New summer wheels

"duurtlang" (duurtlang) 04/09/2016 at 14:20 • Filed to: Peugeot 406 coupe, peugeot

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I just swapped my Peugeot 205 GTi wheels with winter tires for a set of wheels with summer tires. My old set of summers on the stock 406 coupe wheels were worn (2mm thread left), so I used the occasion to buy a new set of wheels. They are 17 inch Peugeot 307 CC wheels. Did I pick right?

Sorry of the crappy pictures. Will do a proper photo shoot later. Seeing the old 205 GTI wheels next to the 307 CC wheels makes the old ones look tiny. However, the wheel diameter is virtually identical. 185/65/15 winter tires, 215/45/17 summers. Stock wheel + tire: 205/60/15.

I’m using 20 mm spacers on each wheel, the same ones I’ve used on the 205 GTi wheels. This to neutralize the different offset of the 406 coupe.

185/65/15 versus 215/45/17. Circa 1988 versus circa 2005.

Zoom... (my camera sucks)

The stock 15" 406 coupe wheels

I did make a mistake though. I bought the wheels plus used Pirelli tires as a set. While mounting the wheels I found out one of the tires has a bubble. This means I have to trash that tire, right? I don’t have a proper picture, but the one below does show it somewhat.

djmt1 > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 14:32

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Best Ferrari design of the past 25 years.

duurtlang > djmt1 04/09/2016 at 14:38

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Unlike a Ferrari, this one costs about €0.02-0.03 a km in maintenance (when one outsources maintenance to a friend of a friend).

Klaus Schmoll > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 14:39

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I like the wheels. Unfortunately, I don’t think one tire will be enough. You’ll need at least two.

duurtlang > Klaus Schmoll 04/09/2016 at 14:40

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I know. I only do sets of two. Sucks, these tires easily costs €100 each, if not more when avoiding crappy Chinese tires.

PetarVN, GLI Guy, now with stupid power > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 14:44

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Looks great! Really makes the car look newer!

Spasoje > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 14:45

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Nice wheels! And yeah, that tire is done. That bubble will get bigger until it bursts, so it’s gotta be replaced.

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 14:52

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Ah, but buy the right Ferrari and you can have negative running costs. Each km will see you better off.

duurtlang > Cé hé sin 04/09/2016 at 15:00

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That seems like a good deal, where can I sign up? Did I mention I’ve driven my mini Ferrari for about 105k km now?

Cé hé sin > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 15:06

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Step 1:

Acquire money

Step 2:

Acquire Mondial (probably the last one that hasn’t gone crazy, but is on the point of doing so)

Step 3:

Sell just before the bubble bursts

Steve in Manhattan > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 15:17

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Sounds like you did all the offset maths, so it should be fine.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 15:21

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Looks nice, almost as if the rims were designed for the 406 coupe, which probably is because the modern design of it.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 17:39

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Very nice :) trying to get my mate with a 406c to post some pics of his (although it's up on axle stands at the moment mid clutch swap/suspension refresh)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > duurtlang 04/09/2016 at 19:32

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Looks good to me! I’ve actually always really liked those 205 rims....understated, but a cool style to me! :)

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 04/11/2016 at 08:02

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What do you think of the standard 15" wheels? I really struggle to find any merit in all the other wheels that were offered with the 406 Coupé. None of them fit the body’s lines in my opinion. The standard 15" might seem tiny but they complement the shape perfectly and don’t attract the eyes to themselves instead. Your 307 wheels work well too!

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 04/11/2016 at 12:26

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The ones in my picture with the rose? I think they’re all right, but they’re just too small imho. They’re available as 16" as well, from the V6 versions. I just wanted to try something different.

