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Well I've been posting, asking questions and researching for several months about new rims for my 03 XK8. My factory staggered 19" Apollos are looking a little tired with the chrome pealing and curb rash from hell. So I finally pulled the trigger on new rims and tires. It was and adventure getting everything sorted out and I'll post full details shortly however for now tell me what you folks think, good and bad, I can take it.
By the way I absolutely LOVE the new look and feel the new rims give the car a more updated sporty look. A little mix of old and new school so give me your best shot!
There are photo's in the pdf files so I could make direct comparison of the old and new for your viewing pleasure.
Rims are American Racing VN801 Daytona's - 18X9X24 4.75X5
Tires are Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 - 255-45-18
Lug nuts are from lugnutguys.com 1/2X20 spline. Regular lug nuts will not fit the rim as the lug nut hole on the rim is to small for a socket.
Center caps are from Welsh
pdf attached showing purchase details on all above.
The rims came with a 72.4 hub so I had them bored out. I found conflicting info on the hub size on the XK8, some indicated 74.1 and others 73.8. So I took one of my stock rims to the machine shop and had the hub measured, it was 73.8 so they increased the hub size on the new rims by 1.4 mm. Fit is perfect.
Also the rims have lug centric lug nut holes, cone shaped. So I ordered a new set of cone shaped lug nuts. As the new rims are 4.75X5 and the Jag is 120.6X5 it's close enough that there are no issues as long as the hub is sized correctly to make the rim hub centric.
I had the machine shop bore out the AR center caps to accept the Jag center caps and glued them in. The ones I bought are the cheap aftermarket caps and I may spring for the more expensive Jag caps later.
The tires I online ordered from Costco and cost $905 with shipping and mounting on the rims.
My 03 came with stock staggered 19's. 245-40-19 on the front and 255-40-19 on the rear. The front are 19X8X35 and the rear 19X9X33. The new rims are 18X9X24 running 255-45-18 tires all the way around. Now I can rotate the tires for better tread wear plus a little taller side wall for a better ride quality. See below pdf for the rim tire fitment comparison and you will see the new setup is almost an exact fit to replace the old setup. The new front sticks out .6" further and is .4" taller and the new rear sticks out .4" further and is an exact height match vs the old setup.
I've driven the car a few miles with the new setup and I'm very pleased, a little smoother and no vibration. Got it up to a little over 100mph and all is well with the handling.
Love those wheels!!!! I'm pretty picky too Interestingly enough, I just put those exact tires on the rear of mine. I loved my Hankook Ventus V12, but I'm hoping to get more mileage out of these. I will do the fronts too when those wear out. The right rear was completely bald on the Hankook, and the Michelin will at least allow me to rotate side to side without having to dismount. Since you have the same size front to rear, you should get even better mileage than I do.
Many thanks, as usual, to Jandreu who walked me through the morass of information on wheel fitment, bolt patterns, offsets, etc. when I was originally looking for new wheels, and a huge thank you to mrplow58, who already went the wire wheel route. I also have the Luminas on my car, and they look alright, but I thought that wires would look better. So I succumbed, and found a set of Dayton 17" wire wheels off of a 2000 XJ8 on ebay. They're getting mounted and balanced this Thursday, and I'll be posting pictures, (providing they all hold air).
You can get all a ton of information with the search term "wire wheels", which will bring up the most recent threads on the subject. Check out mrplow58's description of how he handled the wire wheel mounting and balancing. Good reading!
Turns out that the wheels turned out to be 16"s, not 17"'s. I'm really disappointed and not sure where to go from here. I would have to buy new tires to use the 16's and risk the issues that a different size wheel might create.
Compensate for the wheel size with the tire size. –16's are usable, play with the tire size calculator and find a 16" rim tire combo that is close to the 17" rim tire combo size. Down side is yes you will need to buy new. Tires but to have wires it may be worth it.
Decided to stay with the wire wheels and get new tires (and tubes, if necessary). Been corresponding with Mike (mrplow58) who tackled the same project. I might need spacers so the wheels clear the disc brake cylinder (or grind them down like he did). Once again, the triumph of aesthetics over common sense!
Looks great!!...I bet if you lowered the car just a bit it would look even a bit better
I agree, never wanted to lower it until I swapped wheels. Reworked my front suspension a year ago but still unhappy with the handling. Looking at H&R sport springs with a 1.5" drop all the way around and new power flex bushings on the upper and lower control arms in front.
Baby Got New Shoes
Interestingly enough, I just put those exact tires on the rear of mine. I loved my Hankook Ventus V12, but I'm hoping to get more mileage out of these. I will do the fronts too when those wear out. The right rear was completely bald on the Hankook, and the Michelin will at least allow me to rotate side to side without having to dismount. Since you have the same size front to rear, you should get even better mileage than I do.
