Springs + Shocks for 16x8 et25 wheels

[yames]

Hey All,

I've been running some OZ Racing Rally Racing magnesium wheels on my ST for about 2 years now with no issues. Exact specs are 16x8" et+25 with 205 45 r16 tyres (Michelin PS3 and Toyo Proxes TR1).

I've been looking to lower the car on coils + shocks but my set up is quite pokey. Wondering if anyone else has experience with this ? I'm having a hard time finding Swift Spec R springs in Europe so am looking at Whiteline instead. Not sure if this fitment can handle a 30mm drop though ! Would really prefer not to have any rubbing issues if possible.

Any help is appreciated, thanks

 

[foodtruck]

I run B14s; AFAIK that should be more accessible for you. They're somewhat stiffer but offer same (or ever so slightly higher) ride height than Spec Rs (wheel centre to top of the arch: 315mm Spec Rs measured by another local Fiesta ST owner vs 320mm B14s at max height on my car)

Obligatory pic(s) (on 215/45r16, 7" wide rim):

 

[M-Sport fan]

That's a lot less 'poke' than I thought there would be, given that offset.

I never knew that OZ offered those wheels in a 16x8, 4x108 PCD (is the center bore a 63.2??), as it must be an overseas only option (thanks for nothing OZ and Tire Rack! ).

Are these truly a magnesium alloy composition?

They cannot be for an R2/Rally 4 car since they are not allowed to run that wide, even for tarmac spec, and the Rally 3 cars use a 17x7 on tarmac, and they are all 5 bolt hubs anyway.

Beautiful wheels regardless.

There are some on here who have run close to those offsets on 8" wide wheels on over 1" lowered rides, but they did have to 'massage' the fender lip, 'pull' the fenders, and/or the liners, etc., to do so without severe rubbing.

Hopefully, they will chime in soon.

(But whoosh motorsports, a sponsor vendor on here, most likely would send you a set of the Swift Spec R springs, which when paired with Bilstein B6es would possibly not even lower the car an inch. Check them out and send an email.)

Are those the Graham Goode Racing mud flaps?

 

[yames]

I run B14s; AFAIK that should be more accessible for you. They're somewhat stiffer but offer same (or ever so slightly higher) ride height than Spec Rs (wheel centre to top of the arch: 315mm Spec Rs measured by another local Fiesta ST owner vs 320mm B14s at max height on my car)

Obligatory pic(s) (on 215/45r16, 7" wide rim):

Yeah I've been heavily considering the B14's, only leaning towards coils+springs for cost and because I don't track the car. If I can't source Swifts and Whiteline are too low then the B14's look like the way to go. Thanks for the pics and input, that drop looks really nice 🙂

That's a lot less 'poke' than I thought there would be, given that offset.

I never knew that OZ offered those wheels in a 16x8, 4x108 PCD (is the center bore a 63.2??), as it must be an overseas only option (thanks for nothing OZ and Tire Rack! ).

Are these truly a magnesium alloy composition?

They cannot be for an R2/Rally 4 car since they are not allowed to run that wide, even for tarmac spec, and the Rally 3 cars use a 17x7 on tarmac, and they are all 5 bolt hubs anyway.

Beautiful wheels regardless.

There are some on here who have run close to those offsets on 8" wide wheels on over 1" lowered rides, but they did have to 'massage' the fender lip, 'pull' the fenders, and/or the liners, etc., to do so without severe rubbing.

Hopefully, they will chime in soon.

(But whoosh motorsports, a sponsor vendor on here, most likely would send you a set of the Swift Spec R springs, which when paired with Bilstein B6es would possibly not even lower the car an inch. Check them out and send an email.)

Are those the Graham Goode Racing mud flaps?

These wheels are very very old haha. They're originally off an escort cosworth I think(?). I got them off a Sierra fanatic in rural Ireland, he had a few sets for sale and a garage full of Sierras. The centre bore fits perfectly on the standard hub, no spigot rings required. I imagine they are far past their production days and would be somewhat hard to come by now, especially in the US.

Yes I'm fairly certain they are magnesium. They were advertised as such and I had a very unpleasant time getting them powder coated. Magnesium is awful to degas in prep, the coater didn't cook them enough and after a week the powder was bubbling off the wheels hahaha. Those pictures were all very early so you can't see what they became soon after...


I would prefer not to have to edit the fenders at all but I suppose that's the price of low. I've seen some suggest camber bolts for a little extra clearance but I have nothing set in stone yet.

I was about to order off Whoosh only to see they don't ship to here ! I might give them an email now that you've suggested it and see if they can do anything for me.

The mudflaps are from a UK company called RallyFlapz. They're the 4mm PVC gloss black. Cost me about €80 a year and a half ago. Really happy with them 🙂

 

[WannabeST]

You will for sure have poke if you lower your car with those specs. I have a set of wheels that is 15x8 +28 and you can see on my page that is pokes out noticeably. My car is lowered on swift lowering springs. Your specs would make your wheels poke out another 3mm outward.

