Hi, i have a vRS LE estate with the LE wheels which are 18" 7.5J ET45 which are fitted with 225 40 18 Conti 3s.

I have been given a set of replica VW golf wheels which are 17" 7.5J ET35 which i am considering getting powder coated and fitted with 225 45 17 Hankook winter tyres.

I have tried one on the car at the front, and they seem to stick out of the arches a lot more than the LE vRS wheels, i couldn't risk driving it as the Skoda wheel bolts seem a bit short with these wheels and didn't want to risk anything!! my question is can anyone see any problems with these wheels on this car??

Hope this is posted in the correct section as it's my first topic>

Regards toddie

Edited 22 November, 201114 yr by Toddie

ET is wrong for a golf - should be in the 45-50 range. Ditto your Octy.

Compared to your wheels with ET45, the ones you've just got with ET35 will stick out a further 10mm. I'm running a set of Audi wheels with ET35 but they are are a 7J with 205/55/16 winter tyres so they won't stick out as far as yours with 225/45/17s (you can see a picture of mine in the 'show us your winter wheels' thread). Have a look at www.willtheyfit.com to see the difference it makes.

The other thing to watch for is the bolts. OEM wheels use a radiused bolt whereas most aftermarket wheels need tapered bolts to seat properly

edit: here's a link to the 'show us your winter wheels thread'. Mine is the blue one near the bottom of page 5. If you want winter tyres you'll find it much cheaper to get a set of 16" wheels and go for 205/55/16s rather than the 225/45/17s you're looking at.

Edited 22 November, 201114 yr by JulieD

Compared to your wheels with ET45, the ones you've just got with ET35 will stick out a further 10mm. I'm running a set of Audi wheels with ET35 but they are are a 7J with 205/55/16 winter tyres so they won't stick out as far as yours with 225/45/17s (you can see a picture of mine in the 'show us your winter wheels' thread). Have a look at www.willtheyfit.com to see the difference it makes.

The other thing to watch for is the bolts. OEM wheels use a radiused bolt whereas most aftermarket wheels need tapered bolts to seat properly

edit: here's a link to the 'show us your winter wheels thread'. Mine is the blue one near the bottom of page 5. If you want winter tyres you'll find it much cheaper to get a set of 16" wheels and go for 205/55/16s rather than the 225/45/17s you're looking at.

Julie, thanks for that info and the link to your 'Winter wheels' pics they look good to me.

I didn't really want to go down the 16" route because of the insurance implications of altering the Manufactures spec, How did you go on with this ? Has anyone else got experience of this?

Regards Toddie