Hi everyone, last topic of the day for me I promise! The alloys on my new purchase (15 year old Polo) looks knackered, so knackered that the place I bought the car from affixed some hubcaps to them so they would look better. Not knowing about cars, I didn't realise or check. At some point I would like to buy a set of VW alloys second hand that look ok. Do I have to buy specific Polo 1999 alloys or any 15" VW alloys going to be ok? not sure where I should be looking but I'm guessing scrapyards would be a good place to start?

Thanks again!

1999 (V reg) Polo 1.4 CL, Petrol, RHD, Manual (No A/C)

any 4x100 alloys will fit (pretty much) the alloys from a se 6n2 would tidy up the look of the car

Like these : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-LUPO-SPORT-POLO-S-SE-16V-14-ALLOY-WHEEL-PN-6X0601025-VW-CADDY-ESTATE-SALOON-/271513753484?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&hash=item3f377b178c

These would fit : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alloy-wheels-polo-gti-wheels-original-bbs-split-rims-vw-golf-/251550311891?pt=UK_CarParts_Acc_Wheels_tyres_Rims_Car_Wheels_ET&hash=item3a919125d3

As above any will fit as long as they have a 57.1mm bore or come with spigot rings

Thanks guys, I need to measure my current wheels actually because I think they may be a bit smaller than 15", I'll keep searching and I'll post a couple of links, if anyone sees them and can advise then that would be super.

Also, the sentence "57.1mm bore or come with spigot rings" made me dizzy so I guess I have more homework to do!

Ta!

Yes say your tyre is 195/65/R13 then your wheel is 13".

As for wheels unless your lowering it 15" will be fine, you'd be best with 195/45/15 tyres if they are no wider then 6j (unless you want stretch)

195 / 65 / R13 T is what my tyres say and they are pretty decent tyres so I see no real need to buy 15" alloys, then new tyres when I could just go for new 13" alloys - unless you think it's better to have bigger wheels? I have no plans to lower the car, unless (again) there's a good reason why it would be in my interest to do so?

I think I shall go for some used (decent condition) alloys from a brand like Fox which should make them more affordable than official VW ones, I'm hoping I can get a used set for somewhere between £50 and £70 and I've just not seen that on any used VW ones which seem to be much more expensive for any in decent condition.

These Sport Radar ones, for instance, look in decent shape and would definitely spruce up my car which has extremely knackered alloys covered with crappy wheel trims, you can see the horrible rust through them :/

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/4x100-five-spoke-13-inch-alloys/1067302177

The Toyota ones even look a million times better than what I have and with a little attention polishing them up and replacing the badge for nice VW ones could really smarten up my car.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/toyota-13-alloys-set-of-4/1064529291#photo-content

Edited 17 June, 201412 yr by michaeldc

I found once I lowered my car it got rid of the "boat like swaying" you get going round corners and it just handles and feels alot better.

Mainly wheels/lowering is for looks though so if it's not what you want then stick to your 13's.

As for wheels no matter whether you buy 13" 14" 15" 16" etc etc etc. you need to make sure they are 4x100 PCD (or come with appropriate adaptors/extended bolts/wobble bolts) and it needs to be 57.1mm bore which is vw specific (or get wheels and spigot rings) if you buy them smaller you will have to get the wheels machined/drilled

I just need to be absolutely sure I get the right type, again there's a lot to consider: 195 / 65 / R13 T 57.1mm bore or w/ Spigot Rings 4x100 PCD (is this all the information I need to check when buying?)

So 4x100 refers to the distance of the studs and bore is the size of the centre circle and spigot rings will allow alloys with a larger bore to fit (by filling the gap I presume) but anything with a smaller bore is no good - is that correct?

Thank you again for helping Matt, you're a bloody star!

Edited 17 June, 201412 yr by michaeldc

Yeah all that is correct. Just look for wheels that are 13" 4x100 57.1mm bore or a little bigger and spigot rings.

Tyre size doesn't really matter if your going to use your old tyres, as long as the wheels arnt ridiculously wide

Yeah all that is correct. Just look for wheels that are 13" 4x100 57.1mm bore or a little bigger and spigot rings.

Tyre size doesn't really matter if your going to use your old tyres, as long as the wheels arnt ridiculously wide

That last bit and googling threw up another question, do I need to worry about offset and rim width? What's the width of the wheels for my Polo and do they differ a great deal between other cars with 13" alloys? The Toyota ones are looking a decent bet but I hadn't considered offset!

Edited 17 June, 201412 yr by michaeldc

If you put a wheel on the same hub with a bigger wheel offset, the wheel will sit further inside the wheel arch because the wheel's bolting face will have to move further in to meet the hub.

Alternatively if it has a smaller wheel offset it will sit further out from the wheel arch.

I checked on wheel offsets and width and found a little information but it's hard to judge, I've yet to find a lot of information on the wheel width but charts I have seen suggest the below for the 1998 Polo which I believe to be the same as mine (which is early 1999)

175/65 R13

5.5x13 ET43

4x100

http://www.wheel-size.com/size/volkswagen/polo/1998/

I guess if I had one more question it would be, how far can I stray from 5.5 ET43 and still be ok?

Edited 17 June, 201412 yr by michaeldc

Well don't go too wide if you plan to use your tyres I wouldnt go past 6".

My cars original wheels were et55 and I'm running wheels now that are et33 front and et15 rear so you have a lot you can work with

Awesome, thanks again Matt - much appreciated!

I think this page explains the issues quite well http://www.rimstyle.com/pages/alloy_wheels_explained.html and is a decent read

Some good bedtime reading there 937!

Go for bathbursts dude. I can't see why they wouldn't fit and they look amazing. They're 14's though, so you would want chunkier tyres, but I reckon they would look great on a Polo.

A quick google search threw this up, great example:

Those lupo GTI wheels are 15"

Those lupo GTI wheels are 15"

Oh are they? Bloody hell you'd think being a Lupo fanboy, I'd know that. I thought they were 14's to be honest.

Learn something everyday! :)

Possibly selling my alloys with good tyres on soon.

If they're 13" ones that fit my specs I may be interested but I think they will be too expensive, especially with good tyres on there that I don't need right now!

The codes on my service book sticker suggest the wheels were originally:

C1R = Alloy wheels 6J x 17
H4X = Tyres 235/45 R18 94W (polymer coating)

So 17" Alloys with 18" Tyres? Wonder why the tyres now are only 175/65 R13 T - odd that the previous owner would go smaller isn't it :/

Should I be considering getting 17" Alloys and a set of 18" Wheels? Shouldn't they be the same size??

Hmm...

It would not of left the factory with 17" alloys!! 13" Steels or optional 14" or possibly 15" alloys were the wheels from the factory

Are the codes on the sticker wrong or have I got the wrong end of the stick here?

C1R = Alloy wheels 6J x 17
H4X = Tyres 235/45 R18 94W (polymer coating)

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html