I was just looking through my photos and came across this video of Jorrit driving my car back from a test ride. It's only a short one, but I think Ghiblis look much nicer on the move than they do in photos and it gives a much better feel for the proportions of the car.
The front brakes squeak a bit... but I'll let them off given how well they perform! I'm tempted to fit some new springs and lower the car a bit though...
Showing posts with label wheels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wheels. Show all posts
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Monday, October 22, 2007
Wheel Spacers Fitted
Apologies for not posting for a while... that doesn't mean that I've not been busy with the car though!
A couple of weeks back I had some wheel spacers fitted. This was primarily driven by the fact that my front tires were rubbing a little on the suspension and inside the wheel arch, so I decided to push the front wheels out by an additional 3 mm. It doesn't sound like much, but it turns out to be about right... the rubbing seems to have stopped and there's not much space to push the wheels out anymore.
As you can see in the picture above, these front spacers are very slim and as such there is not need to make them hub-centric. I also purchased some new wheel bolts all 'round to accommodate the extra width... now 45 mm in length.
The spacers are specifically made to fit the Ghibli and therefore align perfectly with the PCD and also the centre bore.
The wheel is then mounted to sandwich the spacer... you should be able to make out the shiny spacer in the picture above.
On the rear I decided to be a bit more brave and pushed the wheels out by 10 mm. This extra width necessitates a hub-centric spacer, which you can see in the picture below means that there's a hub machined to stick out of the spacer. Inside the hub fits the male hub from the car and the wheel then sits onto the spacer's hub.
It probably makes more sense in the picture below where you can see the new spacer mounted onto the car's hub.
I'm happy with the end result. The car looks more aggressive and much more sporty, especially viewing it from the front three quarter, where the width of the rear tires is now much more noticeable. The car seems to handle a bit better too... I'm sure I'm getting a bit more traction now at the rear when accelerating hard out of corners.
If I can just get some more power to the back wheels, then there's space now to fit some 265 mm tires on the back! I'd also love to drop the car down a couple of centimetres, but I'm concerned that the engine sump would then be a bit too exposed?
A couple of weeks back I had some wheel spacers fitted. This was primarily driven by the fact that my front tires were rubbing a little on the suspension and inside the wheel arch, so I decided to push the front wheels out by an additional 3 mm. It doesn't sound like much, but it turns out to be about right... the rubbing seems to have stopped and there's not much space to push the wheels out anymore.
As you can see in the picture above, these front spacers are very slim and as such there is not need to make them hub-centric. I also purchased some new wheel bolts all 'round to accommodate the extra width... now 45 mm in length.
The spacers are specifically made to fit the Ghibli and therefore align perfectly with the PCD and also the centre bore.
The wheel is then mounted to sandwich the spacer... you should be able to make out the shiny spacer in the picture above.
On the rear I decided to be a bit more brave and pushed the wheels out by 10 mm. This extra width necessitates a hub-centric spacer, which you can see in the picture below means that there's a hub machined to stick out of the spacer. Inside the hub fits the male hub from the car and the wheel then sits onto the spacer's hub.
It probably makes more sense in the picture below where you can see the new spacer mounted onto the car's hub.
I'm happy with the end result. The car looks more aggressive and much more sporty, especially viewing it from the front three quarter, where the width of the rear tires is now much more noticeable. The car seems to handle a bit better too... I'm sure I'm getting a bit more traction now at the rear when accelerating hard out of corners.
If I can just get some more power to the back wheels, then there's space now to fit some 265 mm tires on the back! I'd also love to drop the car down a couple of centimetres, but I'm concerned that the engine sump would then be a bit too exposed?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Wheel spacers
Since fitting my Compomotive wheels, I've been very concious of the fact that, on full steering lock, the tires are interferring with the suspension geometry... the rubber of the tire is rubbing against one of the uprights.
It's not a major problem and only occurs at slow speeds when parking or turning round tight corners, although on one occassion I was making a reasonably hard turn at a decent speed and hit a bump in the road, which also cause the tire to knock against the upright, but this has only happened on one occassion.
I could just leave it, since it's not causing any damage. However, I know it's there so it's always a nagging concern when I'm driving, so I'd rather get it sorted. One solution would be to fit some narrower tires on the front. I'm currently running 225mm width tires on the front and I'm very happy with the way that these are performing. I certainly don't need bigger tires on the front, but the car is handling significantly better than it used to with 205mm tires on the front. So I don't really want to go down this route.
