GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: MrJollygood on 10 April 2021, 19:18
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Hi all,
The 18" Austins on my mk7 Gti are starting to look less than perfect. Apart from a few marks and scrapes there is signs of white worm on two of the wheels.
I've heard that the diamond cut alloys like these can only be re-furbed so many times - I think mine have already been done once by the previous owner. Will re-furbing them again remove the white worm?
Or...do I just buy a nice shiny set of BBS... :)
Cheers!
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Follow-up question:
Getting the wheels re-furbed seems to be about £80 a wheel - so £320
CMWheels do a set of Austin's for what seems like a very good price - £480 - does anyone have experience of these? Seems too cheap to be true...I'm assuming they're of much lesser quality to the OEM wheels and made in China...
https://cmwheels.com/product/18-golf-gti-austin-style-wheels-gloss-black-machined-vw-audi-mercedes-5x112/
Cheers
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Safe yourself the stress and buy my slightly shiny mostly satin BBS :wink: - https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=287385.0
If you'll be on your last refurb via diamond cutting, you can only really recut them twice before most places won't touch them due to fear of loss of structural strength. Personally I'd refurb them via powdercoat/paint or just leave them for the next owner.
With regards to copies from CM Wheels, personally I wouldn't run them and the diamond cut face will last all of 6 months.
Plenty of nice options from BBS/ OZ Wheels / Rotiform or a nice set of pretorias is always a good option if you want better durability and want to say goodbye to diamond cut life.
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You can usually safely refurbish diamond cut alloys twice without compromising their structural integrity, so it should be OK to get your Austin’s done again if they’ve only been refurbished once. However, because the machined face of the wheel doesn’t provide a particularly good key for the clear lacquer coating to adhere to, there’s a good chance they will suffer white worm again at some point in the future - probably in around a. couple of years time, or possibly sooner.
If I was considering buying an alternative set of wheels, I’d be looking for something with a more durable finish than diamond cut. A set of replica Austin’s will almost certainly succumb to white worm - probably in 18-24 months or less. I’d look for something with a painted / powder coated finish. If you’re considering BBS, they are a very good quality wheel, but even with BBS alloys, I’d avoid anything described as machined, polished or diamond cut as essentially they’d be diamond cut, so won’t have good durability, especially if they’re on a car all year round that’s used as a daily driver.
As for the quality of alloys from CMWheels; forum members over on VWROC that’ve bought Pretoria replicate have been generally happy with them, and I’ve not read of any instances of those wheels cracking or buckling (the OEM Pretoria’s are prone to do this if they’re subjected to impacts from large potholes and other similar road imperfections).
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Just some things to consider with the CM reps;-
They are a different offset to the OEM Austins. Not a massive issue, but they will give the appearance of filling the arches slightly more and will sit about 4mm closer to the kerb.
Your OEM VW centre caps probably won't fit as the centre hole I believe is slightly smaller.
As they're a non-standard wheel, you should really make your insurance company aware you're no longer running OEM wheels.
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Lots of good advice here as ever. :smiley:
My tuppence worth:
Refurb the Austins in mid/dark grey.
OR get a set of 18” Reifnitz from CMWheels similar to Ceefeesh’s set
Guzzle is quite correct, you’ll need an £8 set of eBay metal decals for the supplied wheel centres. The OEM bolts swap over as do the bolt covers. And your insurers will need to know. Mine were perfectly ok with fitting aftermarket wheels, it’s not exactly unusual so was no issue for them.
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As @Exonian has said, fitting different alloys isn’t an issue for most insurers - most are happy to accept them without issue.
I have aftermarket alloys on my car; no issues with them from my current insurer. I’m switching to a new insurer in a few days time and they have no issues with my aftermarket alloys either.
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What’s a set of clean second hand Belvederes worth on Bridgestone tyres? Is it safer go for new copy’s? What’s ur opions of Belvederes on mk7 TR? Thanks.
