240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

To be honest Alan, i can't see how any wheels, even new ones, command a price like that for a set. That said i've just bought an Audi spare wheel for a friend that was just over £100 with a half decent tyre on it (Firestone) with ~6mm of tread and the wheel only has minor kerb-rash.
Again, no idea why the Audi spare wheel was so expensive (no, it wasn't a space-saver aka pram-wheel), bought one for the Jag recently for under £50 with a good (~5.5mm Kumho) tyre on but poor paint/lacquer (even though it looked good in the listing) so why the Audi one should be a stupid price i've no idea.
Both alloys made originally by the same manufacturer (Ronal i think, logo is like a jwl in cursive but not quite) and both tyres are a similar amount of rubber (215/40/17 for the Audi, 225/55/16 for the Jag) so is it market forces at play or what?

I know the Virgo rims are getting rare and more desirable now but they won't fit many of the later 7xx models so are limited to all intents and purposes to the 200 and older cars which reduces the market place. Sorry but i just can't see the value in wheels at that sort of price.

I would tend to agree Dave, I'm just writing down what I see. I certainly would not buy a set of Virgo alloy wheels for £600 myself, but the cost of refurbishing a scabby set is £250-£300 (that is paying someone to do it) and a set of tyres is another £250, so one can understand why the sellers are looking for those prices.

Coincidentally the Virgo wheels do look very good on all 240s, so there is always good demand - but the supply side will tend to dry up as time goes no, that is why they have become expensive.

I quite like the Virgo wheel design, and would be happy to hang onto my set, PCD 5x108 would fit a lot of motor cars (some of the 740/940 models would need 20mm spacers like I had on the RB until recently). I'm even thinking they might look pretty cool on the Amazon (PCD 5x114.3) some time in the future (the spacers would be more complex, costing either around £230/4 from a bespoke manufacturer in the UK, or £140/4 from a dodgy sounding guy in Latvia).

Interesting discussion.

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

It's no suprise the Virgo wheels look good on a 240 Alan, they were after all designed for it, specifically the GLT model and were originally colloquially known as "GLT wheels" as that's the car that got them as standard.

A similar design was used on the 360GLT and in both cases, at the time the larger wheels were used to clear larger brakes which ironically is why they won't fit many of the later 7/9xx models because the brakes are too big and need 16" wheels.

As for tyres, all depends what you want and how much you want to pay. I've been using a brand called "Invovic" for a few years now on the 760, very cheap (first set of 4 were just over £100) and although you might think "Chinese Ditchfinders", you'd be wrong. They grip like glue to the road (believe me, i've been brutal and tried to get them to break traction!), they're quiet and comfortable. Can't really argue as they do exactly what i want them to.

Also if you refurb the wheels yourself, you can save a small fortune and if you have (i know you do) your own tyre changer and balancer, the rest is free as well.

I think the Pholus wheels would suit GAM better with their visual allusion to Minilites and those being the period wheels of choice for may people for 60s and 70s cars.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

It's no suprise the Virgo wheels look good on a 240 Alan, they were after all designed for it, specifically the GLT model and were originally colloquially known as "GLT wheels" as that's the car that got them as standard.

A similar design was used on the 360GLT and in both cases, at the time the larger wheels were used to clear larger brakes which ironically is why they won't fit many of the later 7/9xx models because the brakes are too big and need 16" wheels.

As for tyres, all depends what you want and how much you want to pay. I've been using a brand called "Invovic" for a few years now on the 760, very cheap (first set of 4 were just over £100) and although you might think "Chinese Ditchfinders", you'd be wrong. They grip like glue to the road (believe me, i've been brutal and tried to get them to break traction!), they're quiet and comfortable. Can't really argue as they do exactly what i want them to.

Also if you refurb the wheels yourself, you can save a small fortune and if you have (i know you do) your own tyre changer and balancer, the rest is free as well.

I think the Pholus wheels would suit GAM better with their visual allusion to Minilites and those being the period wheels of choice for may people for 60s and 70s cars.

Agreed Dave,

There is a lot of snobbery about tyres, but the Chinese ditch-finders (Hifly) that I bought for only £130/set for GAM and many would look down their noses at have grip much better than the Amazon’s limitations. I always think it is most important to keep all 4 tyres on a motor car the same (I keep all Dunlop on the Porsche, all Continental on the Skoda and all perfectly good matching sets of ditch-finders on both GAM and the RB). I’ve done that for years on motorcycles and cars - and not had any problems.

