Hi there,

Fairly new to the forums here. I have had an Ambiente Estate on a 51 plate for a couple of years now, and apart from a new turbo (ouch!) it has been an amazing car - great mpg and load-lugger.

I am not really a 'modder' but I was thinking of treating it to some alloys. I have had fairly recent tyres fitted to the original steel wheels so would be looking for the same size wheels to swap the tyres onto - does anyone know if the alloys off the Elegance model would be a direct swap? And if yes, do they come up for sale?

Cheers,

Simon

Elegance and L&K alloys will fit.

Don't forget the MkIV Golf variant wheels. You'll see a lot more of them come up for sale. I picked up a set of 16" Gti Alloys with cheap tyres (but plenty of tread) for £90. Just sat in my garage waiting until I can afford to get my spiders recon'd.

Audi alloys are probably even easier to get hold of.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Thanks chaps - I am running the original steel wheels and trims - which I think are 15"? I believe the Elegance alloys are 16" so that puts my idea of swapping my tyres onto them out of the window...

There are plenty of Golf IV, Audi A3, Seat Leon wheels which are 15", so you should be able to find something to suit.

They're pretty ugly though. I'd just get 16's and wait till your tyres are spent to fit them. Better handling anyways.

LOL! I only do about 4000 miles per year, so it will take a while to wear out my current tyres! I am still tempted to try and get some Elegance alloys and bite the bullet on some 16" tyres. I assume a wanted ad on this forum would be a good start - can't see any on Ebay presently

Whoops - appear to be plenty on Ebay, not sure how I managed to miss them! Looking at the Laurin & Klement alloys, does that chrome-effect finish make them harder to refurbish?

L&Ks are much heavier than the Elegance alloys, but they do look nice :-)

Interesting point, for every day road driving, I assume the weight won't make much difference? They can't be heavier than my standard steels?! Are the wheel nuts different too or can I use my current ones?

Youll need new nuts

Sent from my iPhone 4s

Interesting point, for every day road driving, I assume the weight won't make much difference? They can't be heavier than my standard steels?! Are the wheel nuts different too or can I use my current ones?

Half the time, pressed steel rims are lighter actually...

I am sure the even my Elegance alloys are heavier than my steel wheel in the boot (full sized) - all running 205/55/16. Rather silly, as I thought alloys were introduced as they were lighter. Now they just look better but weight more!

As for the road bolts, I don't know. I use the same bolts if/when I need to use my steel spare. Not sure why you would need different ones?

I have a set of L&K 16" chromed alloys awaiting fitting so I'll see if I can weigh one for you. I can weigh the 15" steelies when I swap them over.

Regards, Mike

I am sure the even my Elegance alloys are heavier than my steel wheel in the boot (full sized) - all running 205/55/16. Rather silly, as I thought alloys were introduced as they were lighter.

Originally, when talking about expensive magnesium alloys on race/rally cars, but certainly not daily runabouts with cheap metal alloys (even seemingly expensive aftermarket alloys are MOSTLY pretty cheap compounds).

Youll need new nuts

Sent from my iPhone 4s

Pretty sure that the bolts are the same for all OEM wheels, steel or alloy.

You'll need new nuts

... as the actress said to the Bishop

Thanks for all the input chaps - I think I'll be more of a regular in here now I've seen the depth of knowledge and advice. It certainly would be interesting to know the weight difference - thanks Mike.

Regards the wheel nuts - I hope to find a definitive answer on this, important for safety! I was surprised that I might not be able to use my current ones that hold the steels on but perhaps they were different for alloys.

Put it this way, our spare wheel is steel, and there aren't any different studs that go with them. The shoulder and length required is the same.

Hmm, sounds like I can use the same bolts then. Looking at the L & K alloys on Ebay, most have scratches and wear (obviously). With their fancy shiny finish, are they any harder to get refurbished?

Not sure about the exact L&K finish, but my local powder coater was showing me a chrome effect finish that he is able to offer, so I assume others should be able to do something similar too.