I've spent most of the afternoon reading through threads on wheels and tyres, and have been looking at www.rimstyle.com for ideas. I don't want to go bigger than 8x18, and want to keep the geometry as original as possible.

Currently on standard 7x17 (38mm offset) wheels with 205/50R17 tyres.

Thinking of a move to 8x18 (35mm offset) wheels with 225/40R18 tyres.

If my calculations are correct, this will preserve the standard rolling radius (original= 318.4mm, new= 318.6mm). I'm sure I won't notice a 0.4mm increase in diameter!

I keep changing my mind on what to do wheel wise on the vRS! Recon'd spiders? New 17's? New 18's? But Christmas is looming, and so is my bonus, so I want to make my mind up with your help.

Now I've spotted some 8x18" mk4 R32 'Replica' branded wheels that I like on rimstyle, for £311 (set of 4 without tyres). That seems a bargain to me, but I'm not too sure about the manufacturer.

Any opinions or experience with this?

(Don't worry, I wouldn't get the budget tyres that they try to include. Cheap tyres are never a good idea!)

Cheers lads

Be careful with the weight of them as most of the replica ones weigh a ton, and are as soft as sh*% and bend when you hit any potholes.

I had 18" RS4 replicas on mine for a while, but found they tram lined quite badly with them on, so off they came, and anthracite standard spiders back on.

get some OZ super/Ultraleggera £1400ish wi tyres or like mine the Team Dynamic pro race 1.2 750 ish wi tyres.

both weigh 9 kg each so light and they dont tramline.

18" ones. youll need to weight for them as they are made to order unless your lucky n find someone that stocks.

Be careful with the weight of them as most of the replica ones weigh a ton, and are as soft as sh*% and bend when you hit any potholes.

I had 18" RS4 replicas on mine for a while, but found they tram lined quite badly with them on, so off they came, and anthracite standard spiders back on.

I did have suspicions that the replica's could be heavy or weak. Probably sourced from India or China, but what isn't nowdays! I'm not going to assume that yet though, need to read into it more and find some numbers.

Cheers for the heads up though.

get some OZ super/Ultraleggera £1400ish wi tyres or like mine the Team Dynamic pro race 1.2 750 ish wi tyres.

both weigh 9 kg each so light and they dont tramline.

18" ones. youll need to weight for them as they are made to order unless your lucky n find someone that stocks.

I prefer the super T's to the leggera's personally, but yeah very nice wheels. Just wish the price didn't hurt so much!

I'm after clean looking multispokes, without any curves or fiddly bits! Hence the good old R32's. Wonder if I can find some second hand OEM ones......

Compomotive MVS muiltispoke light weight wheel but not cheap and 18" is the only size i think.

from what i found, with replicas you want to find someone that deals with the italian or german ones, rather than the duff ones that you can find on some cheap sites you can bid on that shall not be named :orb_no_no

oh ... and what meant by tram lines?

Tram line means the car follows the grooves in the road. You have to fight the car to make it go where you want it to!

I like Kei Force 10's. similar to standard vrs wheels.

I really want these:

VW R32 Alloy Wheels for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

But can't justify the cost at the moment :(

what about the mk5 R32????

the last one is the Pro Race ones i have now.

good thing is my Fuel economy has gone up by 4mpg drivin the same as i did with the R32 ones on.

Why?

Rolling resistance and top speed will be worse. Grip in wet worse. Grip on camber worse. Ride worse. Grip over pot holes and bumps worse (in a stock A3 with 18'' the TCS light comes on as it looses grip on the gratings about 3 times more often than on one with 16'' and never seen it happen on 15'')

Did I mention that wider wheels lower directional stability, increase steering effort & increase tramlining, torque steer and correction frequency?

Of course, speaking now as a chav not an engineer they are well sick and if you can just get some 22'' on there you would be as wicked as a single mum or 14 dressed entirely in burbury, phat man.

Oh, in an exagerated way you can gauge what wider tyres do by fitting 1 foot wide tyres to your bicycle/tricycle and seeing how much better it rolls/steers/grips in the wet & snow.

It will, of course, impress all those that didn't study engineering.

I dropped out, so what do I know

I've spent most of the afternoon reading through threads on wheels and tyres, and have been looking at www.rimstyle.com for ideas. I don't want to go bigger than 8x18, and want to keep the geometry as original as possible.

Currently on standard 7x17 (38mm offset) wheels with 205/50R17 tyres.