There is one stock 406 coupe wheel I like though, the ones from the very late facelift coupe. Downside is that they’re impossible to find. The 607 came with the same type of wheels, but they have 5 rather than 4 lugnut holes, so using those isn’t an option.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 04/11/2016 at 16:51

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I forgot about those, they’re pretty good too! Problem is of course the facelift is terrible and ruins the entire face of the car. However, it has extended leather trim and a sweet fake aluminium dashboard. In my opinion the worst of the worst as far as stock wheels go are the seven-spokes that most Phase 1 2.2L have, which are good looking wheels but don’t really suit the car, and the Settant’anni limited edition’s weird two-tone wheels, which are very tacky. Most of the Settant’anni is tacky anyway, from the wooden trim that’s more Jaguar than Peugeot, and the horrible white leather... I didn’t know the 15" design was available in 16". I’m not too knowledgeable about that stuff, but would it mess with the gearing to fit the 16" from the V6 on a 2.0L? Now that you mention it the 15" are a bit on the small side... I really want a 406 coupé someday and I almost care more about the wheels than the engine. As long as it has pretty wheels, tan leather (100% non-negotiable) and at least the late 2.0L from the 206 S16, I’d probably be happy.

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 04/11/2016 at 17:42

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Agreed about the horrific facelift and the not that great wheels on the ones you pictured. The first ones can be found, but are ugly on the car. The two tone latter ones are very rare.

I do have the later EW10 (2.0L) engine. Not sure how it compares to the earlier XU10 J4R engine though. I do have a XU10 in my 306 convertible, but that’s the even earlier 8 valve version which was never available in the 406 coupe. That 8 valve is lower on power, but torque is almost similar and available much lower in the rev range.

Alloy diameter has no real effect on gearing. Just like the 15" 205 GTi wheels and the 17" 307 CC wheels have no real effect on gearing. It all depends on tire selection. I use much taller tires on the 205 rims than you’d use on an actual Peugeot 205. 185/65/15 and 215/45/17 are only 0.6% apart in diameter. The stock tire size on my coupe, 205/60/15, is only 0.3% different from 215/45/17. I have found that the 307 and 406 (as does my carbagerun ‘13 Legacy and carbagerun ‘16 Galant) use the same tire diameter, which is welcome. There are lots of easy calculators to be found. I use a Dutch language one, but a quick google search results in this one in English (there are many more)

And what’s wrong with red leather!?

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 04/11/2016 at 18:10

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Thanks for the info!So it’s just a matter of finding the right tire so that wheel+tire remains the same size?

The red leather is nice too, but tan leather is pretty much my favourite interior colour no matter the car. Also, and I might be wrong because this is only based on photographs on the Internet, but the red leather always looks a lot more worn-out than the tan. Is that something you’ve noticed while looking for yours?

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 04/11/2016 at 18:44

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I wasn’t looking for a specific color to be honest. I was looking for a well maintained coupe without too many km and a LPG (GPL) conversion. That’s what I found and bought, and it came with red leather. The thing with my red leather is that when it wears you see white underneath. White under dark red is way more obvious than white under tan. As a result wear is more visible on a darker leather, but I don’t know if it actually wears out faster.

With wheels there are a lot of factors obviously, but looking at gearing alone it’s all about the tires and their diameter.

With PSA vehicles with 4 bolt wheels all wheels generally will fit, although there are offset differences. Most PSA vehicles actually have a similar offset requirement, but the 406 coupe is a bit different. Wheel offset is the measurement between the wheel center and the mounting surface (brake disc usually). The stock offset of my 406 coupe wheels is 12 (12 mm) if I’m not mistaken, while the offset of my 307 CC wheels is about 31 (31 mm) or so. This means the 307 wheels mounted on my 406 are 31-12=19 mm closer to the body than stock 406 coupe wheels would be. This could cause rubbing, wear of suspension parts and isn’t very visually appealing either. As a result I’ve got spacers of 20 mm mounted, so the wheels move 2 cm outward, in roughly the same location as standard wheels would be.

I use these spacers for the 205 GTi wheels as well, which have an offset of 19. That’s only 7 mm different from my stock offset of 12, but here the narrower wheels come into play. Given that the stock tire width of the 205 GTi (1.9) is 185, and the stock 406 (4 cyl) tire width is 205 mm, the difference is 205-185= 20 mm. To make it look stock (ish) the GTi wheels need to move outside a little.