A mixed bag today! By which I mean I had a moment of happiness when my parts arrived from Germany, but also a moment of despair when I realised the error I had made and felt rather daft...
I had some spare 16 inch alloys in the garage that were off a C4 coupé that unfortunately I had to scrap not long ago. They are the same 4 x 108 PCD as the 306 and the same centre bore of course, so I suddenly had a mad idea to replace my 13 inch sofa casters with these. The only reason I had kept them back from the C4 was because they were in fairly good condition and the tyres were all Michelin / Good Year and still had at least 5mm on them all round. I quickly realised though that they would be far too big for the 306 unless I fancied shaving them down to cords on the wheel arches.
They had 205/55s on, and unsurprisingly the jump from 175/70R13 to this would have resulted in some comical (and dangerous) results. I calculated a suitable alternative for them would be 195/45R16, to narrow them a little bit more towards factory spec, and more importantly to shrink the sidewall considerably.
Now, I'm a bit anal when it comes to tyres. I swear by certain models such as Good Year Eagle F1s (even better than Michelin Pilot Sports in my opinion), and if I'm working to a budget I've always found Yokohama and Falken to be very respectable for the cost. However, I made a decision that I would make an exception for the 306, as it is so slow and is not the sort of car I throw in to corners in the wet and so on. I found on Farcebook a brand new set of Kumhos locally in Ilkeston that someone was giving away for £150 fitted, and I decided that was a steal. Okay, they are winter tyres, which are pretty redundant in the UK anyway, but they fit the bill nicely. I happily went down this morning and had them mounted on the C4 alloys. Nipped in to Euro Car Sharts in Derby to relieve them of 16 wheel bolts (I needed flat ones, the steelies had conical) and went home, desperate to fit my cool (in my head) new wheels and tyres.
Fronts went on and looked marvelous. Moved on to the rears and they fit, so it seemed, but made a school boy error and didn't actually check they turned freely with the handbrake off. Oops!
in my opinion, these are a subtle and tasteful modification. The 13 inch steels accompanied by cracked and cable tied trims that looked like they were from Skegness Market were bothering me.
Turns out they rub the inner edge along the wheel arch. Plenty of room up top, but not enough clearance for either the arch or the handbrake cable where is hangs!
After much grunting, back wheels were removed, steels refitted and rolled the car back in to its space on the drive, realising I now need either a pair of spacers or a plan B.
Someone recommended Ferodo brakes to me a while ago and I was unsure at first, as I always considered them to be another generic name amongst the sort of mid range motor factors lot, but their Premier range made an absolutely incredible difference on my Saab, far outstripping more expensive brakes like EBC, and far better than the now much cheaper Brembo range. Hoping the 306 will yield the same sort of results. Set of Elring fire washers and injector seals also arrived today along with a load of stuff for my C6.
To soften the blow, a delivery van arrived in the meantime and delivered a big parcel of parts, chiefly the stuff inside was for my C6, but there was also a set of front discs and pads for the 306 as well as my injector seals and fire washers. So at least I have a couple of other bits to keep me busy. And then I realised... the front wheels are now going to have to come off again anyway for me to do the brakes! Duh!