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What’s a set of clean second hand Belvederes worth on Bridgestone tyres? Is it safer go for new copy’s? What’s ur opions of Belvederes on mk7 TR? Thanks.
Genuine Belvederes are just about the best wheel you can get for a mk7.
They do have polished faces though which will eventually corrode. Oh and the black sections are prone to a lot of light surface scratching.
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What’s a set of clean second hand Belvederes worth on Bridgestone tyres? Is it safer go for new copy’s? What’s ur opions of Belvederes on mk7 TR? Thanks.
Genuine Belvederes are just about the best wheel you can get for a mk7.
They do have polished faces though which will eventually corrode. Oh and the black sections are prone to a lot of light surface scratching.
a good clean and ceramic coating should stop any surface scratching. I've got two sets of Belvederes, one with the factory Bridgestones on and another with Crossclimate+. Fairly easy to keep clean and at just over 7kg a doodle to change too :grin:
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Not sold on Belvederes personally-sounds daft,but I think there’s not enough wheel there,too many open gaps,probably why they’re susceptible to buckling/cracking.
I have two sets of wheels and both don’t seem to be popular:-
Milton Keynes for summer (came with the car) and Cadiz for winter,bought with 500 miles on,cause the owner didn’t like them-they were a bargain.
Had both sets powder coated in ‘German grey’,even tho they didn’t need it at the time,I knew they would be affected by whiteworm.
Both sets are a ‘meaty’ design and in my opinion will take more hammer from our bloody awful roads.
Mine is a ‘Tornado Red’ and I think they look great on the car.
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Where have you heard that they are susceptible to cracking or buckling? I've never seen anyone on any of the forums say they've had any buckle or crack. I think you're getting mixed up with the Golf Pretorias. Belvederes are forged lightweight and I've yet to see a buckled or cracked one.
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I’m on a few VW forums and I’ve not heard of any instances of Belvedere alloys cracking or buckling. There’ve been quite a few instances of forum members with OEM Pretoria’s suffering with cracked or buckled wheels though.
It’s been said that the spacing of the spokes on the Pretoria’s might be the reason for their susceptibility to damage - the spaces between the spokes alternating between a large space and a small space means there’s some quite a large unsupported areas around the rim of the wheel. These large unsupported areas could be a weak spot if it’s at that point were an impact with a pothole or similar road imperfection occurs.
The Belvedere’s spokes on the other hand are evenly spaced around the wheel, so unlike the Pretoria’s, there are no large unsupported areas between alternating spokes, which probably helps in terms of structural integrity.
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My mistake,it is the Pretoria's with the issues.
Still not sold on the Belvederes,like I said,I prefer a bit beefier wheel.
Each to their own,as they say.
The guy at ‘Volkswizard’ has just bought a Mk 8 clubsport and he’s changed the alloys-I think his choice is awful,but he loves them.
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Safe yourself the stress and buy my slightly shiny mostly satin BBS :wink: - https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=287385.0
If you'll be on your last refurb via diamond cutting, you can only really recut them twice before most places won't touch them due to fear of loss of structural strength. Personally I'd refurb them via powdercoat/paint or just leave them for the next owner.
With regards to copies from CM Wheels, personally I wouldn't run them and the diamond cut face will last all of 6 months.
Plenty of nice options from BBS/ OZ Wheels / Rotiform or a nice set of pretorias is always a good option if you want better durability and want to say goodbye to diamond cut life.
I did notice these actually. Very nice wheels, but like you I'm not crazy abut the black wheels on the Tornado red...
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What’s a set of clean second hand Belvederes worth on Bridgestone tyres? Is it safer go for new copy’s? What’s ur opions of Belvederes on mk7 TR? Thanks.
Genuine Belvederes are just about the best wheel you can get for a mk7.
They do have polished faces though which will eventually corrode. Oh and the black sections are prone to a lot of light surface scratching.
