Ideal wheel width 156

[krysRAW = AROCA-Vic PR =]

Hi guys

Thought I'd ask for some advice based on the experience of the owners on this forum regarding ideal wheel width.

I have a 2004 face lift 156 2.0 JTS which is currently sitting on 30mm dropped King springs and rolling on 17 inch with 215/45 17 rubber.

After a year running on this set up, I've decided to replace the Kings with 40mm drop Novitec springs that I've ordered:
http://shop.alfisti.net/product_info.php?language=en&products_id=1130&products_id=1130

And initially I was planning on installing Koni Yellow Sports adjustable shocks, but after some research, I've realised as much as the adjustability helps with dealing with shortened springs, ultimately the ideal set up would include uprated shortened shocks which are designed for shorter springs. I'm planning on purchasing a set done by P.I. :
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/300934966411?cmd=VIDESC

So with this info in mind, my question to you is in regards to wheel size, specifically what is the widest wheel I can have for both 18 and 19 inch options, tire profiles and offsets.

Plus anyone have experience with 18 and 19 ride quality?

[colcol]

Just be carefull about wheel alignment issues, as you lower the car, you will get more negative camber that will cause the top of the wheel to tilt inwards, and the tyre will be running on the inside edge of the tyre.
The toe will also change, but this can be adjusted by altering the lengths of the tierods.
I don't know of any camber kits available for 156's, ideally, you would want to make the camber standard, which is about, 10 - 20 minutes negative???.
You wouldn't want to chop out a set of $800 tyres in 12 months, Colin.

[krysRAW = AROCA-Vic PR =]

Thanks for the heads up on the camber angles Colcol.

Will need to do some R&D for possible kits/solutions.

[colcol]

As you drop the suspension, the wheel arc travels further towards the bump stop, and the top of the wheel tilts inwards and the bottom of the wheel tilts outwards, therefor the tyre doesn't sit flat on the ground, it runs on the inner part of the tyre.
This is good for a V-8 Supercar which run about 4 degrees negative camber, because they go round corners fast, but on a road car, i wouldn't want anymore than about 1/2 degree negative.
I would get a wheel alignment check now, to see how much negative camber you have, and if its a bit too much, don't lower it anymore.
In an ideal world you would be able to fit a camber correcting kit to adjust the camber back to more managble levels, but i don't think that there are any available, for 156's, Colin.

[krysRAW = AROCA-Vic PR =]

Had a new set of tires put on just 2 months ago along with a wheel alignment which currently has the camber at:
FRONT
LH -01°34'
RH -01°37'
REAR
LH -1°40'
RH -01°44'

I've found a few places online which may offer camber kits for the 156:
K-Mac
http://www.k-mac.com/pages/newprods/alfa/alfa.htm
Andy's Autosport
   http://www.andysautosport.com/camber_kits/alfa_romeo.html

I would have thought that the use of shortened shocks would help with avoiding too much negative camber.

I think I'll have a word with the guys either at Trutrack or Centreline Suspension.

[colcol]

1 -1/2 negative camber sounds a bit too much on a road car, would be great on a club car, the K-Mac kit only offers camber kits for the rear, for a Alfa 156.
Andy's has camber kits for Alfa Romeo, but most likely for the older models.
Shortened shocks won't affect the alignment, it will just stop the shock absorber riding round on its bump stops.
In an ideal world, you need shorter lower control arms and longer top control arms, although, longer top arms, don't come out 90 degrees from the body, like the lowers do, so longer upper control arms would also affect the caster settings.
Bringing the wheel out from the car at the top, may cause the wheel to hit the mud guard.
Have a word to the blokes at Trutrack or Centreline, i am sure they have seen it all before.
There is a video on youtube of a Alfa Romeo 156 with a camber kit, but it doesn't give much adjustment, Colin.

[colcol]

If you think about it, you have about 1 degree too much negative camber, which means the inside of the tyre touches the ground before the outside of the tyre.
So 1 degree is .016" per inch or 0,4 mm per 25 mm, the tyres are 205mm wide, so that is say 8 inches, 8 times .016"= .128" or 1/8 inch or 8 times 0.4mm = 3,2 mm, that means you are going to wear 3 mm of the inside of the tyre before the outer starts to wear or the inside will be chopped out when you still have 3 mm tread on the outer.
However if you start to Sprint the 156, then the tyre wear will even itself out as you will be going around corners fast wearing the tyres more evenly, Colin.

[bix]

Hi guys
Thought I'd ask for some advice based on the experience of the owners on this forum regarding ideal wheel width.

Hi krysRAW. The ideal wheel width will depend on the offset of your wheel. The GTA 17" wheels have an offset of 38. With 225 tyres, these fill out the guards very nicely. If you were able to fit a 235 tyre on these rims, I'm sure they would rub on the guards. Regarding 18's or even 19's, I would be very surprised if you would find any performance improvements on the track with these - happy to be proven wrong though. The tyres will only cost you a small fortune.

Regarding serious lowering of the car, be mindful that the driveshaft boots get chewed out very quickly due the now extreme angle it operates on and will need frequent replacement.

Will we see the car on the track?

[krysRAW = AROCA-Vic PR =]

Thanks for the input Bix.

Will have to keep an eye on the drive shaft boots, but so far have had no problems and has not been flagged in the safety check point inspection last week.

I've order some new wheels:
http://www.ozzytyres.com.au/store/wheel-tyre-packages/stance-sc-7-19x8-5-5x98-satin-black-wheel-tyre-package.html#!prettyPhoto

Will be running these on 225/35/19 and an offset of ET25mm in order to achieve the wheel face being flush with the edge of the wheel arches.

I really didn't have track handling in mind when making this purchase as I would keep my current 17"s for any track work I may wish to undertake.

[bix]

I've found a few places online which may offer camber kits for the 156:
K-Mac
http://www.k-mac.com/pages/newprods/alfa/alfa.htm
Andy's Autosport
   http://www.andysautosport.com/camber_kits/alfa_romeo.html

Thanks for the tip krysRAW. So I went out and purchased the k-mac rear camber kit for the 156. Here are a couple of pics of what you get.
Delivery was within a week and despite what looked like a US site to me, the parts came from Australia.

To install, you require drilling the top hole on the stub axle assembly using the supplied drill bit (see instruction pic) and then once assembled the cam bolt adjusts the camber.

[krysRAW = AROCA-Vic PR =]

I've found a few places online which may offer camber kits for the 156:
K-Mac
http://www.k-mac.com/pages/newprods/alfa/alfa.htm
Andy's Autosport
   http://www.andysautosport.com/camber_kits/alfa_romeo.html

Thanks for the tip krysRAW. So I went out and purchased the k-mac rear camber kit for the 156. Here are a couple of pics of what you get.
Delivery was within a week and despite what looked like a US site to me, the parts came from Australia.

To install, you require drilling the top hole on the stub axle assembly using the supplied drill bit (see instruction pic) and then once assembled the cam bolt adjusts the camber.

Hey Bix

Which site did you get the camber kit from and how much was it? Do you have any pics of the process or at least the finished fitted kit?

I'm getting some BC coilovers but because of the way the suspension system is laid out, the coilovers for the 156 do not come with camber adjustment.

[bix]

Hi krysRAW,
I got it from the link you posted above: http://www.k-mac.com/pages/newprods/alfa/alfa.htm and just hit "buy", then filled in my details.
It was $210 for the rear (sadly no options that I know of for the front unless someone can provide any info) and it was a speedy delivery.

I don't have it fitted yet but will let you know. I'm probably going to choose the easy route and let TruTrack do the hard work for me.

Cheers,
Bix