Steel wheel option
 

First (well, actually 2nd) snow fall of the winter yesterday and the 75, with "good" tyres handled absolutely dreadfully. I had a mk2 Mondeo that I fitted snow tyres (not studded) to and I never found the limit to where it would plug up hills (I live in Sheffield).

Rather than swapping tyres every time the weather changes I'm wondering what other cars might donate steel wheels that will fit so I can just pop the "winter wheels" on? I actually have 1 steel wheel as a full-size spare, that came with my previous 75, but I have no idea what car it came off and I'm presuming that they wer.e never offered by Rover as a option(?)

Thanks in advance for any input

Volkswagen with 5x100 fitment. The centre bore is 1mm bigger but provided the nuts are tightened in sequence the wheel will be aligned fine.

But in all honestly you’ll be as well with 75 wheels, they’re cheap enough!
Thinking about it, I’ve got a set of unions I want rid of, £40 if your interested. Recon you’ll be hard pushed to find some steels for less than that...

I was just thinking I might get slightly narrower steels that would cut into the snow rather than sliding over the top "proper" Landy-style. I seen posh 4x4's that won't go anywhere on low-profiles but at £40 that's a VERY tempting offer - and you're close. Cheers.

Just fit some narrower tyres if that’s the case, they’re 215 but 205 width wouldn’t be an issue. 195 would go on at a push. The profile shouldn’t make much difference.
It’s the tyre type that would make more of a difference. Those 4x4’s usually have summer tyres fitted which are next to useless on any car. I’ve got 245 width all weather tyres on my terrano and I’ve not needed to use the transfer box yet around here, rwd normally. Fit winter tyres of any description and the difference will be like night and day!

You can get R75 steel wheels that take a 195 tyre.

( Narrow tyres giving better traction in snow than wide wheels. )

Guys, thank you. Am I right in thinking the Unions are 16"? I've since found a post that shows the steels supplied by Rover to be 15". I'll contact my mate, who has a tyre fitting business, to see what the supply is like for 16" 205s and 15" 195s (I've just checked my spare and that's a 15" with a 195 tyre on it, but probably an "all-rounder")

Yes they were, but good luck finding some...

Vw would be the easiest to find in 15”, some subarus had 5x100 fitment too with the correct centre bore so you may have some luck finding them also.

Depends on how much you want to pay for a set of steel 15" wheels


https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROVER-75-...wAAOSwi-Bekgp0

Just looked at that ad.---It says 15 steel wheels but underneath it says , metal type--Aluminium.

I hate it when folks don't even know what they are selling.---:twonk:

As an alternative the narrower 195 tyres can also be fitted to the standard 75 alloy wheels (Crown, Contour and Comet).

MGR did a set of snow chains but they were only for use on 195 width tyres.

Tyres or chains Jon?

My Connie Tourer came with 195/65/15 tyres fitted to Comets from the factory.

I currently have those wheels fitted with 195/65/15 Uniroyal M&S 66, but haven't had cause to fit them to the ZT as yet, in part because I have the use of the Wife's Freelander if it looks grotty out :cool:

Brian :D

Steel wheel option
 

Tell that to all the boy racers with their 155s stretched to fit an 8” wide rim

I have had that size fitted to my Tourer ever since I have had it Apart from a short period when I fitted MG 5 spokes to it. (See my Avatar.) But I swapped them back as I preferred the 15" ride.

But not for use on the public highway.--:cool:

Hi. What's the rim size for Comets then ??---S'il vous plait

They're 6J 15 ET50 Jon ;)

6J (six inches wide) means you can safely mount anything from a 175 to 205 profile tyre, and the ET is the offset from the machined inner face of the mounting hub to the centreline of the wheel.

Hope this helps

Brian :D

Yes legal - MGR started with 205/15 on Crowns and Contours then reduced it to 195/15 under project drive. So factory cars had the narrower size fitted to wheels that initially were supplied with the wider tyres. Comets were always 195/15.

Proof can be found in the Drive Bulletins and vehicle handbooks.

Thank you all for the replies and information.---:bowdown:

Checking prices it seems for some reason 205 tyres are a lot cheaper than 215 tyres.

Must have a think about that when the tyres need renewing.-;)

My 1999 Connie has 195/65 fitted on Crown 15". They are all aged and cracked as I bought the car so will be replaced in any event before she's driven, but what is the consensus then on the best year round tyre width? The manual shows both 195 and 205 but doesn't indicate which is preferred. I could assume (incorrectly?) that tyres were exchanged like for like at some point so are as factory spec.
Does anyone have any comparative experience of the two widths in normal driving conditions, by which I mean wet or dry, but not snow?
Michael.