I'm actually not a fan of the Belvederes...
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Some good advice on this thread though - thanks guys...
Though I'm now seriously considering a set of BBS-CH-R wheels... :laugh:
I quite like the VW Rotary wheels too. Assume these fit over the PP brakes ok and are a straight swap for the Austins:
(https://i.postimg.cc/pXypVLg1/VW-rotary.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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Some good advice on this thread though - thanks guys...
Though I'm now seriously considering a set of BBS-CH-R wheels... :laugh:
CH-R where always my 2nd choice in wheel for the 7.5, the removable rim protector is a great bit of kit on them.
I'm also in the group that thinks Belvedere's are one of the best wheels, would love to see a set powdercoated before I pull the trigger on a set for my winter set up.
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I’d look for something with a painted / powder coated finish. If you’re considering BBS, they are a very good quality wheel, but even with BBS alloys, I’d avoid anything described as machined, polished or diamond cut as essentially they’d be diamond cut, so won’t have good durability, especially if they’re on a car all year round that’s used as a daily driver.
So even a polished finish BBS will corrode in a similar fashion as opposed to a satin finish?
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Some good advice on this thread though - thanks guys...
Though I'm now seriously considering a set of BBS-CH-R wheels... :laugh:
I quite like the VW Rotary wheels too. Assume these fit over the PP brakes ok and are a straight swap for the Austins:
I had VW Rotary alloys on my mk6 GTD. I really liked those wheels;
(https://i.postimg.cc/G3NN4M4J/2-D1-FEDA3-1-BE4-432-E-A34-E-1-F1-A72-B147-A6.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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I’d look for something with a painted / powder coated finish. If you’re considering BBS, they are a very good quality wheel, but even with BBS alloys, I’d avoid anything described as machined, polished or diamond cut as essentially they’d be diamond cut, so won’t have good durability, especially if they’re on a car all year round that’s used as a daily driver.
So even a polished finish BBS will corrode in a similar fashion as opposed to a satin finish?
Reference to ‘polished’ means the face of the wheel has been diamond cut so yes, if the protective lacquer clear coat on the polished surface becomes damaged (e.g. by stone chips, scratches etc), then water, road salt and the like can get under the lacquer and ‘creep’ over the polished / diamond cut face, resulting in oxidation of the alloy. The result is white worm corrosion. Whether this will happen and how long it would take to manifest itself is an unknown, but with any alloys with a diamond cut / polished / machined face, there’s a fair chance it will.
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OK - thanks
I like the CH-R's in the silver finish, but I'm assuming these are polished and will ultimately have the same issue with white worm...
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Am unsure of Belvederes myself an @£900 asking price is big investment. :cry: Can’t seam to find many images of mk7 wearing them!
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OK - thanks
I like the CH-R's in the silver finish, but I'm assuming these are polished and will ultimately have the same issue with white worm...
BBS generally state whether their wheels have a polished / diamond cut finish. I’d be pretty certain that there isn’t a polished / diamond cut version of the CH-R. The pictures below including description are from the Rimstyle website (www.rimstyle.com);
BBS CH-R in sliver in the picture below aren’t diamond cut;
(https://i.postimg.cc/hGKSMNJT/683-F1-E01-91-C7-45-B6-B49-F-B327997-E41-FE.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
At the link below, you’ll see that some versions of the CC-R, SR and SX have ‘polished face’ in their description, which means they’re diamond cut. No versions of the CH-R have a polished face.
https://www.rimstyle.com/alloywheels/selection/?car_model_id=1578&year=2013&manu=bbs
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Thank you. Can you now help me convince the Mrs that I need to spend £1500 on new wheels...
:grin:
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Thank you. Can you now help me convince the Mrs that I need to spend £1500 on new wheels...