Thinking of a move to 8x18 (35mm offset) wheels with 225/40R18 tyres.

If my calculations are correct, this will preserve the standard rolling radius (original= 318.4mm, new= 318.6mm). I'm sure I won't notice a 0.4mm increase in diameter!

I keep changing my mind on what to do wheel wise on the vRS! Recon'd spiders? New 17's? New 18's? But Christmas is looming, and so is my bonus, so I want to make my mind up with your help.

Now I've spotted some 8x18" mk4 R32 'Replica' branded wheels that I like on rimstyle, for £311 (set of 4 without tyres). That seems a bargain to me, but I'm not too sure about the manufacturer.

Any opinions or experience with this?

(Don't worry, I wouldn't get the budget tyres that they try to include. Cheap tyres are never a good idea!)

Cheers lads

But it would look really cool

what about the mk5 R32????

the last one is the Pro Race ones i have now.

good thing is my Fuel economy has gone up by 4mpg drivin the same as i did with the R32 ones on.

Those look very nice!!

Why?

Rolling resistance and top speed will be worse. Grip in wet worse. Grip on camber worse. Ride worse. Grip over pot holes and bumps worse (in a stock A3 with 18'' the TCS light comes on as it looses grip on the gratings about 3 times more often than on one with 16'' and never seen it happen on 15'')

Did I mention that wider wheels lower directional stability, increase steering effort & increase tramlining, torque steer and correction frequency?

Of course, speaking now as a chav not an engineer they are well sick and if you can just get some 22'' on there you would be as wicked as a single mum or 14 dressed entirely in burbury, phat man.

Oh, in an exagerated way you can gauge what wider tyres do by fitting 1 foot wide tyres to your bicycle/tricycle and seeing how much better it rolls/steers/grips in the wet & snow.

It will, of course, impress all those that didn't study engineering.

I dropped out, so what do I know

Never heard so much ****e in my life! (Nice rant though - my turn now)

I am an Engineer, and I did study Engineering, and I happened to write a dissertation on wheels and tyres. So I'm afraid your preaching to the wrong man here.

Based on your theory, I'll get some 10"x3" wheels, and it will handle amazingly. As with everything there is a balance, hence why I said I would go no bigger than 18"x8". Also it's very easy to just say 'it will be worse', without actually knowing yourself.

There are so many variables that can affect handling, and the only real way to find out is to try them and see.

Personally I don't think that running 225/40R18 tyres on 18x8 wheels is going to cause any problems on the vRS. I mean, it is a standard VAG wheel/tyre size after all. But I guess I'll find that out.

Also slagging people off who have massive wheels makes you a bit of a wheel nazi! Some people are willing to compromise performance for looks, so leave it at that.

Oh, and I have the widest tyres I can fit through the frame on my mountain bike. They carry me down the French Alps very quickly and very smoothly thanks. But who cares, it's a pointless comparison.

Thanks to everyone else for their useful comments

I really want these:

VW R32 Alloy Wheels for sale - TradeMe.co.nz - New Zealand

But can't justify the cost at the moment :(

Oooh those would be perfect! Nice find.

I can't find any 'proper' mk4 R32 wheels! Not even on ebay.

I didn't know OZ made the original wheels before, but that should help the hunt!

Cheers matey

what about the mk5 R32????

the last one is the Pro Race ones i have now.

good thing is my Fuel economy has gone up by 4mpg drivin the same as i did with the R32 ones on.

I just prefer the mk4 ones! The mk5's look a bit too spokey for me! Must have been a nighmare to clean. Where they replicas? What was the quality like on them if they were?

I like the Pro Race ones, but I'd like them more with straight spokes! (I'm sounding like a right picky git here!)

I just have this rough image in my mind of what I want them to look like, and that's all I'm going on at the moment!

Pointing out how well fat tyres on your bike go downhill doesn't really illustrate the difference in rolling resistance. Road racers (a more similar comparison to road driving) use the thinnest tyres they can fit in the frame.

Why suggest 10'' x 3'' wheels, that's a differnet overall circumfrance. Everything I said was based on increasing width and lowering profile, if you introduce totally different circumfrance wheels that introduces a totally new set of variables.

BTW not slagging anyone off, far from it, just being a tongue in cheek wheel naz* lol.

Maybe you can enlighten us what you found regarding directional stability vs tyre width and bump and rebound suspension performance vs tyre virticle height (profile). Oh yes, and rolling resistance vs width. I'd be interested, as you have done a dissertation on it.