The alternative is therefore to decrease the offset of the front wheels a little, to make the wheels stick out a bit more. This can be achieved by installing wheel spacers. Since the front wheels are already pretty flush with the body, I don't have a lot of space to push them out further, so I'm limiting the decrease in offset to 5mm. This should be sufficient to prevent the tires touching the suspension geomety and as long as the wheels are protruding less than 20mm from the body, the car remains street legal.
It's important to maintain a hubcentric installation for the loading of the wheels onto the hub, which means that the wheels must be located onto the hub via the shaft that extrudes from the hub. This then transmits the load from the wheel to the hub and wheel bearing via the shaft rather than relying on the bolts to transfer the load, which means that the wheel bolts are only loaded axially to pinch the wheel onto the hub rather than taking any shear force; the weight of the car is supported is transferred to the wheels via the central shaft.
For a 10mm spacer, this would mean purchasing a hubcentric spacer, which is machined with a shaft that mates with the center bore of the wheel, which has a diameter of 58.6mm. However, for 5mm spacers, the existing shaft should be sufficiently long to still mate with the wheel center bore, without having to extend it with the spacer. So it's important that I check that this is the case when I install the spacer, otherwise I risk shearing the wheel bolts, which could be quite messy!
Since there's still plenty of space between the wheel arches and the tires at the back of the car, I'll also install some 5mm spacers on the back of the car to keep the track of the wheels in line. I could probably go with more than 5mm at the back, but I've two reasons not to do this. The first is the cost. First, a hubcentric 10mm spacer is about twice the cost of a 5mm spacer since it involves considerably more machining to manufacture. Second is that I'll probably install wider tires on the back of the car when the current ones have worn out, increasing them from the curren 255mm to 265mm. Therefore, if I install 5mm spacers on the back then, after fitting 265mm tires the net result will be a decrease in offset of 10mm at the back, which will fill the rear arches better. On the inside of the wheel, the net result will be the inside of the tire will be at the same location as the current setup, which I know will fit; if I fit 265mm tires on the current set up there's a risk that I'll get interference on the rear wheels.
After emailing with Compomotive wheels to try and source some spacers, they referred me to a very useful websit of a German spacer manufacturer called SCC Fahrzeugtechnik. They manufacture spacers specifically for Maserati cars, so it's a very useful link for anyone wishing to decrease the offset on their Maserati car. Unfortunately, they don't support consumer purchases, so buying the spacers has to be done through a local distributor. After emailing the Dutch importer (EFCA Import), I'm now waiting on Henze Autobanden in Den Haag to get back to me with availability. Hopefully don't have to wait too long, but seems the German manufacturer are about to close down the factory for their summer holidays, so might have to wait a couple of months?
It's not a major problem and only occurs at slow speeds when parking or turning round tight corners, although on one occassion I was making a reasonably hard turn at a decent speed and hit a bump in the road, which also cause the tire to knock against the upright, but this has only happened on one occassion.
I could just leave it, since it's not causing any damage. However, I know it's there so it's always a nagging concern when I'm driving, so I'd rather get it sorted. One solution would be to fit some narrower tires on the front. I'm currently running 225mm width tires on the front and I'm very happy with the way that these are performing. I certainly don't need bigger tires on the front, but the car is handling significantly better than it used to with 205mm tires on the front. So I don't really want to go down this route.
The alternative is therefore to decrease the offset of the front wheels a little, to make the wheels stick out a bit more. This can be achieved by installing wheel spacers. Since the front wheels are already pretty flush with the body, I don't have a lot of space to push them out further, so I'm limiting the decrease in offset to 5mm. This should be sufficient to prevent the tires touching the suspension geomety and as long as the wheels are protruding less than 20mm from the body, the car remains street legal.It's important to maintain a hubcentric installation for the loading of the wheels onto the hub, which means that the wheels must be located onto the hub via the shaft that extrudes from the hub. This then transmits the load from the wheel to the hub and wheel bearing via the shaft rather than relying on the bolts to transfer the load, which means that the wheel bolts are only loaded axially to pinch the wheel onto the hub rather than taking any shear force; the weight of the car is supported is transferred to the wheels via the central shaft.
