Questions about changing wheels.

[fully]

Hey all,

My golf 118tsi is nearly 2 years old and I really want to change the boring 16inch wheels, just need some advice, I'm thinking about 18s or maybe 17s
how will the ride differ on both? Will it be as hard a rock?
Will it alter fuel economy? 0-100 times or anything like that?

Appreciate any advice
Thanks

[The_Hawk]

Heavier wheels may make fuel economy worse, lighter wheels will make it better. IE: If it takes more power to turn the wheels it has to come from somewhere.

As for ride. My Cab came with 17" and I have upgraded to 18" and while a little firmer I can't say as it's overly harsh... of course I am coming from a lowered vehicle with stiff suspension to a stock Mk6 setup so I'm maybe not the best person to answer that question.

Why not see if you can bail up a local member or two since the Golf is a very standard platform I'm sure you could jump from car to car and see how it actually feels!

[Guest001]

If you put larger diameter wheels and tyres on it will overgear the car and slow acceleration down.
It will also alter speedo by slowing it down ( Which on a VW can only be good) There is also legal limits to how far you can increase diameter over largest factory fitted.

[poyta]

Larger wheels calls for a lower profile tyre with less sidewall so yes it will get stiffer. Heavier wheels will also affect Fuel economy. I experienced probably close to 0.2-0.4l / 100kms going from 17's to 18's. Was quite shocked by that. Didn't really notice a decrease in acceleration. I also didn't really feel it go too much stiffer....,maybe a bit but its hard to tell because I was going from 17" tyres that were worn and hard and went to fresh comfy 18" tyres - you'll find that tyre condition will affect the ride more than anything else. Some people claim that bigger you go the stiffer it gets but I've driven a golf with 19's on it and it didn't feel any harder than my 18's.
I would say a jump to 17's will have little to no negative effects.

[The_Hawk]

To Hillbilly's point, you need to maintain the same "rolling diameter" (or as close to it as possible) or be aware of what changes it will make to your speedo.

Here is a great tool:

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com

Punch in your current spec and the one you are considering to see the differences (and if it's likely to fit).

As for legality, you can use anything available for the Golf range without legal issues, the largest being the Talladega at 19x8" with 235/35 R19 tyres (or of course an aftermarket equivalent in size). Given you are looking at 17" or 18", you should be pretty much right with anything that fits

RTA Documents here which outline what's legal if you want to read it for yourself:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registrati...vsi09_rev4.pdf

[Guest001]

To Hillbilly's point, you need to maintain the same "rolling diameter" (or as close to it as possible) or be aware of what changes it will make to your speedo.

Here is a great tool:

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com

Punch in your current spec and the one you are considering to see the differences (and if it's likely to fit).

As for legality, you can use anything available for the Golf range without legal issues, the largest being the Talladega at 19x8" with 235/35 R19 tyres (or of course an aftermarket equivalent in size). Given you are looking at 17" or 18", you should be pretty much right with anything that fits

RTA Documents here which outline what's legal if you want to read it for yourself:
http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/registrati...vsi09_rev4.pdf

Just a point OP is in Vic so may be slighty different

Here is the Vic Roads information sheet

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/NR/rd...orvehicles.pdf

[The_Hawk]

Just a point OP is in Vic so may be slighty different

Thanks for that, I didn't think of that until after I had posted I was so caught up in getting the right reference and reading it


Reading through the VIC rules and it seems to come up much the same, no more that +/- 15mm the largest/smallest diamater wheels, no fouling and no more than 1" wider than the widest stock wheel.

Again, everything is written around bigger or smaller than the biggest or smallest rim. If you pick something they same size as a stock wheel you should be right.



Interestingly VIC also lists this where NSW doesn't seem to:

Re-drilling wheels, hubs, drums, discs or axle flanges is not permitted.

[fully]

Thanks for all the info, It might be just easier to stick to OEM Vw 17 or 18 inch wheels..

One more question, would it cause many problems if i were to get 18s and stick 225/45/18s on them rather than 225/40/18s to give it a bit more comfort and fill the wheel arches a bit better with my stock suspension?
My speedo is already out, currently at 93km when speedo is showing 100km. so 7km out.

thanks

[Guest001]

Thanks for that, I didn't think of that until after I had posted I was so caught up in getting the right reference and reading it


Reading through the VIC rules and it seems to come up much the same, no more that +/- 15mm the largest/smallest diamater wheels, no fouling and no more than 1" wider than the widest stock wheel.

Again, everything is written around bigger or smaller than the biggest or smallest rim. If you pick something they same size as a stock wheel you should be right.



Interestingly VIC also lists this where NSW doesn't seem to:

Similar in QLD and you arent allowed to machine mags either

[Guest001]

Thanks for all the info, It might be just easier to stick to OEM Vw 17 or 18 inch wheels..

One more question, would it cause many problems if i were to get 18s and stick 225/45/18s on them rather than 225/40/18s to give it a bit more comfort and fill the wheel arches a bit better with my stock suspension?
My speedo is already out, currently at 93km when speedo is showing 100km. so 7km out.

thanks

As long as they no bigger than 15 mm more than the diameter of the largest size on the tyre placard on the car.

My speedo is out by 7k as well and to bring it back to accurate would take a 40mm increase in diameter which would be seriously illegal and would overgear the car noticeably