When I bought the car it had black steelies, probably Roadster steelies, with really good all year around tyres and they gave a quite sinister look.
Those tyres may have a deep thread but the peculiar name suggests Asian made and they are really hard even in warm weather so I can’t imagine how sketchy they will be when the snow comes.
So the hunt for new, aluminium, rims was up.
Found a really nice used OEM set for an OK price at a wrecker, bought them instantly.
But there were no tires on them and the weird dimensions on a smart car is quite hard to find, so the weeks went...
Suddenly I found another pair online for a bargain price, with tyres as a bonus.
The downside was that the cheap set was to the wrong model….of course….always something.
They was 451 wheels and I have a 450 if I talk the nerdy Smart language.
But no issue really, spacers will solve the problem.
Front is direct replacement but rear needs a spacer.
On top of all, this set was an not so common aftermarket rim from Alutec.
Really nice looking as well!
The spacers gives me the upside with SO much bigger range of wheels to choose from if I want another set in the future because the 451 rims are by far the most common.
There are never any beefy dimension when we talk Smart cars, but even tiny OEM wheel sizes looks really good so I'm really Ok with the 15” available. Maaaaybey can squeeze in a 16”, but there's really no point doing that.
Measure the spacer size and order.
1.) Mount the Alutec rear wheel
2.) Measure with a DIY plumb line out of a socket and an electrical wire
3.) Order bolt on spacers
4.) SUPERFAST service from Spacer.se
I placed the order 07:10 tuesday and 10:10 wednesday I got a message that I could pick up them at my local package delivery place. Amazing 27 hours with no VIP treatment or express delivery, thats service.
But the most amazing time is this is not a of the shelf spacer so in this very short time they also made the spacers before shipping to me, amazing.
The package content was a real treat to experience, first class Swedish workmanship!!!
Sooo nice stance and looks with the Alutec wheels.
But some height drop would be nice...maybe the next project?
Buy stuff aint the hard part, but get the time and energy to mount them is.
Time will tell if I have enough energy for a lowering kit?
Before and after comparison.