For a 10mm spacer, this would mean purchasing a hubcentric spacer, which is machined with a shaft that mates with the center bore of the wheel, which has a diameter of 58.6mm. However, for 5mm spacers, the existing shaft should be sufficiently long to still mate with the wheel center bore, without having to extend it with the spacer. So it's important that I check that this is the case when I install the spacer, otherwise I risk shearing the wheel bolts, which could be quite messy!
Since there's still plenty of space between the wheel arches and the tires at the back of the car, I'll also install some 5mm spacers on the back of the car to keep the track of the wheels in line. I could probably go with more than 5mm at the back, but I've two reasons not to do this. The first is the cost. First, a hubcentric 10mm spacer is about twice the cost of a 5mm spacer since it involves considerably more machining to manufacture. Second is that I'll probably install wider tires on the back of the car when the current ones have worn out, increasing them from the curren 255mm to 265mm. Therefore, if I install 5mm spacers on the back then, after fitting 265mm tires the net result will be a decrease in offset of 10mm at the back, which will fill the rear arches better. On the inside of the wheel, the net result will be the inside of the tire will be at the same location as the current setup, which I know will fit; if I fit 265mm tires on the current set up there's a risk that I'll get interference on the rear wheels.
After emailing with Compomotive wheels to try and source some spacers, they referred me to a very useful websit of a German spacer manufacturer called SCC Fahrzeugtechnik. They manufacture spacers specifically for Maserati cars, so it's a very useful link for anyone wishing to decrease the offset on their Maserati car. Unfortunately, they don't support consumer purchases, so buying the spacers has to be done through a local distributor. After emailing the Dutch importer (EFCA Import), I'm now waiting on Henze Autobanden in Den Haag to get back to me with availability. Hopefully don't have to wait too long, but seems the German manufacturer are about to close down the factory for their summer holidays, so might have to wait a couple of months?
Friday, July 07, 2006
Wheels have arrived!
Just spoke to Korst Banden and they informed me that my wheels have arrived. Unfortunately, they're now waiting for the tires to arrive, since I think the rear tires are a bit of an unusual size.Hopefully, next week I'll be able to go and get them fitted, assuming everything goes OK with road worthiness test that I have booked for Monday morning.
Fingers crossed...
Monday, May 08, 2006
Wheels on order...
Last week I placed an order for the Compomotive wheels. Seems my deposit is floating somewhere in the ether, since it's listed in my account as being transferred, but the Korst say it's not in there account yet. Hopefully it will arrive there eventually and when it does it will take 6-8 weeks for the wheels to be manufactured and delivered.
The guys at Korst are a bit uncertain as to whether the tires I want will fit, but they're going to have some smaller ones available when they fit the wheels just in case. However, if this happens I might just take the larger tires and have the lip on the wheel arches rolled up. Just have to see once they arrive...
My wife and I are thinking of driving over to the UK later in the summer and doing a bit of a road tour... so that's good incentive to get everything sorted and working properly on the Ghibli in time, otherwise will have to make the journey in the Volvo, which won't be half as much fun! The missus is also talking about getting me a dog... there's no way that I'm sticking a dog on the back seat of the Ghibli, so it might be the Volvo after all.
Would be nice driving the Ghibli in the UK though... I don't believe the Dutch and the UK police forces have joined forces yet, which may mean continued immunity to speed cameras...???
The guys at Korst are a bit uncertain as to whether the tires I want will fit, but they're going to have some smaller ones available when they fit the wheels just in case. However, if this happens I might just take the larger tires and have the lip on the wheel arches rolled up. Just have to see once they arrive...
My wife and I are thinking of driving over to the UK later in the summer and doing a bit of a road tour... so that's good incentive to get everything sorted and working properly on the Ghibli in time, otherwise will have to make the journey in the Volvo, which won't be half as much fun! The missus is also talking about getting me a dog... there's no way that I'm sticking a dog on the back seat of the Ghibli, so it might be the Volvo after all.
Would be nice driving the Ghibli in the UK though... I don't believe the Dutch and the UK police forces have joined forces yet, which may mean continued immunity to speed cameras...???
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Korst Banden
I paid a visit to Korst Banden last week. I wanted them to have a look at the Ghibli so that they could measure up the wheels and give me some confidence about ordering the correct size wheels. To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the service there.
They didn't seem too interested in measuring up the wheels and I felt like I was telling them what to do rather than them offering me advice. I've a feeling that they're not really into customising wheels, rather offering direct replacement wheels and tyres. One of the younger guys in the workshop did come and have a look and seemed pretty confident about what I was proposing, but the older guy who was at the front desk seemed more interested in ordering the wheels and seeing if they fitted... which is fine if they're prepared to take the wheels back if they don't fit.
