I'm looking to find out what vehicle I would need to get the steel wheels off to fit to a mk1 fabia? I don't think any come with any bigger than 14" as standard,and they probably aren't very wide! Ideally I'd be after 16" but if there's a 15" alternative that's more readily available I'd go for that. Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks

The Fabia is 5x100 wheel fitment, so any of the following will be a straight fit.

 

Skoda Fabia

Seat Ibiza 2002+

VW Polo 2002+

Mk1 Skoda Octavia

Mk1 Seat Leon

Mk4 VW Golf

Mk1 Audi A3

VW Bora

Mk1 VW New Beetle

 

 

Plenty of wheels available

Further to the above, most pre-facelift Octys will have 15" steels; post facelift Elegance and L&K models (and probably vRS with 16s) normally came with a 16x6.5ET42 steel spare with the bolt lands shaped to use the same bolts as the alloys.

Edited 13 May, 201511 yr by KenONeill

You can get Boras with 16" steels

Edited 13 May, 201511 yr by Smit

Pic of bora 16" steel wheels and trims on a Fabia:

 

My 2005 Fabia VRS spare steel wheel was a 16" with a 205/45R16 tyre fitted..had a speed limit sticker on it.

The alloy wheels were also fitted with the same sized tyre, I later bought another alloy wheel and swapped the spare/new tyre to that..

 

With the same sized tyre fitted to alloy road wheel the alloy is much higher sat in the wheel well.

Conclusion steel wheel is more narrow than the alloy road wheel..

Yep same here. My fab vrs has a 16" steel spare too.

My other car has alloys and a full sized steel spare with a 50mph limit - I have been told that the limit is due to the wheel bolts being suited to the alloys and when used on the steel wheel are not ideally suited, hence the speed limit. 

 

Not sure I believe it myself but that's the usual reason stated. Seems counter-intuitive to me I must say.

Speed limit is really just to cover themselves. The bolts are exactly the same on steel wheels and alloys.

 

With the spare being 16", it should be the same 205/45/16 size tyres, so the only difference will be in the weight of the wheel, compared to the 3 other alloys still on the car. It's also possible that the spare is not balanced 100%.

 

My Octavia has a full spare alloy, and has no sticker.

I have 2 full size 16" spares from Seat Ibizas and neither have warning stickers.

 

The warnings will be there not because of the structure of the wheel or its strength, but because of the tyre. Being a spare it could end up with the tread running in reverse if it is directional, or differing from its opposite on the axle leading to weird handling. No doubt 99.9% of the time you wouldn't know but the manufacturer doesn't want the blame for an accident pinned on them when the insurance company refuses to pay out because the tyre is fitted backwards or something daft, so to cover them selves they put stickers on them.

 

Space savers are another matter. Still doesn't stop people doing 80mph or putting them on the front wheels... dangerous things! 

 

Oh and over 4 VAG cars I've had, all the wheel nuts have been the same. 2 came with 14" steels the other 2 with 16" alloys.