I would like to know if the 18" Penta wheels will fit my 2003 XJ8. I have an existing 16" stock wheels (7J X 16CH X 33MM).

The Penta wheels (8J X 18CH X 33MM) are an inch wider but I have calculated that both set up will have the same height with tires on them.

I'm more concern about the extra inch width with the Penta set up:

-Are the front tires going to rub the inner fender well when turning?

-As far as aesthetics, are the tires will be sticking out beyond the fenders?

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

Yes they will fit. Your XJ8 is the same fitment-wise as the XJR that the Pentas came on.

 

SteveM. Thank you for the info and prompt reply.

Are those set of Brembo calipers still available? According to your description for compatibility, this is just staright bolt on to a 2003 XJ8.

Thanks again.

 

Lot of mis-information on the Brembo swap.
Earlier calipers such as on the Silverstone are a direct bolt-on because they include a custom made bracket and the threads for the bolts are on the bracket.
Later calipers, such as those ones, do not have a separate bracket and the threads for the bolts have to be on the spindles, therefore the need to drill and tap the spindles


Beside the facts that the Brembo will NOT fit any other wheels beside the Milan ( meaning your Penta would not work) you still need quite a bit of work to fit Brembo Calipers.
Front need new, Brembo-specific dust shields, rear can be trimmed and you need some special hoses

 

What luc says is true.... However.... The dust shields can be modified so no need to find different...... If you are willing to fit a 15mm or thicker spacer any 18" wheel will fit.....

By the looks of it the callipers Steve is selling do come with the Goodridge hoses..... Even though the advert says they also come with all the hardware I would ask to clarify the spring plate and pins are present as they alone cost well over $100 per wheel

 

What mis-information are you talking about? No one said they're a direct bolt on. I said in my ad they will fit with "minor work".
You do NOT need to drill holes in the spindle; they're already there. You just need to tap threads. The holes are already the right diameter for the correct thread. You can trim the front dust shields just as well as the rears.

I sent a PM to JagMoto yesterday:

"I just sold those calipers and they're being shipped right now. But I'll have another set available very soon.

To install them on your car, you need the caliper mounting holes tapped out on the front spindles/uprights. The holes are already there, where your current calipers mount to, but they need threads tapped. If I recall correctly, the thread size is 14mm x 1.5

You will also need to modify/trim the dust shields since the rotors are a larger diameter. Or you can get the proper ones.

And if using the 18" Pentas are Asteroids, you'll need wheel spacers to clear the brakes. The BBS Milan wheels will not need spacers. "

 

XKRacer
XKRacer
luc and XKracer, thank you for jumping in and giving me tech info on the mod installation. SteveM and I communicated via PM for details on installation. Those Brembo calipers look really good on any car. With the tech support you all provided, I will inquire from a local shop for the installation.

Thank you and have a great day.

 

XKRacer, I have no idea how it copied your profile photo on my reply.

My apologies.

 

Maybe you should re-read my post?


I was answering and quoting JagMoto on his comment that " this is just staright bolt on to a 2003 XJ8"


Obviously this is not a straight bolt on and frankly using spacers instead of the correct wheel is a cheap and bad practice.
As for my "drill" comment, it is common practice to use a correct sized drill bit ( 12,7mm for a 14X1.5 bolt) before taping any holes

 

I will add to this a bit more..... Mainly because I have probably done it more than a dozen times......

Technically you need to drill the holes out to 12.5 (on metric threads you minus the pitch from the diameter and it give you the drill size), do I bother, no, I just run the tap through, I do not trim the back plates, I flatten them out with a dolly and hammer, this gives you a bit more coverage....

Also adding spacers is not a cheap option IMO, properly made spacers to the sizes given will cost $300+, the Jag setup can take spacers up to an inch wide without any issues to the geometry, this is because the car is setup to take 20" wheels which in themselves are an inch wider on the J setting, what is a no no is fitting spacers to 20" wheels, causes all kinds of issues from rubbing to shortening the life span of bearings and bushes

I will mention in Steves defence, I also got the impression you was accusing him of misinformation which is probably why he reacted the way he did, I get you was quoting JagMoto so you was not being intentional and stating your opinion...... The biggest misinformation I have found is X350 XJ Brembos can be made to fit, no they cant, not without serious modification which is not cost viable unless you have your own machine shop


No need to apologise JagMoto, I am kinda curious how you did it lol

 

I just read this thread and I'm a bit confused. Can someone help me further understand this. I thought the Pentas were 5x108 and the '03 XJ8 were 5x120.7/6.5?? Are you saying that this modification will work?

I had a gentleman pull off his 5x108 wheels off his '03 XJ8 in an attempt to sell them to me. The offset was 60 and when I looked up the model they were 5x108. I told him although he'd not had any issues (I did see some abnormal wear (looked like a bad alignment), I really didn't want to take the risk.

His wheels were ANTARES 7.5JX17 CH 60.0<~~high offset Model:4R83 JA. My factory wheels are 7Jx16 CH33. Did I somehow make a rush to judgement mistake?

 

You've got it back to front, the Pentas are 120.7 in 2003 the XJ (X308) became the X350 these were 108


I have just edited this as I could be wrong reading Steve's post...... The reason I thought as above is because I use to get the problem of people buying 20" Sepangs from an XJ and I had to use adapter spacers to make them fit an XK which were on the 120.7 PCD until 2006

 

Here,s my XJ Sport with factory Pentas. They will ride a little stiffer than the 16" rims due to less sidewall to flex. If you put on new rims/tires be sure to have all 4 wheels aligned. Mine was way off when I got it and the tyres showed similar wear to what you describe. The wheels are also pretty easy to keep clean.

 

They bolt right on. No rubbing when turning, no issues at all. The ride is a bit stiffer of course with 40 series tires.

Here is a photo of my wife's 2002 XJ8 which had the grandma 16" wheels and now has the pentas.

Bolted right on, no mods or spacers of any type needed.

We put them on with 37 K miles, and the car now has 55 K miles. No issues.

This was my car before I upgraded to the XJR

 

Here is another photo showing asteroids vs pentas.

Left XJR, right '02 XJ8

I think the pentas are classier and the asteroids look more aggressive. I have and like both.

 

I think the trick here is identifying if you have a X308 or X350, from a distance it is not easy to tell, I always go by the vent in the wing

X308 and you will not have a problem, so are the Pentas desirable? I scraped 2 sets recently and have another set soon to go but they are in better condition and will end up on eBay