They did at least seem OK about trying out some different tyres once the wheels were fitted. He seemed a bit concerned about the tire selection for the front wheels; he thought there might be too much rubber on a 225/40 R18 tyre and thought that a 225/35 R18 tire may be more suitable.
I'm going to order the wheels with the same offset as the current wheels and they see how they fit; hopefully it will all work out and if the fit is too tight I may have to go with 215/35 R18 on the front and 245/30 R18 on the back, or get the lip rolled up. I'm a bit reluctant to go with the latter, since it will be a bit expensive gettting this done, since it will likely involve a paint job.
Guess I'll just have to wait and see...
They didn't seem too interested in measuring up the wheels and I felt like I was telling them what to do rather than them offering me advice. I've a feeling that they're not really into customising wheels, rather offering direct replacement wheels and tyres. One of the younger guys in the workshop did come and have a look and seemed pretty confident about what I was proposing, but the older guy who was at the front desk seemed more interested in ordering the wheels and seeing if they fitted... which is fine if they're prepared to take the wheels back if they don't fit.
They did at least seem OK about trying out some different tyres once the wheels were fitted. He seemed a bit concerned about the tire selection for the front wheels; he thought there might be too much rubber on a 225/40 R18 tyre and thought that a 225/35 R18 tire may be more suitable.
I'm going to order the wheels with the same offset as the current wheels and they see how they fit; hopefully it will all work out and if the fit is too tight I may have to go with 215/35 R18 on the front and 245/30 R18 on the back, or get the lip rolled up. I'm a bit reluctant to go with the latter, since it will be a bit expensive gettting this done, since it will likely involve a paint job.
Guess I'll just have to wait and see...
Friday, April 07, 2006
PC wheels out of the running
After further emails with Korst Banden, the local retailer of Compomotive wheels in the Netherlands, it looks like the 3 piece PC wheels are out of the running since they're about twice the price of the MO wheels.
I sort of set myself a limit for how much I'm prepared to spend on wheels for the Ghibli and that's about 10% of the value of the car. Unfortunately, the PC wheels are just too expensive given the value of the car, although I do still think they are nicer looking wheels.
After some more emailing with Compomotive in the UK, I've received some better pictures of the wheels that I'll probably be ordering, with a center hub blank for an offset between ET30 and ET40.
This first one is of the proposed front wheel, 18" x 8" with standard silver finish. I'd prefer the spokes not to come flush to the face of the rim, but it doesn't look too bad. I'm also not too keen on having the Compomotive logo stamped on one of the spokes, but again I can live with it, bearing in mind the whole reason I'm after new wheels is not for cosmetic reasons, but to give me some more ground clearance without adversely effecting the handling characteristics of the car.
This second picture shows the 18" x 9" wheel that would be fitted to the rear of the car, this time with optional sparkle silver finish. I like the way the spokes sit further back in this wheel, giving it a bit more or a sporty appearance. The wheel shown has four studs, which I find a bit odd for this size of wheel?
Overall, I think they'll look OK on the Ghibli and after doing some more sums, I'm confident that they'll solve my ground clearance problems. I anticipate well over 20mm additional clearance at the front of the car, which should prevent the anti-roll bar infront of the engine sump from fouling with steep speed bumps.
Just behind the front wheels where the catalysts are located in the center of the car, there should still be about 20mm additional ground clearance with the new wheels. Maybe this doesn't sound like much, but I'm pretty confident that this will prevent about 90% of the fouling I currently get when going over speed bumps. If this turns out to be the case then I might even replace the catalysts with some new ones (since I'm an environmentalist at heart).
I sort of set myself a limit for how much I'm prepared to spend on wheels for the Ghibli and that's about 10% of the value of the car. Unfortunately, the PC wheels are just too expensive given the value of the car, although I do still think they are nicer looking wheels.
After some more emailing with Compomotive in the UK, I've received some better pictures of the wheels that I'll probably be ordering, with a center hub blank for an offset between ET30 and ET40.
