 00 XKR has the Double Fives:



Eric's car has stood out to me in the past on threads since the Double Fives look so good on his car. I have two reasons I haven't done them on my XJR: My pentas are immaculate, surprisingly immaculate, even the spare; and I haven't got any good deals on a set of double fives. If I got a set, I'd be super tempted to make my Pentas the winter wheels and rock it like Eric has done.

 

Do you want to be noticed?
See picture. These rims are original w/ 2011 XJ SuperSport.
People spot them far , far away.
The Dealership ID's me with 'The one with the Rims"
I have never seen any car with anything close.

 

I have Pentas on mine and I think they look aggressive without being flashy.

They also show more of the calipers, if you want to paint them red and put Jag decals on them.

Mine is the black one, asteroids on the silver one look good too.
Vector

 

Thanks 80's rule (they do by the way!) for the info & the pic really helps! It's close but I honk I like the double 5's more than the Pentas, now I'd like to see the double 5's and asteroids compared together in pix.

 

Thanks Pa Bill, those are interesting!

 

Vector, thanks for the info. The Pentas look very nice on yours but I'm leaning towards the double 5's or the asteroids. Maybe the double 5's because of the width differences.
I've seen the asteroids and the double 5's going for $695. Does that sound fair to everyone or a rip off? Sounds reasonable to me.

 

If memory serves well, I paid less than 400 USD for mine, then a fortune to have them shipped to Taiwan.
Three of them had some very slight road rash, and I had them beat blasted, repaired and powder coated to get them like new.

I don't have a Double Five / Astroid in my large pic collection, but here are some more.
My 2nd choice should have picture #2+3, also 18" staggered (8J/9J), and also from a XKR.
I still like the older 17" XJR rims as well, although they are rather particular, and not everyone's taste.
I did some photoshop to get my car 'fitted' with different wheels, which helped make up my mind.

 

Thanks for the info and pix. I was going to try the photoshop way too.

 

I have 18" Coventry hornets. I think they have a good size without looking like they are aftermarket.

 

I have the same color '02 VDP with Pentas which I think they give it a more 'sporty' look.

 

If I was going to "upgrade" from my 18" Pentas, I would go with the 18" Hornets, very nice.
Vector