Hello there, i have always had questions about my polo, looks like i found the right place.

My Polo is 2002-2005 reg, the one with round headlights.

i have been wanting to fit 18" alloys on my polo for some time now, i know they will fit with 35 profile tyres, but what worries me is the tyre width, I'm wondering if it will rub the arches when steering.

Standard wheels on my polo now are:

14"

70 profile

165 width

I want to put on

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...A:IT&ih=013 (it says 40 profile tyres but i have negotiated deal with seller)

18"

35 profile

225 width

I used this website to calculate the difference in diameter of the wheels, and then measured it up on my car to see if it was true, it appears i will have no problem fitting it on, in terms of diameter. http://www.etyres.co.uk/tyre-size-calculator.htm

Now i dont know the limits of my cars wheel arches, it wwould be really helpful if sombody has done somthing similar to me, the offset on the wheels i am buying is 42.

It would really help to have this information asap!, thankyou.

Edited 20 January, 200818 yr by Demolition49

They will 100% definately fit as long as the profile is right on the tyre like you say, i have 17's and they still look small, well when its not lowered, if its lowered they look fine! the only trouble is because your suspension isn't up to having big mahoosive wheels on it might start to wear certain bits faster like anti roll bar links and bushes and stuff. My 17's have already done this on one side but its going for the coilovers on wednesday and the links replacing. Its up to you they will fit but be prepared to start shelling out a bit of cash should things go wrong! Also you will certainly see a lack of power depending on the engine capacity.

Great news, that means ill be purchasing those very soon lol, I'm not worried about going too fast aslong as it can carry 80 on the motorway comfortably. I'm buying aliminium wheels so hopefully that will lay off some of the weight, also my cornering should be better. What 17's do you have on yours?

O yeah how often do you think links will need replacing, is this pricey, what would counteract the negative effect of the big wheels? (i thought if its close to the original diameter its ok) I recently had my anti roll bar done, the damn thing was bent and made clinking noises!

Also, how can i improve the power of my car cheaply ofcourse lol.

P.S just for info

What are the effects of putting a 215 on a 225 rim?

Edited 20 January, 200818 yr by Demolition49

18's that is mahooosive. Your going to look like a 4x4 with those on, you could get a really nice set of 14's/15's. for that money and have little problem with the wear and tear parts. My mate had 18s on his 1.4 golf same engine as the polo 1.4 8v and it was sooooo slow, i literally killed him at every oppertunity, make sure its what you want to do before you get these i nearly made the same mistake with my first car, look around, and get them photo shopped, if you like it fair enuf but i would definitely give this plenty of thought, look at some polo pics on here and you will see how nice they look ith smaller wheels. thats my advice but up to you keep it posted

What are the effects of putting a 215 on a 225 rim?

reply a tiny tiny bit of tyre stretch nothing to worry about

225 is the tyre size anyway, you can fit loads of different tyre sizes on different width rims. Do you know how wide the rim is in inches? If it's an 8J, you can safely run a 205/40...

I will do, as soon as i get them, ill post pictures etc, i cant wait for a nice set of rims, will look great. does anybody here actually tell insurers about thier mods (new alloys).

Will the 100 diameter studs fit ok?

and the rims are 7.5j according the the ad, althought some other aftermarkets similar to those are 8j, what can i get away with on the 7.5j

Edited 21 January, 200818 yr by Demolition49

18s on a polo is just a shit idea for starters but thats my opinion and its your car so what ever floats your boat :)

Anyway on a 18x7.5 id say go for 215/35/18 profile tyres. Should fit nicely (a mate has these on an 18x8 with a healthy stretch) and shouldnt give you too much rubbing. Also no matter how light a set of 18s they are they will slow your roll quite severly and your speedo will be out by a fair bit too

18s on a polo is just a shit idea for starters but thats my opinion and its your car so what ever floats your boat :)

Anyway on a 18x7.5 id say go for 215/35/18 profile tyres. Should fit nicely (a mate has these on an 18x8 with a healthy stretch) and shouldnt give you too much rubbing. Also no matter how light a set of 18s they are they will slow your roll quite severly and your speedo will be out by a fair bit too

i didnt think it would be that much of a problem the overall diamter is only larger by one inch, speedo will be out by a couple of mph at 60, if anything ill just go by my tomtom i have seen many polo's with 17's which look perfectly fine, i can understand why you disagree but if i dont like them i have a friend who wants the same set of rims, if worst comes to worst ill pass them on to him. :-D

i wonder, is it possible for me to get some 215/30/18 profile tyres.

Edited 21 January, 200818 yr by Demolition49

If you have a tomtom then by all means throw the speedo out as it wont matter :p

30's will just give you a shit ride!

You've seen alot of polos on 17s as people realise that 18s are just silly

My advice would be to not get 18s but look at a nice set of 17s or even 16s. Much as the arches on 9n's are big (huge even) it is still a small underpowered car for its size. You will knacker suspension components very quickly with 18s aswell btw!

mine are 17 inch Dezent Type V ten spoke rims not very euro but i like them (I've seen 15" BBS RS rims on one but its just laughable its like putting shopping trolley wheels on a monster truck!!) 18's aren't the very best of ideas as said above but if you go on uk-polos.net look on the mk6 pictures theres a silver one with 18 inch TSW's and it looks the dogs utter bollocks!!! Just make sure they're proper light if you do do it because it can cause many a problem, even down to steering and clutch!!

Oh and as as for the road noise from 18's!!

but i want that bling look lol, i love those alloys on the golf gti aswell.... but your all making me have second thoughts, how often exactly would i be looking at replacing suspension joints, I'm a careful driver and love just driving slowly to show off to be honest lol.

i was also looking at buying some 17" rs8 rims

when the vw badge is placed on them, they look quite nice... they are also cheaper then the 18's.

if 18's cause that many more problems even as lightweights i will go for those, opinions on this? and what should they be wrapped up in? 40/215/17

the thing is, this model polo has quite big arches and so i would like to fill them putting 15's in is like nothing.

Edited 21 January, 200818 yr by Demolition49

tbph, it will look shit

tbph, it will look shit

very constructive criticism...

TBPH the person that gave that comment probably doesn't even own a 9N! They wouldn't look shit they would look right if it was lowered but the suspension trouble, loss of pulling power when you need it (Motorway) and road noise just aren't really worth it! Its hard to say what intervals your trouble with suspension trouble would be, but on standard shocks and wheels 9N's are notorious for suspension troubles anyway!! I do understand your point of the arches on a 9N coming fairly close to the size of a friggin monster truck, but lower it on either 16s' or 17's and it will look good! 15's like you said is getting too small and lowering to excessive drops starts to become a big issue with ARB and stuff! Plus they just look crap its like i said before it looks like its rolling on shopping trolley wheels! 17's lowered 50mm > soon to be a little lower on coilovers!!