Perhaps you are right about the Pholus vs Virgo wheels on GAM, that idea (fitting PCD 5x108 wheels to GAM) is just an idea. The good thing about GAM is I can take the project in any direction I like. As you know I already have two sets of alternate wheels for GAM, but for a few hundred pounds I may sometime be tempted to get some spacers made so I can try more modern Volvo alloy wheels. Assuming I do sell the RB I’ll keep one set of wheels (either Virgo or Pholus) for some future project.

Interesting discussion.

Alan

PS. Here is the mock up of the Pholus wheels on GAM:





... I was trying to imagine the Virgo wheels in the same place - perhaps you are right.

I know I don't need to do this, and the only real reason is: because I can, but I'm tempted to get the PCD 5x4 1/2" to 5x4 1/4" spacers made and try both the Pholus and Virgo wheels. It would only cost a few hundred pounds.

:-)

[Moomoo]

Originally Posted by Othen

I didn't see the previous auction of these wheels:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144621291...gAAOSwiFhio3ng

... but I rather suspect the seller bid the £75 himself and then reported that the buyer didn't show up. They have been advertised again at a higher starting price, so the seller probably just decided he wanted a bit more. I've heard that is a common tactic with online auctions and saves paying extra to set a reserve.

Good fortune in your search for some Virgo wheels - they suit 240s very well indeed.

:-)

PS. I notice the seller doesn't mention they are Virgo wheels in the ad, so he probably isn't a Volvo bloke. Not many folk looking for Virgo wheels would have found those in a search.

His other offerings would confirm that he isn’t a Volvo man I think.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

Agreed Dave,

There is a lot of snobbery about tyres, but the Chinese ditch-finders (Hifly) that I bought for only £130/set for GAM and many would look down their noses at have grip much better than the Amazon’s limitations. I always think it is most important to keep all 4 tyres on a motor car the same (I keep all Dunlop on the Porsche, all Continental on the Skoda and all perfectly good matching sets of ditch-finders on both GAM and the RB. I’ve done that for years on motorcycles and cars - and not had any problems.


Interesting discussion.

Alan

PS. Here is the mock up of the Pholus wheels on GAM:





... I was trying to imagine the Virgo wheels in the same place - perhaps you are right.

I agee there is a lot of snobbery about tyres Alan but several years ago, i bought a Jeep Cherokee 4.0L HO and the tyres were a mix of HiFly and JinYu. It's hard to say which had the least grip - i could wheelspin from a standing start in 4WD on all 4 wheels on a dry road!

As the wheels were also pretty rough, i "invested" in some better looking wheels from my local breakers yard that just happened to come with better brand tyres (can't recall which brand now but may have been Goodyear or Dunlop, both ring a bell) and the grip was transformed. Even on icy roads in 2WD i struggled to even get a minor slip out of the rear tyres.

Granted the tyres may have been old and harder than they should have been so would have been more prone to spin but on a dry road in 4WD?

Also about the same time, i knew of a few people who had them on their cars (fitted when they bought them so history unknown) and they experienced similar.

That said, some Chinese tyres are in fact pretty good. Matador for one although they do tend to wear heavily, even on a light car. Also with Continentals, not so much these days but ~10 years back there was a huge number of fakes on the market, some of which had even found their way to a lorry manufacturer causing a large logistics company to have to change all the tyres on their fleet to a different brand as the fake Contis had as much grip as a Teflon coated ice cube on a skating rink. Had some fake Contis on the back of my Rover at one point, through some tight country road bends i could wag the tail all too easily! At least the front end gripped and pulled me out though.

I remember the mock-up of the Pholus wheels on GAM, think i said then i preferred them to the other options available.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

His other offerings would confirm that he isn’t a Volvo man I think.

Yes, I think you are right Andrew. I wonder how he came by a two sets of 1970s/80s Volvo wheels? The steel ones for only £12.50/set are tempting (no Alan, you do not need another set of wheels!).

[360beast]

I wouldn't touch Chinese tyres with someone else's barge pole.

My mk2 golf came with hifly tyres and that would squeal its head off at 15mph going around a roundabout and was just scary in the wet! I fitted some Bridgestones and my love affair with Bridgestone tyres began from there.

I had jinyu on the 940 when I bought that and they were also terrifying with the lack of grip and the road holding in the wet was just dangerous so I got Bridgestones fitted less than a week after buying it.

