Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications Wheels & Tires need help wit my girls Cougar

alright, im sure you guys might notice...this is not the place for cougars, but i myself gotta contour, so i'll just hope some of my fellow contour guys know somethin about the cougar, and its sad cuz i could search for a little while and find this out, but...im not gonna do that.

so my problem is on rims, cuz i really dont know to much about them. anyways, i was looking on Tirerack.com to find the bolt pattern (i haven't seen it yet, she just got it)and they threw in some 4 bolt patterns along wit some 5 bolts, so tell me which one it is, and the rims that are in my import tuner mags and Road and Track mags, will them rims basically all fit on the cougar, i know its a 7 to 7.5 inches, (if its not please clear that up for me) so tell me all that stuff and if you have any ideas where i should look for rims for her i would be very gratefull, im tryin to get them for her for her bday in 30 days

first off, our car sux cause we have the weirdest bolt pattern on earth, which exclude us from getting some cool rims... but there are still a bunch of rims out there that will fit our car and the list is growing... 4x100 bolt pattern will not fit, so forget about that. one option you have is to have it custom drilled, but of course that will add cost. some rims have 2 4 bolt patterns on their rims... for example, 4x100 and 4x108 on the same rims, thus 8 holes. pretty common practice.... and forget about 5 lugs.

As far as tire goes, just remember one thing... overall tire diameter must stay the same when replacing OEM tires... if you go bigger, there is a good chance that your tires will rub the wheel well and also throw your speedo off... same thing happens if you go smaller. when you order your tires, just tell the person taking your order the size of your oem wheels and they can hook you up with the right size tire for your new rims.


Edit:
Also when looking for rims keep in mind that the Contour and Focus share our bolt pattern (4X108), because some websites don't have the Cougar as an option.

The pictures on Tirerack are representative of the line, not the exact wheel bolt pattern that comes to you. If you buy from them, it will fit. Guaranteed.

4x108 is not the "weirdest" bolt pattern, but it is not as common as 4x100. You want weird? Buy an old Alfa.

Every rim you see is not necessarily offered in a fitment for our cars. You have to call them and ask. If they don't list your application, or don't know these cars, or act stupid, I wouldn't even risk it.

If you just gotta have a certain rim, it might be available as a blank that can be custom drilled. More money, but maybe it's worth it to you.

I recommend sticking with reputable internet/catalog companies. I've personally dealt with Tirerack for as long as I've owned cars, (that's pre-internet, boys and girls) and they are tops in service before and after the sale, IMO. Discount Tire Direct ranks a close second, but I've only bought from them once. I've never bought from Whalen Tire, but they have good prices, and a decent reputation. I just didn't find them to be as knowledgeable or helpful about their own products. Victoria Tire is out there, and I've never dealt with them, but I remember a few "trouble reports" on here a while back.

Might want to post in the Wheels & Tires.

Stock offset (49.5mm, IIRC)

Acceptable offsets for aftermarket wheels...(38-43?)

get some 17" wheels in 4x108 bolt pattern...17x7 or 17x7.5 wide and run 215/45/17 size tires...

then you'll be happy.

check out the sig too.