I shall shortly be buying some new summer tyres to replace my excellent Continental TS850 wnter tyres and I am planning to buy some new alloy wheels as well.  The original 6.00J x 15" alloys on my 7-year-old car are corroded so I'll keep them for winter.

My choice of wheel will be based on size (I don't want to go any bigger or wider - my 4x4 diesel Octavia is a boring, economical, comfortable all-weather workhorse, not a sports car), price, how easy they are to clean and whether I like the look of them - for me, the plainer the better.

But do readers have any advice - are some makes or designs weaker / more likely to corrode etc?  Are there any other factors to consider?

I am tempted to buy from Mytyres who seem to have some excellent bargains (around £100 per corner) for tyre-and-wheel packages:

https://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/komplettrad.pl?cart_id=6369012.110.11582&Cookie=&CGISESSID=4f2344a4abb3f8919f8eb5257f33327f&language=EN&dsco=110&typ=sommer&Session_Detail=Goodyear_Efficient-Grip-Performance_195_65_15_R-234504&Change=Detail&BestellNr=TREK8SA47E&BrandCode=134&TypeCode=17375&ModelCode=2843

Honestly. They look absolutely perfect considering you don't want anything fancy.

I'd try to find a set of OEM 15"s (if that's your preferred size) on eBay or Gumtree - they'll be way cheaper and you won't have the added complication of having to declare non standard aloys to your insurer.

I've had a look on fleabay - even slightly-scratched / corroded second-hand OEM wheels are more expensive than these (TUV approved) Dezent ones.

And I'd then have to get the tyres fitted and balanced.

Actually, I prefer these Dotz Imola wheels which look even plainer and easier-to-clean and are cheaper as well (well under £100 per corner even with good tyres) but unfortunatley only come in 6.5" width minimum:

https://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/komplettrad.pl?cart_id=6369012.110.11582&Cookie=&CGISESSID=4f2344a4abb3f8919f8eb5257f33327f&language=EN&dsco=110&typ=sommer&Session_Detail=Goodyear_Efficient-Grip-Performance_195_65_15_R-234504&Change=Detail&BestellNr=OIL848&BrandCode=134&TypeCode=17375&ModelCode=2843

I would prefer to keep to the original narrow (6.00") width for maximum comfort and reduced risk of kerb damage. 

Edited 16 April, 201412 yr by Stuarted

If you're paying £100 a corner for tyres and wheels fitted, balanced and delivered then some part somewhere along the line is going to be cheap. I recently had a set of 15" vredestein tyres from camskill which came to £60 a corner fitted. That leaves £40 for the wheels?

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A reasonable point, but these tyres from Mytyres would be £49.40 each, delivered - so the (TUV approved) wheels & fitting are £60.60

Quite possibly less dodgy than a second-had set of OEM wheels with unknown history. 

Edited 16 April, 201412 yr by Stuarted

I shall shortly be buying some new summer tyres to replace my excellent Continental TS850 wnter tyres and I am planning to buy some new alloy wheels as well.  The original 6.00J x 15" alloys on my 7-year-old car are corroded so I'll keep them for winter.

My choice of wheel will be based on size (I don't want to go any bigger or wider - my 4x4 diesel Octavia is a boring, economical, comfortable all-weather workhorse, not a sports car), price, how easy they are to clean and whether I like the look of them - for me, the plainer the better.

But do readers have any advice - are some makes or designs weaker / more likely to corrode etc?  Are there any other factors to consider?

I am tempted to buy from Mytyres who seem to have some excellent bargains (around £100 per corner) for tyre-and-wheel packages:

https://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/komplettrad.pl?cart_id=6369012.110.11582&Cookie=&CGISESSID=4f2344a4abb3f8919f8eb5257f33327f&language=EN&dsco=110&typ=sommer&Session_Detail=Goodyear_Efficient-Grip-Performance_195_65_15_R-234504&Change=Detail&BestellNr=TREK8SA47E&BrandCode=134&TypeCode=17375&ModelCode=2843

I fitted the 17x7.5 version of those wheels with 225/45-17 Nokian winter tyres to my Octavia vRS - cost was £103 each.  They are much lighter than my standard 18x7.5 Neptunes with 225/40-18 Conti tyres and far easy to clean.

 

Thanks for the pics - they look good; plain and elegant, and suit the car.  And presumably they haven't collapsed, shattered, distorted, warped, corroded or fallen off yet?

