Will 16" wheels clear my 2001 C70 calipers?

[BigPapi]

After finding out all 4 of my 2001 Volvo C70 factory wheels are out of round in at least 2 places (thanks to the wonderful freeway pot holes near downtown Los Angeles), I need to replace my wheels but how do I change the sizes of the wheels and tires to have a better chance to "protect" the new wheels I am buying? My thinking is to increase the space between the pavement and wheel, so I am thinking of going with 16" wheels in order to get a larger sidewall profile tire, and this creating more "cushion space". Stock size on the 2001 Volvo C70 are 17" wheels with 225/45-17 tires.

Question 1: has anyone put 16" wheels on the 98-04 C70? On tire/wheel shop told me it can NOT be done because the INNER diameter of the 16" wheel will NOT clear the calipers (but looks to me like I currently have at least 3/4" clearance of the caliper with 17"s, and would only need 1/2" of clearance for the 16"s).

Question 2: Max tire size. Using the miata.net Tire Calculator, my 225/45-17 measures 25.0" in diameter. If I go with a 16" wheel with 215/50-16 tires, that configuration will actually be 0.1 inches SMALLER in diameter. So that would be a YES. If I went with a 215/55-16, the outer diameter increases to 25.3 which I also think might still clear the fender and sidewalls. But going to a 60 is out of the question, since it will increase the tire by 1" in diameter - and will rub at every little bump in the road. By how about a 225/55-16 which would increase the outer diamater to 25.7 inches (a 3% increase)?

Anyone have experience with this? Thanks!

[c70_lindsay]

I run 15" Volvo steel rims on my C70 in the winter, I cannot recall the tire size off hand. I can check tomorrow though.

[mikealder]

Measure the diameter of the brake disks on the front:

288MM you will be ok to fit 16" or even 15"
302MM you won't be ok to fit 16" although certain 16" wheels will fit but not all

- Mike

[BigPapi]

Thanks, Lindsay & Mike.

- Lindsay - did your 2000 Volvo originally come with 16" wheels?

- Mike: I just measured the brake discs on the front and they are 288MM. But curiously, it looks like the 'spindle' that the 'hub' bolts on to might be a problem...part of the spindle extends beyond the diameter of the front disks. Also, the brake/caliper setup in the rear seems larger diameter than the set-up on the front.

I worked with my tire guy, and he is going to order me some Platinum 081 E-twine 16" wheels and 'dry-fit' them to see if they work. I will let you know how this turns out.

[vjaneczko]

I will let you know how this turns out.

.... with pics, right?!

[c70_lindsay]

Can't say for sure what rims mine came with originally, I bought it two years ago. When I bought it it came with a set of 15" steel rims, and a set of 17" alloys both sets are volvo rims.

[BigPapi]

I will let you know how this turns out.

UPDATE: The 16" Platinum E-Twine wheels arrived. My tire guy dry-fitted them, and.... drum roll please.... they FIT! Still had plenty of room to clear the calipers.

Glad we did this because that is when I noticed that my current 225/45-17s were rubbing into the black liner of the wheel wells that sits against the engine wall. So a thinner width tire might be in order.

After seeing that, I decided to absolutely drop down to a slightly narrower tire, but did increase the sidewall height to create a little more defense against hitting potholes, and my wife taking speed bumps too fast (if I even let her drive the convertible anymore). I ordered Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires - sized 215 (vs. 225 I had on there) / 55 (vs. 45 I had on there). This will give me 0.7 inches more sidewall height, 10mm narrower, and only increase the overall tire height by 0.3 inches.

They should be on Monday, and I will be sure to snap some photos.