 

[FlordPerformance]

It appears that you've stretched the tires on the rims.. correct? Lately I've been attempting to run static on the van.. just using stiffer coils and the stock shocks.. this combo has been working very well on the rear.. I explain to others it's like having a coil over without the inner shock. The set up is working so well that we';ve just submitted a new order to the shop for a new set of front springs with the same stiffness as the rear. I know you're in UK, so look for a company that can handle forging a set of springs for you. this way you'll never have to worry about adjusting the coil overs as the height is preset.


Just so one's know.. those are the FoMoCo stock shocks with the upgraded stiffer springs.. we';ve had other brands on the van even Bilstein but found that the bilsteins were listed as being for the B14's these kept bottoming out.. so we switched back to the stock shocks. I just wrapped them for appearances.

 

[scooter123]

IMO your wheels are too wide for the tires you are running. Tires are designed to that the side walls are basically vertical. With the cone you have on those sidewalls you'll gain a very "soft" breakaway but it will come at the expense of reduced traction. I will also note that drop you are considering will result in a tire rub. I once had a tire shop try to use 205/16 x 55 tires on my 16x7 wheels and the tire rub when I hit a dip sounded like the entire car had bottomed out. Took a week to get that sorted out because the Manager was on vacation but they ordered in the 205/16x50 tires I requested and comped me the complete cost because of the assistant's screwup. BTW, I've found that the 205/16x50 tires are getting to be rare so those wanting this size should tell the tire shop that the tires are for a Mazda Miata which has this as it's native tire size. Doing this will save all the arguing about putting a non native size on a Fiesta.

 

[WannabeST]

IMO your wheels are too wide for the tires you are running.

this depends on the goal of the car. In NASA many cars in TT5 and TT6 are running 205 tires on 9" wide wheels. It's the best way to stretch out the tread and get a stiff sidewall. But this much of a stretch would be too much for the street. I personally run 205 tires on 8" wide wheels daily and on track with zero issues. There's just enough sidewall to protect the wheels and just enough stretch for amazing turn in.

 

[M-Sport fan]

The mudflaps are from a UK company called RallyFlapz. They're the 4mm PVC gloss black. Cost me about €80 a year and a half ago. Really happy with them 🙂

Those are the brand which Graham Goode sells, and which I own, but have not had a chance to install yet.

Were they a royal pain to install, with all of the vice grip bending one must do to the mounting brackets since that all ships flat??

Are they solid once installed, and do the brackets rust at all (not sure if they are stainless steel or not and if so, what grade)?

I also looked up what the factory (it was Ford Motorsport at Boreham way back then) rally prepped Group A Escort Cossie RSes used on tarmac and sure enough, they did use those 16x8 OZeds, but supposedly at a 30 ET offset.

It was when they went to the immediately post Group A, WRC class rules that they all used the 18x8s on tarmac rallies.

 

[Snrub]

205 on a 8" wide wheel is barely a stretch. At least in North America, manufacturers and tire shops consider that an off-road fitment, but IMO it's safe.

Grassroots Motorsports has conducted a number of tests and for maximum performance you want the tire section width and the wheel width to be the same. Eg. 205 on a 8" wheel, 225 on a 9" wheel.

For a street car I like the idea of a little more tire vs. wheel to protect the wheel. Eg. 205 on 7", 225 on 8". Most OEMs do this even though a 205 can fit a 7.5, etc.

You could always look at doing a custom spring setup like this: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threa...ce-springs-for-oem-b6-style-suspension.30829/

 

[yames]

Those are the brand which Graham Goode sells, and which I own, but have not had a chance to install yet.

Were they a royal pain to install, with all of the vice grip bending one must do to the mounting brackets since that all ships flat??

Are they solid once installed, and do the brackets rust at all (not sure if they are stainless steel or not and if so, what grade)?

I also looked up what the factory (it was Ford Motorsport at Boreham way back then) rally prepped Group A Escort Cossie RSes used on tarmac and sure enough, they did use those 16x8 OZeds, but supposedly at a 30 ET offset.

It was when they went to the immediately post Group A, WRC class rules that they all used the 18x8s on tarmac rallies.

No they were simple enough to install, there are laser-cut perforations where they need to be bent so I was able to easily do all the shaping with my hands. The fronts come with some 3M tape to hold the bottom to the sill but that didn't last long so they can be a bit more floppy there. I reversed over a curb one time and one of the fronts got pinned between the tyre and curb and was pulled hard. It just bent the bracket and I was able to bend it right back when I was home. No rust that I've noticed so I think they're stainless.

Looks like my wheels are still a mystery then, who knows what they came off 🤔

Thanks for all the input from everyone else I did quite a lot of research when buying the wheels on what the best tyres would be. I was talking to a guy who was rubbing on 215's with the exact same specs otherwise so I think I'm pretty dead set sticking with the 205's. I'm ok with a little bit of stretch, they haven't given me any issues on Ireland's potholes so I reckon they're grand

 

[M-Sport fan]

Regardless, those wheels do look SWEET!!

Even despite the bubbling of the powder coating due to the magnesium alloy's porosity factor.
(It just adds to the 'rally patina' of them! )