I thought Id report on a set of new wheels I purchased through Realm Engineering in England this year, as well as some tire recommendations.

After 25 years, the wire wheels on my e type were a bit tired, needed re-chroming and perhaps some truing. I considered simply replacing them.

I decided to try the "D Type wheels" for fun. Always liked the look, and was told they were a great alternative. They are! They run straight and true, I love the look, and - since I was going to replace anyway - were not a crazy price. A few bucks more is all. Ive attached a pic.

As for tires - I tried several e types belonging to friends with various brands, and settled on Pirelli's. The dunlop radials I had used over the years had blown up a few times (Dunlop England always replaced them) but I wasn't charmed by the experience.

I bought the Pirelli 15/VR/185 radials from Longstonetyres in the UK. Not only (In Jan 2013 anyway) were they 30% cheaper than any tyre supplier here in the US for the exact same tyre, they were shipped to my mechanic for free.
Just a friendly FYI - I do not mean to disparage any suppliers here in the US, so please do not take offence!

Kind regards
greg arnold NYC

Submitted by greg@nofatmusic.com on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 17:34

Hi Mike:
I went with 15 / 185 tires (original spec) and 5.5 wide rims, per Realm recommendation. I like having the tire stops working, and certainly didn't want to customize the rear by widening, or removing anything. Plus my mechanic said the 5.5 rims actually makes clearance of the tire stops perfect.
Very cool. If you post your email I'm happy to send you pics of what the wheels look like.
For some reason, even when I compressed the pictures, this post would not upload them.

For what its worth, I've always liked wire wheels, but I also have other xks with wire wheels, so having these "D type" wheels is just a fun variation - and makes my E type look meaner, according to the guy thats going to paint it!

Submitted by azmmgm@yahoo.com on Tue, 05/14/2013 - 15:37

I am now in the same situation you were. Tired and heavy wire wheels. I have been looking at the same wheels.
Can you tell me what size wheel did you go for. The 15" -16" the 5.5" or the wider? Mike