Opinion on 18" vs 17" Wheels on NMS

To the OP, bottom line is to ask yourself what's important. If you are after some sort of cosmetic effect, then maybe the bigger wheels are a better choice. If you are after a little more comfy ride and a little better MPG's, then maybe consider the smaller wheels.

I can say that, for me, coming from a B4 Passat and steel wheels, either choice was an upgrade! I had a serious attack of angst the first time I curbed my 17's...

This thread is useless without pictures!

I need pictures, lol.

Mine came with 18's (SEL). Not sure what expensive is but I've found 18's for it for less then 200. Goodyear Eagle LS2 are just over 100 at discount tire. Goodyears are fine as far as I'm concern. [FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

tc1uscg said:

Mine came with 18's (SEL). Not sure what expensive is but I've found 18's for it for less then 200. Goodyear Eagle LS2 are just over 100 at discount tire. Goodyears are fine as far as I'm concern. [FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

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I can't wait to get rid of the (LOUD) Goodyear Eagle LS2 tires on my JSW. By far the worst tire I've ever driven on. LOUD after 10k miles, and they grind/hum like a bad bearing. Did I say loud? Also very stiff sidewalls, and loud.
Will never buy them again, at any price. Please see the TireRack ranking. This tire deserves its bottom-dwelling status. In fact, they'd make a perfect artificial reef!

Should have went with the 17's

More curb rash today. I was being (what I thought) was extra careful - I had to park in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago today for a bit and I guess I still don't know how "wide" the Passat is. Pulling into spot and I heard the dreaded noise...

The 18's really provide zero protection. Be warned.

BTW.. If you ever see what appears to be an idiot getting out of his Night Blue TDI Passat multiple times during parking and looking around the vehicle, that's probably me. Stop by and say hello.

Bummer Don, sorry to hear it. Maybe the dealer would still consider a swap..? I have a 14 as well, but in the SE, 6mt trim, so the 17's were stock. I am really happy with them. I considered upsizing when I purchased, but thought twice. My Bimmer has 18's and has suffered some pretty good curb rash over the years. As a matter of fact I am planning to reinstalled the stock 16's on the 325xi because my 18's are just ugly after 10 years...

Sorry, Don...and no, ABS, dealer won't swap out a chewed up wheel...sob...

tdiatlast said:

Sorry, Don...and no, ABS, dealer won't swap out a chewed up wheel...sob...

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Yeah, I realize it's a zero percent chance, but you never know unless you ask.

ABS said:

Yeah, I realize it's a zero percent chance, but you never know unless you ask.

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At this point, my dealer is probably at the point where when they see me they're going to shout "GTFO!"

I drive a pretty hard bargain and they didn't like to be reminded of all the little "extra" places that they make money when they show me "Oh, we're selling you this car $500 below INVOICE."

LOL. Yeah they might even have you on the "if this guy shows up, I'm out for lunch" list at the reception desk...

Aww, poor DZ... Have you used the programmable mirror to watch the side of the car as you park?

I will say that compared to other vehicles, the Passat is a real PITA to parallel park.

^^^why is that? I still can't figure out what's wrong with the dimensions. Maybe it's the dipped blind-spot mirror that's distorted...

As I said before, when parallel parking using the dipped mirror, you MUST be able to see the curb at all times. Once it disappears from view with the dipped RH mirror, your wheel is toast.

So can I enable that feature on my 2014 SE. My new VCDS cable is on order, but there seems to be little info on the 14's. I see many SEL features were able to be enabled for the 12 & 13 model years through the VCDS system. But thus far the 14 info is limited, and I have noticed certain features (eg: rain sensing wipers) are not able to be enabled on the 14's...? I have the auto tilt down on my Bimmer and love it! Although even with that feature, I've still managed to chew up my 18's over the years.

ABS: problem with the rain sensing wipers is that at some point, mid-2013 production IIRC, VW stopped installing the sensor itself.
Not sure about the auto tilt mirror. The hardware necessary for it is hidden so you can't see if it's there, unlike the rain sensor.
I would guess it's only on the SELs.

What on earth do all these last posts have to do with tire and wheel size?

MichaelB said:

What on earth do all these last posts have to do with tire and wheel size?

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The thread has evolved/branched into a related topic (The OPs' new car and its' features).

Bill

tdiatlast said:

ABS: problem with the rain sensing wipers is that at some point, mid-2013 production IIRC, VW stopped installing the sensor itself.
Not sure about the auto tilt mirror. The hardware necessary for it is hidden so you can't see if it's there, unlike the rain sensor.
I would guess it's only on the SELs.

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Good to know. Thanks!