They look very good

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

Where the spokes meet the rim will be a magnet for muck and dirt to collect, I much prefer rounded profiles rather then the hard sqaure edges on these.

 

Difficult to get your sponge in!

Where the spokes meet the rim will be a magnet for muck and dirt to collect, I much prefer rounded profiles rather then the hard sqaure edges on these.

 

Difficult to get your sponge in!

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I absolutely agree.  The best in this regard appear to be the Dotz Imola wheels I linked to earlier, which are also cheaper.  However they only come in 6.50 width, so would be slightly less comfortable and probably more vulnerable to kerb damage.

I have to say, I've never quite understood why some people choose to pay lots of money for some extremely elaborate (and in my opinion rather ugly) wheels; they must just enjoy spending a large proportion of their lives cleaning them   The worst must be ones with loads of spokes, or the lattice ones, or the ones with narrow gaps or slots which presumably require some special brush or gadget to clean them. 

Edited 16 April, 201412 yr by Stuarted

I can see your point about wheel design. A way to get around spending ages cleaning them, is to apply a wheel sealant to them when new. This layer of protection then stops dirt sticking.

Mine can largely be cleaned just with the pressure washer. Very little actual contact cleaning required.

Thanks for the pics - they look good; plain and elegant, and suit the car.  And presumably they haven't collapsed, shattered, distorted, warped, corroded or fallen off yet?

The Dezent RE wheels and winter tyres were taken off my car on Monday, cleaned and are now on a wheel stand under a cover until next winter.  They were on the car for 5 months/5K miles and have suffered none of the problems that you allude to in your post.  Very easy to clean and still look like new and I actually prefer them to the original Neptune wheels.  When my existing summer tyres wear out I shall purchase a new set of wheels and sell the Neptunes.

 

The only problem with the Dezent RE is that the spokes protrude beyond the rim so care is needed near high kerbs as the spoke will rub before the rim protector on the tyre.

.

I absolutely agree.  The best in this regard appear to be the Dotz Imola wheels I linked to earlier, which are also cheaper.  However they only come in 6.50 width, so would be slightly less comfortable and probably more vulnerable to kerb damage.

I have to say, I've never quite understood why some people choose to pay lots of money for some extremely elaborate (and in my opinion rather ugly) wheels; they must just enjoy spending a large proportion of their lives cleaning them   The worst must be ones with loads of spokes, or the lattice ones, or the ones with narrow gaps or slots which presumably require some special brush or gadget to clean them. 

I agree with your comment regarding elaborately styled alloy wheels.  Years ago my wife had an Astra with alloy wheels that consisted mainly of concentric rings of triangular holes.  I could clean all 4 of the 5-spoke alloys on the Accord I was then driving in the time it took her to clean one wheel on the Astra.

 

The Neptunes are a pain to clean with a narrow gap between each of the 5 sets of double spokes.

 

The Dotz Imola wheels you have linked to look excellent as easy to clean wheels.

The only thing which puts me off the Dotz Imola is the fact that they are 6.50" wide, not 6.00".

I am looking for the smoothest ride, not handling or performance.

Has anyone got any direct experience please: with 195/65 R15 tyres, is there any noticeable difference in the ride comfort between using 6.5" as distinct from 6" wide rims?

And am I more likely to suffer kerb damage?  (Yeah, I know, just park more carefully!) 

My last car had 205/55-16 tyres on 6.5" wide rims.  No problem with rim damage.  However, I think a tyre with a decent rim protector will have more effect on preventing wheel rim damage than the width of the rim (unless you have a silly 'stretch' on the tyre).

 

Slight differences in rim width (6.5" to 6") will have no discernible effect on ride comfort despite the wheel being a little heavier as the weight of the extra alloy in the wheel will be slight compared to the overall weight of the wheel and tyre.

Thank you - that sounds very sensible.

However none of the highly-regarded tyres (in terms of noise, comfort and braking) which I am considering - see above - seem to be offered with any effective rim protection, which is a shame.  This is such a simple, sensible and useful feature to build into the design of any tyre. 
 

195mm = 7.68" so you'll have at least half an inch either side of your 6.5" rim.  That combined with a relatively tall tyre wall should give you decent enough protection from kerbing your wheels.

Don't worry Mike, my cleaning method is well honed. Been doing it this way for 10yrs. No brake issues on more cars than I'd care to mention!