I'm fitting 15" alloys to my mk1 fabia classic

What help do you need?

Currently it has 165 70 14 on steelies. I know I will need wheel bolts for alloys but don't know which ones.

Also the new wheels are 205 wide and I were wondering if I would need spacers?

Thanks in advance

No need to change the bolts and no need for spacers either..as far as I know

Thought the bolts for steelies are tougher than ones for alloys?

You should not need spacers if the wheels are the correct offset.

 

You need wheels that meet the following:

 

PCD 5x100

Center Bore 57.1 (or bigger and use spigot rings)

Offset 43 (give or take...)

 

205/50/15 tyres sounds good (0.1% difference in rolling radius compared to your current setup).

 

The bolts depend on the individual alloys, some require flat bolts others will require tapered bolts.

 

Are the alloys from another Fabia? Were they standard fit Skoda alloys?

I think he had an issue posting :P

I think he had an issue posting :p

There is a known issue with the forum software at the moment which causes some weird issues and this is one of them. OP will have done nothing wrong, but very rarely the database has a fit if certain conditions are met.

Yeah the wheels have et43 so there same and there from a vw corrado with the same pcd and center bore

How would I figure out if I need tapered or flat bolts? And I believe there M14 x 1.5? Thanks Dan

if they are original VW wheels then your existing wheel nuts will be fine, as they use the same wheel bolts regardless of steel/alloy.

if they are from a Corrado, chances are very high that any tyres fitted to them will be the wrong size, we know they are 205 wide but what about the other dimensions. 205/?? 15

195/50/15 is a better tyre choice, particularly on lower powered petrol models, I use them on A3 15" pepperpots, stock tyre size on steelies is actually 185/60/14, lots of tyre choice and good prices.

Also, find out what your insurers have to say about it, as this is one of the most obvious ways for them to not pay out in the event of a claim.

195/50/15 is a better tyre choice, particularly on lower powered petrol models, I use them on A3 15" pepperpots, stock tyre size on steelies is actually 185/60/14, lots of tyre choice and good prices.

Mine are 165 70 14 100% certain

if they are original VW wheels then your existing wheel nuts will be fine, as they use the same wheel bolts regardless of steel/alloy.

if they are from a Corrado, chances are very high that any tyres fitted to them will be the wrong size, we know they are 205 wide but what about the other dimensions. 205/?? 15

205 50 15

Mine are 165 70 14 100% certain

 

And I believe you, I'm simply suggesting you follow my lead and use 195/50/15 tyres on your lower powered car, of course if you already have the tyres with the wheels then use them.

And I believe you, I'm simply suggesting you follow my lead and use 195/50/15 tyres on your lower powered car, of course if you already have the tyres with the wheels then use them.

I already have tyres fitted and there 205 but I'm going to change them as they are starting to perish

Are you suggesting fitting 195 and stretching them on?

Friendly chat, please don't get annoyed

 

You don't really need that wide 205 tires on the car. They have been fitted on the mk1 vRS models, on the 16 inches alloys, sure, they look amazing - but they have way more power to deal with them - at least double I would say.

 

Still, the 195 ones have all the necessary grip that you will be needing, and if you don't drive only on the motorway, you might want to consider braking the factory car specs and go with the 195/60. There is a huge comfort difference between those two dimensions(195/60 vs 195/50) - been there, done that.  IMHO, the lower the tire wall is, the more 'road' you and your car will feel (including the steering components, clutch also and that's bad). 

On short, you'll slowly kill it with the 205.

One more thing: I am not sure what mpg you are getting at this moment, but with that 205..you might feel that. (add: more clutch stress, steering components and so).

195 are decent. mpi models are not sport-ish, not even by far. It's up to you for the tire specs, if you go for the comfort or if you want to keep it into the specs (with 195/60 the speed from the dashboard is 100% GPS accurate, that small gap between them is gone)

Edited 22 October, 201411 yr by Alexandru

Unless they are 7j or wider it won't really be stretching them tbh

Friendly chat, please don't get annoyed

You don't really need that wide 205 tires on the car. They have been fitted on the mk1 vRS models, on the 16 inches alloys, sure, they look amazing - but they have way more power to deal with them - at least double I would say.

Still, the 195 ones have all the necessary grip that you will be needing, and if you don't drive only on the motorway, you might want to consider braking the factory car specs and go with the 195/60. There is a huge comfort difference between those two dimensions(195/60 vs 195/50) - been there, done that. IMHO, the lower the tire wall is, the more 'road' you and your car will feel (including the steering components, clutch also and that's bad).

On short, you'll slowly kill it with the 205.

One more thing: I am not sure what mpg you are getting at this moment, but with that 205..you might feel that. (add: more clutch stress, steering components and so).

195 are decent. mpi models are not sport-ish, not even by far. It's up to you for the tire specs, if you go for the comfort or if you want to keep it into the specs (with 195/60 the speed from the dashboard is 100% GPS accurate, that small gap between them is gone)

Ahh I've already bought them now so I'll just see how it goes

I already have tyres fitted and there 205 but I'm going to change them as they are starting to perish

Are you suggesting fitting 195 and stretching them on?

 

You won't be stretching them, they're probably 6J x 15 rims anyway.

You won't be stretching them, they're probably 6J x 15 rims anyway.

There 6 and a half J if it makes a difference?

There 6 and a half J if it makes a difference?

 

Not really.

Alloys -TORQUE those nuts to 120NM. I've always tightened steels on all the cars I owned over 40+ years, but last time I did this, i rechecked a week later and used a torque wrench as the nuts were slack. Also- take all four off at regular intervilles  as the front alloys love to bond to to the wheel carrier and the rears love to hang on to the drums.