Wheel advice needed - Polo GTI 2007

[earth2dallas]

Thanks again for the great info - really helps.

Ok, so I think I'm narrowing this down & I should be looking at 18" x 7.5 (5x100) ET35-42ish (38 ideal).

My 16"x 6.5 stock wheels look about right on 205 width tyres.... so would 215 tyres have that 'stretched' look on 7.5" wide rims? I'm not a big fan of that look really. Is 225 width too much? Does that depend on tyre brand also?

Thanks a million...

[noone]

215 is as wide as is practical to fit between the suspension and the arch. Offset is relative to width, go back to 1010 for a comparison between the 2. 205 is a safer width.

Not stretched. Just in case you want to go there, there are technicalities to the legality of changes to the rim size.

Please don't take my words in this thread as all the info you need, there are many threads on rim size, offset, tyre proportions, handling, etc in the Polo section.

[earth2dallas]

Hi shortshifter, just wondering if the tyres on your 17" Denvers are 205 or 215 width? Do you have any photos of your polo with these wheels? thanks....

[seangti]

Thanks again for the great info - really helps.

Ok, so I think I'm narrowing this down & I should be looking at 18" x 7.5 (5x100) ET35-42ish (38 ideal).

My 16"x 6.5 stock wheels look about right on 205 width tyres.... so would 215 tyres have that 'stretched' look on 7.5" wide rims? I'm not a big fan of that look really. Is 225 width too much? Does that depend on tyre brand also?

Thanks a million...

I've only heard negative feedback from people who've ran 18's on the polo, many have later reverted back to a 17. Might look cool, but handling and ride were heavily compromised. Just putting it out there to consider.

[ForceFed]

They do look cool.

[earth2dallas]

hey guys, thanks for the insight - and the photo... very cool!
yes i think 17's seem like a good balance of looks and performance - so that's where I'm looking now.

are there any 'roadworthy' issues with 17" wheels? or 7 or 7.5" width rims? sorry if questions are stupid - i have no experience with this & don't want to make mistakes...

thanks again

[seangti]

legalities vary between states so probably best to check yourself as to what's relevent for you, or if you go outside of that, you can balance the risk of being caught. A tyre shop should be up to speed on this stuff too.

My understanding is that you're allowed upto a 2" increase in wheel diameter over stock provided the rolling diameter stays within a certain tolerance. i.e. You go up an inch in wheel, you run a lower profile tyre to retain rolling diameter. As for what that tolerance is, I have no idea.

[earth2dallas]

thanks again for the advice....I've done some reading today & understand that changing to from 16" x 6.5 (5x100) ET38 (205/45/16) to 17" x 7.5 (5x100) ET35 (215/40/17) shouldn't exceed any legal tolerances/limits in NSW that I'm aware of.

it seems the additional 15.7mm of poke resulting from this change might be the only issue (if it exceeds the wheel guard). I don't have access to my car to measure that right now unfortunately.

Does anyone happen to know how far from 'FLUSH' the stock wheels sit????

[Stuwey]

7.5 at ET35 is about perfect, no poke at all.

[earth2dallas]

OK cool - thanks heaps for the quick response.

Lastly, at 7.5 wide, are both 205 or 215 tyre options I could take? (I visually don't like rims sticking out from tyres)... would 215 look pretty normal on 7.5???

Has anyone used 205 width with a 7.5 wide rim??? Would love to see a pic of that if anyone has one.