What rims would you choose for your ride?

Hi Everyone,
When it comes to selecting a second set of rims for the summer, there seems to be plenty to choose from. There’s Huffs, Karthoums, GTRs, Denvers, and actually far too many to mention. I guess it all boils down to one’s personal taste. Of all the wheel pics that I’ve seen posted for the MKVI Golf/Jetta Sportwagen family, my hands down favourite has to be the Interlagos. With a little suspension drop, I think they look fantastic on the MKVI Golf, so much that I’ve ordered a set of 18”x8” with a +45 offset for my Golf Sportwagen. I can hardly wait until the good weather arrives to mount them.
So what rims would you put on your ride?

elro said:

So what rims would you put on your ride?

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I would put titanium or unobtanium rims on my car.

frugality said:

I would put titanium or unobtanium rims on my car.

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If you are going to the far reaches of the universe for unobtanium you may as well come back with a Great Leonopteryx


http://james-camerons-avatar.wikia.com/wiki/Great_Leonopteryx

17" Anthracite Goals!

I'm running Audi R8 repro wheels in 18x8 ET35.

crashtested said:

17" Anthracite Goals!

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I second this. I had these when I had my Golf and they looked great... also VERY reasonably priced and somewhat lightweight...

These are a good OEM option...

You've probably seen the pics I uploaded of the Denvers with snow tires on my 2010 Golf TDI (United Gray). I like them better than the stock Portos.

Fun topic! I love me some nice wheels.

I think basically the topic can be broken down into two main categories; wheels for performance and wheels for aesthetics. You can try to balance the two categories but something will have to give, most likely.

Wheels for performance will be a balance between weight, strength, and dimensions to obtain good tire sizing. The lighter the rolling setup the better the handling, ride, accel, and braking will be as there's less rotation mass and unsprung weight there is to fling around. The stock Golf TDI tire size of 225/45-17 is a good compromise between handling and economy [low rolling resistance], however to get max handling you'd want to go for something like a 245/40-17. A 17x8.5 et45 of less than 18 pounds is about spot-on for this.

Wheels for aesthetics are likely going to be something between 17's and 20's depending on tastes and suspension setup. The 'baggers usually go for 17's with small diameter tires stretched out on wide wheels, and the static [coilover] people usually end up with 18's or 19's. A 19x8.5" et40 with a 225/35-19 would give an aggressive look with a coilover drop of 2" or so. Of course there's room for variation with offsets depending on how much you want to roll fenders and cut liners. The H&R Golf show car runs 20" Ultraleggera HLT's, but that's pretty extreme for a road car due to the very short tire sidewall.

A good combination of theme's is to go for an 18" wheel and run a 225/40-18, just like the GTI runs from the factory. It's possible to get a lightweight 18" wheel that still looks great [like the OZ Ultraleggera, RML Snowflake, or Enkei RP01], and pare it with a sticky summer tire to get the most out of the 225 tire width while not having terrible aero drag.

ToeBall said:

I'm running Audi R8 repro wheels in 18x8 ET35.

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Lookin' good! Any plans to lower it?

If they fit I would get the flat black Enkei RP01 in 16's, they look good, aren't too expensive and would improve mpg. If $ was no concern, I would get volks, advan RS, forged weds. Those Audi rimds look sick though.

Ryephile said:

A good combination of theme's is to go for an 18" wheel and run a 225/40-18, just like the GTI runs from the factory. It's possible to get a lightweight 18" wheel that still looks great [like the OZ Ultraleggera, RML Snowflake, or Enkei RP01], and pare it with a sticky summer tire to get the most out of the 225 tire width while not having terrible aero drag.

Lookin' good! Any plans to lower it?

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Thanks, I'm pretty happy with it myself. It is lowered by 2", Koni coilovers in the front, and trimmed H&R race coils in the back with the Koni ride height adjusters and shocks. This photo was taken with all Koni and the back has been brought up to match the front.



Also, a source of amusement, according to TireRack, Ultraleggera wheels in 18x8 weigh 18.5 lbs and cost $348 each. My repros weigh in at 20 lbs and cost $550 for the set, shipped. Currently I'm running very sticky Bridgestone RE050 Pole Position tires in 225/40ZR18, I lost about 2 mpg over the slippery Chinese Hankooks which were 205/55R16's and are LRR tires. The trade-off might not be as bad as you think. I'm actually toying with the idea of flaring the rear fender 1/2" and running 245/35ZR18's for the next set.

Chinese Hankooks which were 205/55R16's and are LRR tires.

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Horrible tires. Dropped the stock alloys and tires after the first week!

