Just wondering if anyone can help with my search for alloys.

I went to see a set of 15's for my Polo (MK4) last night and tried one of them on my car but the tier was touching my mud flap. I took a note of the tier size (195 60 15) and was wondering what the numbers ment, and what size would fit.

Also wondering what tyre width you would recommend?

Thanks for the help in advance!

195 is the width in mm of tyre. 60 is the profile of the side wall (60% of 195mm). 15 is the wheel size. better off with 195/45's or smaller

What width would you recommend?

i think 185/45/15 exist

indeed they do. not many companes make them tho

There's quite a few low pro 15 inch options available today.

165/50/15 for plenty of stretch on most 15's

175/50/15 if you can find some.

185/45/15 not many brands make them

195/45/15 most common low profile 15 inch tyre.

Take your pick.

195/45/15 is VW's standard reccomended tyre size for a polo with 15" wheels. It'll look like a normal tyre in 6J or 7J wide wheels, and start to stretch on a 7.5J and 8J wheel.

185/45/15 will look a little bit stretched on a 6inch wheel but will be a little more expensive and will reduce the rolling radius of your wheel, throwing off your speedo and wearing faster. Dont stretch over a 6inch wide wheel! its a blowout waiting to happen!

Stretching 45's over a 7.5-8 incher looks good and should be perfectly safe.

Hope that helps.

Dont stretch over a 6inch wide wheel! its a blowout waiting to happen!

Can i ask what you baseing this on?

^^ Me too - 185s are made for 7in wide wheels. Yes thats at a stretch - but not too much of one. You wont get stretch with a 195 on a seven - you want a 7.5/8in rim for 195s.

Anyway,your problem was the profile. 60% of 195 is massive. Cheapest and most available would be 195x50x15s but they'd still be a touch big. The above sizes mentioned are good - particularly 175x50 on those wheels.

A friend of mine who sells wheels and tyres for a living.

He's a big vee dub fan and has a massive stretch on his mk1 caddy, so he's not against stretching tyres... but told me it would be stupid to stretch tyres over 6inch wide wheels, the base is far too little as it is not to use the full width of the wheel. your just reducing the surface of the tyre that hits the tarmac and losing traction in the process.

Oh and the 15" BBS alloys on the Polo GTi as standard have a 195/45/15 tyre fitted from the factory, so if they're 6 (or 6.5, i cant remember which) and VW recomend that tyre, then 185/45/15 cannot be made for a 7inch wheel on a Polo !?

I never said youd get a stretch with 195's on a 7, read my post again. I had 7.5inch wheels with 195/45/15 and there was a small stretch, if I had used tyres that didnt have such a firm sidewall they would have stretched even more.

Hope that answers the question(s).

Edited 16 July, 200719 yr by tetsuo_83