I drive a shed load of VAG and rule of thumb not based on one or two cars of my own is 15", nice ride, 17", crash like a nail over pot holes and more likely to skid over gratings. The new A5 chassis does damp things a bit but was harsh enough to draw passenger complaints with 17" on a bad country lane, the same chassis with std 15" was a nice ride. You might not LIKE what I said, but you should be able to evaluate each point as an engineer and see there is some truth in the matter. 18" won't cause a problem, no, but also won't improve all aspects of the car related to it. It may improve the dry cornering max g-forces a little when on the absolute limit but nearly everything else would be a little worse, as that's about all extra width is good for.

Cheers, Greg.

Never heard so much ****e in my life! (Nice rant though - my turn now)

I am an Engineer, and I did study Engineering, and I happened to write a dissertation on wheels and tyres. So I'm afraid your preaching to the wrong man here.

Based on your theory, I'll get some 10"x3" wheels, and it will handle amazingly. As with everything there is a balance, hence why I said I would go no bigger than 18"x8". Also it's very easy to just say 'it will be worse', without actually knowing yourself.

There are so many variables that can affect handling, and the only real way to find out is to try them and see.

Personally I don't think that running 225/40R18 tyres on 18x8 wheels is going to cause any problems on the vRS. I mean, it is a standard VAG wheel/tyre size after all. But I guess I'll find that out.

Also slagging people off who have massive wheels makes you a bit of a wheel nazi! Some people are willing to compromise performance for looks, so leave it at that.

Oh, and I have the widest tyres I can fit through the frame on my mountain bike. They carry me down the French Alps very quickly and very smoothly thanks. But who cares, it's a pointless comparison.

Thanks to everyone else for their useful comments

Edited 5 November, 200817 yr by greg123

I just prefer the mk4 ones! The mk5's look a bit too spokey for me! Must have been a nighmare to clean. Where they replicas? What was the quality like on them if they were?

I like the Pro Race ones, but I'd like them more with straight spokes! (I'm sounding like a right picky git here!)

I just have this rough image in my mind of what I want them to look like, and that's all I'm going on at the moment!

they were a bit time consumin to clean, yea they were replicas, and they were heavy but surprisinly Very good quality, they were £600 new from wheelbase iirc they were made in germany. the only thing wi the pro race is coz of the rim they look smaller unlike the R32s that the spokes went to the edge.

I love the pro race ones tho as they are more solid and the car drives better with them on.

they were a bit time consumin to clean, yea they were replicas, and they were heavy but surprisinly Very good quality, they were £600 new from wheelbase iirc they were made in germany. the only thing wi the pro race is coz of the rim they look smaller unlike the R32s that the spokes went to the edge.

I love the pro race ones tho as they are more solid and the car drives better with them on.

ok i'll make sure I watch out for where the replicas are made then i guess.

dont want some dodgy chinese ones made of chalk!

Greg - I can't be bothered mate. You win.

ok i'll make sure I watch out for where the replicas are made then i guess.

dont want some dodgy chinese ones made of chalk!

lol yea, i was surprised just how hard they were, i did love them and miss them. dont regret gettin rid thou as they were heavy. if they were light then theyd be perfect.

was gonna go for the MK4 ones at first but then thought there are a few ppl wi them on and they are bit plain, I have never seen another vRS with the mk5 ones on,

OK, I've changed my mind again!

Saw some stunning OZ racing tribe EVO wheels in 17"x8" (ET35). See attachment for pic.

They have that deep dish euro look about them. I like!

Seeing as people already run the 225/45R17 tyres on the standard rims, and they're cheaper then the standards, tyres would not be a problem on cost or interchangeability.

Looks like it'll come in at the £900 mark, with KU31 225/45 tyres included. Ouch!

hmm :orb_cool: LOL although id still try talk you into bigger... buyt that cause im stupid :orb_bonk:

could you not still be tempted for the 8x18s? are you just after the performance are you mate, i kinda flushed that down my toilet . ooops :orb_duh:

i think they will look cool mate

I got 8 x 18 Inovit DTM's, wi 215x35 tyres on, no change in performance, steering effort, handling etc infact with avon zz3's it handles far better than the 17 spiders did with bridgestones. The DTM's are also lighter than the std spiders. Cost me less than £800 for a set of 5 with Avons.