Fikse, BBS Super RSs, or anything with crazy polished lip 3-piece. And 18s all the way!

17" OEM Avignon w/ 225-45-17

i finally decided on rs4 18" repro, just need to lower it a tad

Nice rims and pics guys. Since I don't have any pics and I won't be getting hold of my Interlagos until at least tomorrow, I thought I would share the link where I saw them.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=269700&page=2

sgoldste01 said:

You've probably seen the pics I uploaded of the Denvers with snow tires on my 2010 Golf TDI (United Gray). I like them better than the stock Portos.

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x2!! Just bought a set of Denvers for my JSW. Can't wait to get 'em mounted on the car.

elro said:

Nice rims and pics guys. Since I don't have any pics and I won't be getting hold of my Interlagos until at least tomorrow, I thought I would share the link where I saw them.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=269700&page=2

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this would have been my choice if i wasn't crazy about keeping my wheel barrels clean, haha

This is what I'm looking into:

Miro 279 M02 in 18x9 48ET

i finally decided on rs4 18" repro, just need to lower it a tad

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Looks better than I thought they would! Nice!

4x4 status here as well... What I consider an all season winter setup. What a filthy car, who neglected that JSW! (honestly the dirtiest it has ever been - missed a weekend cleaning and had snow slat pollution)

I went with Monte Carlo 17" x 7.5" ET47 from the B6 Passat. OEM wheels!!! 71sbeetle was first to try the wheels and I loved them with their 5 thick sturdy spokes and simple design. I didn't hate the look of the stock wheels, but I didn't like how far tucked in under the fenders they were at 17" x 7" ET54. My new wheels give the car just over and inch wider wheel base and are within a mm or two of being flush in the front. I didn't want any poke. I'm also totally satisfied with 17" for looks and the extra sidewall is nice to have. I think the reality is that 17" is pretty darn big for our little cars.

Bye the way, the weight is 25 pounds (not heavy at all, although not super light either). You can feel behind the spokes and feel that they are not solid all around behind the wheel. They essentially weigh just about the same as the Portos, which are 24.2, so it seemed great to me! The weights are from 71sbeetle, the inspiration for me to get the wheels.

Freshly washed, 1/1/11, when it warmed up a bit here in Pennsylvania


From the front on the first day with the wheels

Those Monte Carlos are HOT. I want to put those on my JSW

PlaneJob said:

Those Monte Carlos are HOT. I want to put those on my JSW

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Too bad, I got the last set in the entire world!!! NOT

I called a refinisher and he had them for me, freshly refinished, within a week. They had one in stock, but quickly found more to refinish for me. The refinisher is the real deal and I was lucky that they were close enough for me to just drive up and have them do the install. There is a great testimonial about them on the Vortex site and they have been featured in some prestigious car magazines.

Wheel Collision Center

I also tried to buy them from a VW owner. There are adds on some of the websites in the for sale sections, but everyone I contacted had already sold their used wheels. I think I could have gotten them for about $400.00 if I could have gotten them from a VW owner. You can also buy them brand new from the dealer. Bud at Checkered Flag VW, the ask a parts guy thread at vortex, said retail is now $300.00 each and he can sell them for $250.00 each. He also said there would be no sales tax for the Internet purchase and shipping for a set of four would run $44.56. The good refinished wheels usually run about $150.00 each, which is about what I paid. There is a place that says they have them for less. I wasn't comfortable with the purchase for a few reasons, but mostly because they were located far away from me and I wouldn't have seen the wheels before I made the purchase. They did include free shipping, but I decided cheaper isn't always better.

Wheels and Caps

I haven't done my research on wheel weight yet since I wouldn't want to put heavier wheels on my car but here are some I have been looking at in no particular order Also, not necessarily these exact wheels but the styles:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Mini...autoModClar=4-Door&wIndex=1&grid=true&sw=1280
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Mini...utoModClar=4-Door&wIndex=11&grid=true&sw=1280
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Mini...toModClar=4-Door&wIndex=106&grid=true&sw=1280

If you're looking for more of an OEM set of rims, I found Power Wheels Pro offered very good value for the money. Most of the sites that I've looked at, didn't have a lot to offer in OEM rims and it was expensive to have them shipped to Canada. The guys at Power Wheels charged me $99 for shipping to Toronto, plus they used FedEx (much better than UPS for) and worked things in my favour to help me with duty and taxes.

http://www.powerwheelspro.com/shop/index.php?cPath=24

Most of those at ET35. Be warned. On a lowered JSW, they'll rub. The Mk 6 Golf should clear as it's about 1" wider though some wheel well modification would be desirable for best results. I had that issue on my JSW so just thought I'd throw that out there as an FYI.