Three spokes. The good the bad and the ugly

[bunglebus]

A hard wheel style to get right. Let's see the best and the worst. 

Personal favourite: Saab 900. Simple, elegant and suit the car perfectly

Worst? Probably one of the many 90s aftermarket designs as seen on MK4 Escorts up and down the country 

[adw1977]

Two different types as optional extras on the Nova, both worked well I think.

June 1985 brochure

[Asimo]

 

The good: Fiat gets around the visual gaffe of spokes not being an exact multiple of wheel nuts /bolts with a cap.

 

The bad:

These awful things. As usual, Landrover couldn't be bothered so no centre cap. 

The ugly:

SaaB, anything Halfords and despite the centre cap, these are the pits: Ford Probe.

[eddyramrod]

Even I've had some, on my Cyprus pickup...

And later on my Saab convertible...

 

[bunglebus]

13 minutes ago, Asimo said:

Ah I like the Range Rover wheels, I think they work - were one of my "good" choices. Agreed on the Probe ones though

[cobblers]

Every three spoke in this thread has been very good. I love them 

[Soundwave]

The good: Smart made these work quite well on the Smart Roadster, fitted in nicely with the three-stud PCD.



Also good: Brabus Monoblocks. Yes, they're a bit overrated by the modded crowd, and often seem to end up on utterly tasteless cars. But, I dunno, I like them in a weird way.



The bad: Smiths Turbos. Once a darling of the aircooled VW scene, there's just something about them I don't like. I'm not a fan of directional wheels in general TBH. These just make me think of a rattle-canned Beetle full of wob and Fiat Brava tail lights cut into the rear wings.




The ugly: Freelander 3 spokes. Technically three groups of two spokes, but for me they just don't work. Quite blobby and indistinct, with five studs and no centre covers.



 

[bunglebus]

Definitely agreed on those last two, never liked the Smiths wheels when they were current. 

[timolloyd]

Viper doesn’t look too bad, but the Rav4…

[DSdriver]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

A hard wheel style to get right. Let's see the best and the worst. 

Personal favourite: Saab 900. Simple, elegant and suit the car perfectly

 

Worst? Probably one of the many 90s aftermarket designs as seen on MK4 Escorts up and down the country 

I love wheels like that, so easy to keep clean. I hate cleaning fiddly wheel.

[meggersdog]

8 minutes ago, timolloyd said:

Viper doesn’t look too bad, but the Vitara…

sorry to be pedantic but that's a RAV4

[paulplom]

Technically only three spokes in this picture..

[warch]

I think three spokes sort of work on bikes like my Speed Triple (this isn't my actual bike because the wheels on mine are black and the rear wheel is hidden behind the end can). 

[155V6]

My old 528i.If the photo had been taken a year or so later,the bike would have been my GSX/R 400 with three spokes.

[GR8 PL8 M8]

53 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

I'm not a fan of directional wheels in general TBH.

I love directional wheels, I really dislike non-directional wheels with angled spokes that look as if they should be directional. I have to turn a blind eye to the hubcaps on my Espero.

Although even worse is when someone has directional wheels with the fronts going one way and the rears the other...

[bunglebus]

5 minutes ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

Although even worse is when someone has directional wheels with the fronts going one way and the rears the other...

Shouldn't be possible unless the wheels are made differently - I used to get a twitch whenever I saw the wrong side of an RS Turbo where the spokes go forwards rather than back. XR3i was similar but somehow not quite as annoying. 

I do remember a custom car built in the 90s with directionals that all went the "right" way and were different sizes front to rear, so all four were different 

[Steviemillar]

BMW Style 38s are a great looking wheel especially on an E39, I saw a rough E39 in Germany last year with these on and it looked ace.

[bigfella2]

When the masses were fitting three spokes to run of the mill scorts and fezzies, ford made them standard, check out the Fiesta RS turbo.

[bunglebus]

4 minutes ago, bigfella2 said:

I was hoping someone would post those, also on my "good" list

[GR8 PL8 M8]

35 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

Shouldn't be possible unless the wheels are made differently - I used to get a twitch whenever I saw the wrong side of an RS Turbo where the spokes go forwards rather than back. XR3i was similar but somehow not quite as annoying. 

I do remember a custom car built in the 90s with directionals that all went the "right" way and were different sizes front to rear, so all four were different 

Differently made wheels are exactly what I'm talking about, i.e. directional. Here's a C4 Corvette with the front wheels going in the wrong direction but the rear's correct:

Chevrolet didn't help matters by introducing a new wheel design in '91 that went in the other direction, meaning there are countless forum threads questioning which way they should go.

Sorry for the derailment, I did try and keep this on topic by using photos of a Viper on 3 spokes, but the only suitable image had chrome wheels making it very hard to see which way they were going!

[stuboy]

i loved RS option 3 spokes i put on my focus

[bunglebus]

1 minute ago, GR8 PL8 M8 said:

Here's a C4 Corvette with the front wheels going in the wrong direction but the rear's correct

Personally I'd say it's the other way around, I like the spokes to angle back from the hub.

[GR8 PL8 M8]

1 minute ago, bunglebus said:

Personally I'd say it's the other way around, I like the spokes to angle back from the hub.

Me too, but in this case they are specifically designed to direct air inward across the brakes. Later wheels were designed to exhaust hot air from the brakes to the outside. Whether or not the earlier wheels would work to that capacity if mounted "backwards" I do not know.

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

I do remember a custom car built in the 90s with directionals that all went the "right" way and were different sizes front to rear, so all four were different 

I forgot to add - the Viper posted above ticks that box, the rear wheels are 3" wider than the front!

[GR8 PL8 M8]

Back on topic, and you thought that the RX8's seats were a bit on the nose...

[Spiny Norman]

More three slot than three spoke,  but the ones on the old R5 Gordini looked the biz.

[wheel nut]

Suzuki Jimny.

I like the wheel design but somehow I don't think it suits the Jimny.

I think this is a reasonable attempt to fit exposed wheel nuts into a 3-spoke design.

[djoptix]

The good:

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

2 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

More three slot than three spoke,  but the ones on the old R5 Gordini looked the biz.

In a similar theme....

Admittedly a wheel trim rather than a wheel, but I love them anyway.  I've never seen a full set on a van so I can only assume they get flung off at the slightest provocation, like metal Datsun steel drum hubcaps.

[morrisoxide]

Mustang.

Good or bad I dunno, but the black convertible with five spokes reminds me of Patrick Star.

[warren t claim]

Anyone posted a photo of the three spokes fitted to the early 80s Fox body Mustang? The sort that look like those fitted to Range Rovers?