This first one is of the proposed front wheel, 18" x 8" with standard silver finish. I'd prefer the spokes not to come flush to the face of the rim, but it doesn't look too bad. I'm also not too keen on having the Compomotive logo stamped on one of the spokes, but again I can live with it, bearing in mind the whole reason I'm after new wheels is not for cosmetic reasons, but to give me some more ground clearance without adversely effecting the handling characteristics of the car.This second picture shows the 18" x 9" wheel that would be fitted to the rear of the car, this time with optional sparkle silver finish. I like the way the spokes sit further back in this wheel, giving it a bit more or a sporty appearance. The wheel shown has four studs, which I find a bit odd for this size of wheel?Overall, I think they'll look OK on the Ghibli and after doing some more sums, I'm confident that they'll solve my ground clearance problems. I anticipate well over 20mm additional clearance at the front of the car, which should prevent the anti-roll bar infront of the engine sump from fouling with steep speed bumps.
Just behind the front wheels where the catalysts are located in the center of the car, there should still be about 20mm additional ground clearance with the new wheels. Maybe this doesn't sound like much, but I'm pretty confident that this will prevent about 90% of the fouling I currently get when going over speed bumps. If this turns out to be the case then I might even replace the catalysts with some new ones (since I'm an environmentalist at heart).
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Further developments on the wheel front
I spoke with Jorrit yesterday and got some further insights into the Maserati Ghibli!
It seems that on the MY92 cars, Maserati left the lip on the inside edge of the wheel arches unfinished, so these stick out into the wheel arch at a 90 degree angle to the body panel and impair on clearance of the wheel. On the MY94 cars, presumably as a result of factory fitting larger wheels, this lip was rolled out on the top half of the wheel arch, increasing clearance between the body panel and the wheel.
As a result, on my MY92 Ghibli, I'm a bit more restricted on the offset that I can fit before I start getting interference between the wheel and the body panel. This means that the minimum offset on the MY92 cars is restricted by about 10-15mm from the MY94 cars, unless the lip is rolled up. Since this modification will necessitate a trip to the body shop (to get the metal resprayed after rolling it up) then I have decided limit the reduction in offset.
I also discovered that on the MY92 cars, the offset of the factory wheels (the seven spoke OZ Racing wheels) is ET35 on the front and ET32 on the back and not ET35 all around as I originally thought.
I enquired with Compomotive the prices of the MO and PC wheels, but they referred me to a local retailer, so I'm planning on making a visit to get the wheels properly measure up to ascertain the optimum offset specifications. They did however send me a nice picture of some 18" MO wheels fitted to a Ferrari.
These are 9" wide on the front and 10" wide on the back. I find them a bit delicate, which suits the Ferari, but not sure it fits the more agressive styling of the Ghibli. So I'll probably go with the PC wheels still.
For info, the Dutch retailer for the Compomotive wheels is Korst Banden BV.
It seems that on the MY92 cars, Maserati left the lip on the inside edge of the wheel arches unfinished, so these stick out into the wheel arch at a 90 degree angle to the body panel and impair on clearance of the wheel. On the MY94 cars, presumably as a result of factory fitting larger wheels, this lip was rolled out on the top half of the wheel arch, increasing clearance between the body panel and the wheel.
As a result, on my MY92 Ghibli, I'm a bit more restricted on the offset that I can fit before I start getting interference between the wheel and the body panel. This means that the minimum offset on the MY92 cars is restricted by about 10-15mm from the MY94 cars, unless the lip is rolled up. Since this modification will necessitate a trip to the body shop (to get the metal resprayed after rolling it up) then I have decided limit the reduction in offset.
I also discovered that on the MY92 cars, the offset of the factory wheels (the seven spoke OZ Racing wheels) is ET35 on the front and ET32 on the back and not ET35 all around as I originally thought.
I enquired with Compomotive the prices of the MO and PC wheels, but they referred me to a local retailer, so I'm planning on making a visit to get the wheels properly measure up to ascertain the optimum offset specifications. They did however send me a nice picture of some 18" MO wheels fitted to a Ferrari.
These are 9" wide on the front and 10" wide on the back. I find them a bit delicate, which suits the Ferari, but not sure it fits the more agressive styling of the Ghibli. So I'll probably go with the PC wheels still.
For info, the Dutch retailer for the Compomotive wheels is Korst Banden BV.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Development on the wheel front
I've been doing some more thinking on the wheels. In addition to the space out described below, I've been thinking some more on wheel diamter and tyre selection and come up with the following schematic.