:grin:
Ha, ha. I think you’re on your own with that little task. Good luck though. :smiley:
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I'm not a fan of diamond cut and the Austins were the one thing that I didn't like when looking at the car. Also the offset on the Austins leaves quite a large gap inside the arch, I initially looked at Prets but was put off due to the reports of them cracking and also the used prices were high. Settled on 18" BBS CH-Rs and have not regretted the decision at all, they look better while much better filling the width of the arch. My insurance company don't charge me any more than the standard wheels (some of the other mods are another story!).
I seem to recall that I managed to get around £500 for my old Austins, although they were in better condition that what you are describing with yours... but the important thing is that it's less money to convince your Mrs to spend if you get rid of the old ones ;-)
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CMWheels do a set of Austin's for what seems like a very good price - £480 - does anyone have experience of these? Seems too cheap to be true...I'm assuming they're of much lesser quality to the OEM wheels and made in China...
I've been running a set of CM Wheels Reifnitz 18" reps for almost a year now, been completely solid and not had any problems with them. These replaced my set of Austins that were doing exactly the same thing. I'd definitely recommend CM wheels and I know a lot of others would.
Picture below for reference.
(https://i.postimg.cc/cCV19FLL/117680938-320100675856802-3434299048593761242-n.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
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Out of all of the wheels I think I like these the most... where they on the TCR originally?
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Out of all of the wheels I think I like these the most... where they on the TCR originally?
They were the extra cost option on the GTI TCR in 19”. The standard wheels on the TCR were 18” Belvedere’s.
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Bit late to this thread but was interested in the insurance aspect. A few family members run BMWs with summer and winter wheels. They’ve been told that if the diameter of the wheel doesn’t increase their insurance companies aren’t interested. That surprised me.
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Bit late to this thread but was interested in the insurance aspect. A few family members run BMWs with summer and winter wheels. They’ve been told that if the diameter of the wheel doesn’t increase their insurance companies aren’t interested. That surprised me.
There’s no standard approach by all insurers to modifications - each will have its own approach to what they consider does or doesn’t constitute an increase in the insurance risk.
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I appreciate there is no common approach across insurance companies. I learned from a discussion with mine when notifying them of a change, that if the diameter and width of the change corresponds to an option offered by the the manufacturer they are ok with that and no charge is likely. However, they still want to be notified to maintain cover.
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There are three potential risk aspects with changing the wheels to your car:
1) a wrong choice in size could make the vehicle less roadworthy and likely to have an accident.
2) those £6000 quid BBS wheels could mean your wheels get stolen
3) Someone who is likely to fit sporty wheels to their car by themselves is going to be someone who drives fast.
That is how insurance companies think about it... and increased risk mean increased premiums.
However whether the risk is material in their actuarial calculation depends 100% on the actuarial calculation on which the policy is built. Some will care, some won't.
Good idea to find out from your own insurer before you invalidate your insurance though, that is seriously bad trouble.
Once you make ANY modification to your car though you start narrowing your choice of potential insurers though and thats worth thinking about.
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Bit late to this thread but was interested in the insurance aspect. A few family members run BMWs with summer and winter wheels. They’ve been told that if the diameter of the wheel doesn’t increase their insurance companies aren’t interested. That surprised me.
There’s no standard approach by all insurers to modifications - each will have its own approach to what they consider does or doesn’t constitute an increase in the insurance risk.
Yeah. Didn’t mean this was a standard approach. Just meant that from their insurance point of view they didn’t need to worry. That’s what surprised me.
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Bit late to this thread but was interested in the insurance aspect. A few family members run BMWs with summer and winter wheels. They’ve been told that if the diameter of the wheel doesn’t increase their insurance companies aren’t interested. That surprised me.
There’s no standard approach by all insurers to modifications - each will have its own approach to what they consider does or doesn’t constitute an increase in the insurance risk.
Yeah. Didn’t mean this was a standard approach. Just meant that from their insurance point of view they didn’t need to worry. That’s what surprised me.