A 940 drift car I bought to break had middle of the road tyres on the front and Chinese tyres on the back... That says it all really.

I also had Westlake on my fabia VRS when I bought it and they would aquaplane so easily and had rubbish grip again Bridgestones fitted and it was transformed.

It amazes me how many bloated expensive VAG cars have Chinese tyres on them... Probably because people pay a lot of money to impress people they don't know and can't afford the maintenance or the cost of an 18" tyre in a decent brand.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by 360beast

I wouldn't touch Chinese tyres with someone else's barge pole.

My mk2 golf came with hifly tyres and that would squeal its head off at 15mph going around a roundabout and was just scary in the wet! I fitted some Bridgestones and my love affair with Bridgestone tyres began from there.

I had jinyu on the 940 when I bought that and they were also terrifying with the lack of grip and the road holding in the wet was just dangerous so I got Bridgestones fitted less than a week after buying it.

A 940 drift car I bought to break had middle of the road tyres on the front and Chinese tyres on the back... That says it all really.

I also had Westlake on my fabia VRS when I bought it and they would aquaplane so easily and had rubbish grip again Bridgestones fitted and it was transformed.

It amazes me how many bloated expensive VAG cars have Chinese tyres on them... Probably because people pay a lot of money to impress people they don't know and can't afford the maintenance or the cost of an 18" tyre in a decent brand.

Thank you Luke. It is always a good idea to compare experiences - particularly first hand ones.

My first experiences of budget tyres has been with my two old Volvos - I've nearly always had new or nearly new motor cars in the past and generally bought OEM tyres in at least pairs at a time. I still do that with the Porsche and the Skoda.

I'm quite pleased to report that the 195/65R15 Chinese Rovelo tyres on the RB exceeded my expectations, I think when I bought the motor car it had a mixture of brands (some known brands, some not); the RB's steering and road-holding are good now. I remain convinced that it is by far most important to have full sets of the same tyres so all the corners all grip the same.

I'm also happy with the 175/60R15 Chinese Hifly tyres I fitted myself to GAM's silver wheels. I bought them mainly because they were very cheap indeed (£130/set delivered if I remember correctly) and I was experimenting with the 175 section tyres on 4" rims. Again I'm happy to report that they work pretty well and generally the grip exceeds the Amazon's ability to accelerate forwards, backwards or sideways. They are quieter and the steering is a bit lighter than the 165/80 section tyres I have on the red wheels - but that may be due to me pumping them up to 32/30 PSI.

So, whilst I wouldn't fit non-OEM tyres to the Porsche, Skoda or either of my motorbikes, I've been pleasantly surprised by the Chinese tyres on my two old Volvos - so we will have to agree to disagree, but this has been a really useful discussion.

:-)

Alan

[Othen]

Even after nearly 3 years of ownership I'm still finding little bodges that the PO left - I think that happens with all older motor cars :-).

This morn I noticed that the passenger side door speaker was not working. It took all of 2 minutes to get it apart and I found that instead of crimping on proper female connectors the PO had just twisted the ends of the speaker wire round the terminal posts and taped over them. This was causing an intermittent (and very annoying) connection.

It took 2 or 3 minutes to crimp on some proper connectors, and that speaker works fine again now. I did pull the driver's side speaker out and found the same bodge, which is of course fixed properly now.

I do so enjoy sorting out these little issues on the RB.

:-)

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Othen

I didn't see the previous auction of these wheels:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144621291...gAAOSwiFhio3ng

... but I rather suspect the seller bid the £75 himself and then reported that the buyer didn't show up. They have been advertised again at a higher starting price, so the seller probably just decided he wanted a bit more. I've heard that is a common tactic with online auctions and saves paying extra to set a reserve.

Good fortune in your search for some Virgo wheels - they suit 240s very well indeed.

:-)

PS. I notice the seller doesn't mention they are Virgo wheels in the ad, so he probably isn't a Volvo bloke. Not many folk looking for Virgo wheels would have found those in a search.

I noticed that set of 5 Virgo wheels made just £100 - I thought that was a bit cheap, but it certainly puts the market into perspective. The £600-£800 sets being offered will never sell.

The Virgo wheel set were a bit scabby, but if someone was willing to collect them, remove the tyres and spend perhaps 4 days work stripping, filling and painting them then they could be made very good for less than £100 worth of materials. Getting the same done professionally might cost £300 or so; that might not be worth it.

A good project for someone.

Alan