I've also been having a rethink on wheel selection, still from Compomotive in the UK, but a three piece modular wheel design, as pictured. I like this wheel because the spokes are set in from the front of the wheel, giving it a more sporty, agressive look. I also think they fit the style of the Ghibli, with a nice simple five spoke design. I'd prefer not to have the studded rim (and a bit worried that it will leak), but this does have its advantages with respect to maintenance if the rims get curb damage.
I think I'll go with an offset of ET30. I could probably get away with less on the rear, but I'd like to have the same wheels on the front and back so that I can swap them round if the fronts get some minor damage.
The increased overall wheel diameter at the front should give quite some additional road clearance; about 20mm on the radius to lift the car to about the same as an MY94 model. The tyre selection will still give me about the same amount of rubber around the wheel as I have currently, so resistance to curb damage to the rim should be the same as I have now.
On the rear, the increase in diameter will give an increase in the wheel circumference and hence a bit of additional gearing. However, this is less than 10% and I know that the speedo on my Ghibli currently overestimates speed by about 10% (I measured it late last year when driving back from Germany; the speedo was reading about 265 km/h but my TomTom was reading about 250 km/h). So it's still legal.
For tyres, I see that Bridgestone offers the sizes that I'm after in their Potenza S-03 range (Bridgestone Tyre Size Line-Up), i.e. 225/40R18 on the front and 255/35R18 on the rear (and suitable for speeds over 300 km/h!).
I'm just running the numbers past Jorrit at Auto Forza to check if the clearances will be OK. If he thinks it's all OK then I'll be placing my order soon!
I've also been having a rethink on wheel selection, still from Compomotive in the UK, but a three piece modular wheel design, as pictured. I like this wheel because the spokes are set in from the front of the wheel, giving it a more sporty, agressive look. I also think they fit the style of the Ghibli, with a nice simple five spoke design. I'd prefer not to have the studded rim (and a bit worried that it will leak), but this does have its advantages with respect to maintenance if the rims get curb damage.I think I'll go with an offset of ET30. I could probably get away with less on the rear, but I'd like to have the same wheels on the front and back so that I can swap them round if the fronts get some minor damage.
The increased overall wheel diameter at the front should give quite some additional road clearance; about 20mm on the radius to lift the car to about the same as an MY94 model. The tyre selection will still give me about the same amount of rubber around the wheel as I have currently, so resistance to curb damage to the rim should be the same as I have now.
On the rear, the increase in diameter will give an increase in the wheel circumference and hence a bit of additional gearing. However, this is less than 10% and I know that the speedo on my Ghibli currently overestimates speed by about 10% (I measured it late last year when driving back from Germany; the speedo was reading about 265 km/h but my TomTom was reading about 250 km/h). So it's still legal.
For tyres, I see that Bridgestone offers the sizes that I'm after in their Potenza S-03 range (Bridgestone Tyre Size Line-Up), i.e. 225/40R18 on the front and 255/35R18 on the rear (and suitable for speeds over 300 km/h!).
I'm just running the numbers past Jorrit at Auto Forza to check if the clearances will be OK. If he thinks it's all OK then I'll be placing my order soon!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Wheels for Maserati Ghibli MY92
I've been looking for new wheels for my Ghibli for ages now. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike the OEM wheels (I've got the OZ racing 7 spoke 16" wheels, see previous postings for pictures), it's just that there's so little ground clearance on ym Ghibli.
Having said that, I do think the Ghibli looks good with larger diameter wheels and the decrease in the effective offset from the wider later wheels fills up the wheel arches much nicer. But my biggest problem with the Ghibli is getting over speed bumps and living in the Netherlands this is a common problem. It really breaks my heart everytime I hear the catalysts scraping on the ground; this car was obviously not designed with catalysts in mind and they must have been fitted as an after thought, driven by regulation.
It's not just the catalysts though. Not only are there lots of speed bumps in the Netherlands, but lots of brick roads. Couple this with subsidence and there's lots of potential for catching the anti-roll bar and engine sump on the uneven brick road services. So my driver for fitting larger wheels (other than for aesthetics) is to increase ground clearance (although there is another way, by inserting some spacers in the strut towers... ask Enrico for details).
But here's where the problems start. Maserati use really weird wheel fitting specifications, particularly on the early Ghiblis. Mine has a PCD of 5x106mm. I've not seen any other car with this PCD. I'm informed that the center bore is 58.5mm and the offset is ET35. I've looked long and hard for off the shelf wheels with these specifications, but to no avail. The only real option for a perfect fitting wheel is to get them made.
