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Three spokes. The good the bad and the ugly


bunglebus

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

1420910695_Screenshot2022-07-18at12_02_05.thumb.png.63e5d8ac31fe27a46b148f7959eb5e86.png

 

The bad:

These awful things. As usual, Landrover couldn't be bothered so no centre cap.image.thumb.png.048bc06ec1884099156d89c20223f0e3.png 

The ugly:

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

image.thumb.png.d9cc20c352ff2f7f198aa3b4a11160c3.png

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

Image 1 - Smart Roadster 452  Genuine SpikeLine 16 Inch alloy wheels with tyres

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.
BRABUS MONOBLOCK II 8X17” For Mercedes Benz, Auto Accessories on Carousell


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.

SMITHS TURBO 3 spoke Alloys - VW Beetle 4x130 - set of 4 - Come with Center  caps £190.00 - PicClick UK


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.

LAND ROVER FREELANDER 1 1998 (SReg) Alloy Wheels Set of 5 alloys 17 inch 3  spoke £50.00 - PicClick UK

 

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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 

image.png.814371aaf82e73450090c6db6f1862d7.png

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

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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...

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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 

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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:

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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!

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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!

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2 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

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

4_jpg.jpg

In a similar theme....

41978946980_9f41f99c6d.jpg.615cc84fa7aca210d5ca65dd86fc97a2.jpg

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.

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