I’ve had experience of inconsistencies of approach by different underwriters within the same insurance company when declaring a change of wheels.
I was with the same insurer when I changed my wheels on two of the cars I’ve owned (on each occasion, the wheels were the same as the car’s original factory spec wheels - same width, diameter, centre bore size and offset). On the first occasion, I was asked the value of the wheels, and to confirm I had locking wheel bolts fitted and there was no change in premium. On the second occasion, I was also asked the value but wasn’t asked about locking wheel bolts and I was charged an extra £15 - £20 premium per year (can’t remember the exact amount).
It seemed to me that it was down to the discretion of the individual underwriter as to whether the premium would increase or not, rather than a standard approach being applied.
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It's more variable than you think. All sorts of factors come into play.
Remember an insurance scheme is actually an investment scheme. Investors are effectively betting on the policy owners. As such the premiums are steered to deliver the financial results for the investors.
Seems strange when you think about it like that, but that's how they work.
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Is this start of dreaded white worm?
(https://i.postimg.cc/QdMHH8Mt/8-D04565-A-9-A54-4-ADC-AE57-B45-DD0-AE6080.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TpZRsXgM)
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Is this start of dreaded white worm?
(https://i.postimg.cc/QdMHH8Mt/8-D04565-A-9-A54-4-ADC-AE57-B45-DD0-AE6080.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/TpZRsXgM)
Unfortunately, yes it is.
There’s a picture of a more advanced stage of white worm corrosion on a diamond cut alloy in reply #5 of the discussion thread at the link below;
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=86968.0
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Two of mine are being refurbished next week. It’s a ‘17 plate car so about right I guess. Sadly I couldn’t quite make man-maths work in such a way that new alloys were a better choice.
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Two of mine are being refurbished next week. It’s a ‘17 plate car so about right I guess. Sadly I couldn’t quite make man-maths work in such a way that new alloys were a better choice.
Having same debate on new wheels. Am needing two tyres so trying to justify it this way. :whistle: Am sure tyres that come on cm replicas aren’t PS4 equivalent. Then I’d kinda have to go for 19s :whistle: which is a lot dearer replacement tyre down rd. If stick wit 18s I have two half worn off my Austin’s.
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Will 18s prets or Brescia look small on golf ? Dedate on goin in head :whistle:
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Will 18s prets or Brescia look small on golf ? Dedate on goin in head :whistle:
Some forum members over on vwroc.com have fitted 18” Prets to their mk7 Golf R’s - link below;
https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/21305-18-inch-pretorias-in-sterling-silver-fittedinstalled/
I wasn’t aware there was an 18” version of Brescias for the Golf - there is for the Polo, but the Polo has a different bolt pattern (5x100) to the Golf (5x112) so 18” Polo Brescias won’t fit the Golf.
Given the choice of Pretoria’s or Brescia's I’d go for the Prets as they won’t suffer from white worm corrosion, and the issue of white worm on your Austin’s (reply #37 in this discussion thread) is presumably why you’re considering alternative wheels.
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Will 18s prets or Brescia look small on golf ? Dedate on goin in head :whistle:
not with the slightly lower offset you get on reps they won't.
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It sounds like you do really want to go with the 19inch alloys so from that point of view you won't be happy with the 18s. Pull the trigger and get your set of nice 19's really the price difference in genuine 18's vs 19's is the cost got tyres aka £600 (if you went PS4S').
Here are a nice set of Genuine VW 18in Pretorias with Continentals.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324602298953?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D5e45c7d282c947d9a1fa24f36190b2ee%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D283456264562%26itm%3D324602298953%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A1e8fd010-afd8-11eb-a16d-9ebe81589cbd%7Cparentrq%3A4b1c8b7f1790ab846e7bba05ffefa2a8%7Ciid%3A1
Or here's the Genuine VW T-Roc Pretorias in 19in.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324602298541?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D5e45c7d282c947d9a1fa24f36190b2ee%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D283456264562%26itm%3D324602298541%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A1e8fd010-afd8-11eb-a16d-9ebe81589cbd%7Cparentrq%3A4b1c8b7f1790ab846e7bba05ffefa2a8%7Ciid%3A1
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Will 18s prets or Brescia look small on golf ? Dedate on goin in head :whistle:
not with the slightly lower offset you get on reps they won't.