Here's a schematic I've put together of what I think the OEM wheel specifications are versus what I think I'd like. I'm not 100% confident with the proposed offset, but I've not got around to measuring it up properly yet.
One place that does sell customised wheels off the shelf (they appear to make blanks, which they drill out the the PCD and center bore to order and fit hub spacers to attain the correct offset) is Compomotive wheels in the UK. This company supplies wheels to the motorsport industry, noteably for rallycross.
Their MO wheel comes in 18" diameter and both 8" and 9" widths, which would be perfect for the front and rear wheels repectively on the Ghibli. It's probably not a wheel I would choose normally, but given that there's not much alternative (other than having a custom wheel manufactured and paying the price!) I could live with the design; it looks a bit retro and fits the 80s styling of the Ghibli. If you're interested in these wheels, try contacting Mark at Compomotive wheels.
Another alternative is to acquire a wheel with a PCD of 5x108mm and use some wobbly bolts to attach the wheel to the Ghibli's hub. This PCD is more common, particularly with wheels for Volvos. However, the offset of these wheels tends to be a little bit too much and a wheel spacer will be required to get the wheel nice and flush with the Ghibli's body. However, when using wobbly bolts, it's not recommended to have a wheel spacer thicker than 5mm, unless it's hub-centric. Try getting a hub-centric wheel spacer with these specifications. If you go this route, then try talking to William at Performance Alloys in the UK.
I'm still in two minds as to whether or not to purchase these wheels, since I'm also toying around with getting a new exhaust, which should help remedy the ground clearance problem with the catalysts and give me some more power to boot.
I'll keep you posted.
Having said that, I do think the Ghibli looks good with larger diameter wheels and the decrease in the effective offset from the wider later wheels fills up the wheel arches much nicer. But my biggest problem with the Ghibli is getting over speed bumps and living in the Netherlands this is a common problem. It really breaks my heart everytime I hear the catalysts scraping on the ground; this car was obviously not designed with catalysts in mind and they must have been fitted as an after thought, driven by regulation.
It's not just the catalysts though. Not only are there lots of speed bumps in the Netherlands, but lots of brick roads. Couple this with subsidence and there's lots of potential for catching the anti-roll bar and engine sump on the uneven brick road services. So my driver for fitting larger wheels (other than for aesthetics) is to increase ground clearance (although there is another way, by inserting some spacers in the strut towers... ask Enrico for details).
But here's where the problems start. Maserati use really weird wheel fitting specifications, particularly on the early Ghiblis. Mine has a PCD of 5x106mm. I've not seen any other car with this PCD. I'm informed that the center bore is 58.5mm and the offset is ET35. I've looked long and hard for off the shelf wheels with these specifications, but to no avail. The only real option for a perfect fitting wheel is to get them made.
Here's a schematic I've put together of what I think the OEM wheel specifications are versus what I think I'd like. I'm not 100% confident with the proposed offset, but I've not got around to measuring it up properly yet.
One place that does sell customised wheels off the shelf (they appear to make blanks, which they drill out the the PCD and center bore to order and fit hub spacers to attain the correct offset) is Compomotive wheels in the UK. This company supplies wheels to the motorsport industry, noteably for rallycross.
Their MO wheel comes in 18" diameter and both 8" and 9" widths, which would be perfect for the front and rear wheels repectively on the Ghibli. It's probably not a wheel I would choose normally, but given that there's not much alternative (other than having a custom wheel manufactured and paying the price!) I could live with the design; it looks a bit retro and fits the 80s styling of the Ghibli. If you're interested in these wheels, try contacting Mark at Compomotive wheels.
Another alternative is to acquire a wheel with a PCD of 5x108mm and use some wobbly bolts to attach the wheel to the Ghibli's hub. This PCD is more common, particularly with wheels for Volvos. However, the offset of these wheels tends to be a little bit too much and a wheel spacer will be required to get the wheel nice and flush with the Ghibli's body. However, when using wobbly bolts, it's not recommended to have a wheel spacer thicker than 5mm, unless it's hub-centric. Try getting a hub-centric wheel spacer with these specifications. If you go this route, then try talking to William at Performance Alloys in the UK.I'm still in two minds as to whether or not to purchase these wheels, since I'm also toying around with getting a new exhaust, which should help remedy the ground clearance problem with the catalysts and give me some more power to boot.
I'll keep you posted.
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