WHEELS
The first thing I'd like to mention about road-wheels, is that the only place I want to have heavy metal, is on my stereo. A purist may want to keep the steel wheels for originality reasons. Which by all means is fine. But in the underpinnings department, I'd like to tread lightly. Aluminium alloy is the order of the day, the benefits are numerous. Style, weight, better heat dispertion, lack of rust, and last but not least: Alloy's are round.
-So what, you might ask. Surely steel wheels are round too? Nope. They're roundish. Pressing steel is not as accurate as moulding or forging alloy.
| SOCCER EMS Alloy Dim: 5 x 15" Offset: 45 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 22319 11973 22327 |
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. It's the only comfort for EMS owners, 'cous they HAVE to have these. |
| SOCCER GLE Alloy Dim: 5 x 15" Offset: 45 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 17772 11973 22327 |
Painting them gold didn't alter the fact that these alloys are only 5 inches wide. |
| INCA Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 22343 11973 22483 |
Saab finally got the message and made wider wheels. And, more importantly, less offset too. Styling was subject for discussion, but hey, compared to the soccers they're nice. |
| MINILITE Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 22376 11973 included |
A classic design, familiar from many racetracks. These never go out of style. |
| MINILITE Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
RONAL 24380 24513 22483 |
Also available with normal wheelnuts. |
| TRX Alloy Dim: 135 x 390 Offset: ? mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
MICHELIN 22970 11973 24125 |
A friend of mine was very pleased with a 99 he'd just bought. Very cheap, and it had alloys! Then he found out what it would cost to replace the bald tyres... |
| TRX Alloy Dim: 135 x 390 Offset: ? mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
|
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
MICHELIN 24471 24513 24133 |
I've seen TRX wheels shift hands for
five quid. FOR ALL FOUR. TRX wheels make excellent garage-wall ornaments, to hang the garden hose over. |
| US-TURBO Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 24489 24513 24505 |
Saab called these us-turbo and sold them worldwide... |
| AERO Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 121 800 . 105 121 818 |
Introduced in -84. the top 900 had these AEROdynamic shaped wheels. |
| TURBO 85 Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: 40 mm Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 122 808 . 105 123 400 |
|
| . Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" . Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelnut nr: Hubcap nr: |
. . . . |
Hmmm. A crossbreed between AERO and INCA ? |
 |
| AERO Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
|
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 123 103 . 105 123 400 |
|
| AERO Alloy Dim: 6 ½ x 16" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 123 707 . 105 123 715 |
|
| TURBO 85 Alloy Dim: 5 ½ x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
|
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 123 301 . 105 123 400 |
|
| TURBO 85 Alloy Dim: 6 x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
|
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 122 907 . 105 123 400 |
| TURBO 91 Alloy Dim: 6 x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 124 705 . 105 123 400 |
|
| MINILITE Alloy Dim: 6 x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
RONAL 105 122 709 . 105 119 101 |
6 inch wide minilites? I'll take four
please. (And an m88 900 donor car for suspension parts so they'll fit) |
| DIAMOND SPOKE Alloy Dim: 6 x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 122 402 . 105 123 400 |
|
| CROSS SPOKE Alloy Dim: 6 x 15" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
 |
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 123 616 . 105 122 311 |
|
| CROSS SPOKE Alloy Dim: 6 ½ x 16" Offset: Bolt circle: 108 x 4 |
|
Made by: Part nr: Wheelbolt nr: Hubcap nr: |
. 105 122 337 . 105 122 311 |
SUM UP
- Rounder wheels is better for NVH figures (Noise Vibration Harshness). Ergo, they grip better.
- TRX. Anyone out there who remember the VHS vs BETA war? Beta was a superior system. That didn't help, for VHS was an ESTABLISHED system.
What happened, was that Michelin (who brought
us the RADIAL tyre) had developed a new concept of tyres. For better
stability the inner edge was shaped differently and required special wheels.
And to prevent anyone from trying to fit a TRX tyre to a non-TRX wheel,
a whole new range of wheel dimentions was introduced:
Metric ones. In the early eighties most car manufacturers with self respect
listed TRX wheels for their top models. It wasn't until the tyres wore
down that people discovered what new ones costed...
Bolt circle: 4,5" x 4 or 108 x 4? All 99's initially had 4,5" x 4. In -88, the 900 got a revised suspension with brakes borrowed from the 9000 (meaning rear wheel handbrake). These suspension parts will bolt straight on to a 99.
- Weight: Alloys are lighter than steel wheels. Not nessesarily
true. Following today's trend, many people tend to fit the largest
alloy/tyre combo possible. I've seen Saabs with 17" and even 18"
wheels. (Mostly 900's and 9000's, but some 99's too)
Larger wheels are heavier, and at some point of the size-scale our "light-alloy"
wheels start to outweigh the steel wheels they're replacing. But a lot
of people still want larger wheels, why?
(And this does not only consern Saab, it's
a trend visible with all kinds of cars)
The only explanation must be a combination of rating style (?)
above any other aspect, and partial/total unawareness about the drawbacks
of oversizing.
We've all heard about wide wheels and tramlining, but there's more. Let's
see, more steering wheel kickback, and how about slower accelleration???
Dont believe it, you say? Well, answer me this: How can it be that an
engine with a lightened flywheel spins faster up to max revs?
- Prices: My alloys came with a parts car I bought cheaply. I've
also got another set, two were bought from the scrap and the other two
were bought used. This is how most people gets hold of a set of alloys
for a Saab 99. Buying brand new ones is seldom an option, as they would
cost maybe twice as much as you paid for the car.
Therefore most of us get to choose from Saab's menu, listed above.
A good thing with sensibly sized wheels is that the tyres are not alarmingly
expensive. Move up to 17" or 18" alloys, and they become increasingly
so. I recently started noticing something strange. Looking closer on the
fat tyres fitted to "expensive" Audi's and BMW's with truck-like
wheel dimentions, I discovered that most of them are third rate gumballs
from cheepo' Asian manufacturers residing at the bottom of the foodchain.
Hah! These poseurs cant afford to shoe their fancy chairots properly!
What, may I ask, is the purpose of having these wheel-dimentions then?
Bloody ridiculous!