The genuine VW version of the 18” Pretoria alloy has an offset of ET51 (7.5J x 18”) and is available in either silver or black.
Part numbers;
Silver 5G0071498A88Z
Black 5G0071498AAX1
Alternatively, if @VW80 wants to stick with genuine VW alloys, the 18” Rotary is an alternative (part no. 5G007149816Z). This is also 7.5J x 18” with an offset of ET51. Comes in an anthracite painted finish. I had these on my mk6 GTD.
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners-and-drivers/accessories-and-merchandise/accessories/5G007149816Z/18-rotary-alloy-wheel-anthracite
(https://i.postimg.cc/XvMCrm4p/E5-C0-C1-CF-4306-467-F-9-C1-B-2-CCF3502-F459.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
@Vw80; your existing Austin alloys are 7.5J x 18” with an offset of ET49, so the genuine VW 18” version of the Pretoria (and the Rotary) will be tucked 2mm further under the wheel arch.
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Would be happy enough with 18s if think they look good. Am based in Ireland and don’t c golfs on 18vs 19 that often and seen in reality vs pics is big differ. 4 reps and 2 new PS4 and 2 part worn off my Austin’s won’t break the bank. That’s way I’m thinking, but value opinions off here as don’t want to be disappointed either.
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Is the cheap tyres that come on replica wheels package worth having? Landsail? Anyone dealt with autoalloys magherafelt seam good value on Raw wheels ?
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Will 18s prets or Brescia look small on golf ? Dedate on goin in head :whistle:
not with the slightly lower offset you get on reps they won't.
The genuine VW version of the 18” Pretoria alloy has an offset of ET51 (7.5J x 18”) and is available in either silver or black.
Part numbers;
Silver 5G0071498A88Z
Black 5G0071498AAX1
Alternatively, if @VW80 wants to stick with genuine VW alloys, the 18” Rotary is an alternative (part no. 5G007149816Z). This is also 7.5J x 18” with an offset of ET51. Comes in an anthracite painted finish. I had these on my mk6 GTD.
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners-and-drivers/accessories-and-merchandise/accessories/5G007149816Z/18-rotary-alloy-wheel-anthracite
(https://i.postimg.cc/XvMCrm4p/E5-C0-C1-CF-4306-467-F-9-C1-B-2-CCF3502-F459.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
@Vw80; your existing Austin alloys are 7.5J x 18” with an offset of ET49, so the genuine VW 18” version of the Pretoria (and the Rotary) will be tucked 2mm further under the wheel arch.
I run these rotary alloys as my winter alloys here in Ireland on my Mk7 Carbon Steel Grey. They suit the MK7 very well and are so much more durable than the diamond cut finished wheels. I have four sets of wheels tho as i get bored quickly :whistle:
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Thank you. Can you now help me convince the Mrs that I need to spend £1500 on new wheels...
:grin:
Finally pulled my finger (and wallet) out and picked up a set of BBS VZ 18" wheels. Will post a pic up shortly, but they look great! Price was pretty good (<£1000) Wish I'd bought them sooner, look so much better than a white-wormed set of Austins.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/5tyVXxrz/2021-09-15-19-01-36.jpg) (https://postimages.org/)
Now I want spacers and a slight drop... :)
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(https://i.postimg.cc/JhL3dr7w/DA701339-1-BB4-4135-A292-4982-D5-E7-A27-A.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/VJKbJcb4)
Snap
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FYI My insurer (Admiral) charged me £9 for the non-standard wheels on my policy
G