Just acquired restored Mark 2 Golf GTI

[nicolb]

As a new member this afternoon, thanks for accepting, I am keen to ask for some advice. I have just acquired a Golf GTI, 8v, Mark 2 (1986) model. it is currently on lowered coilovers with borbets 7.5j front 16 inch, Rear 9j 16 inch. I have had the car raised 2 inches since it was sitting too low to get out drive. I was wondering where I could get stock wheels or modern equivalent. Is 15 inch the way to go? Ant help greatly appreciated. Kind regards Bill

[Exonian]

Welcome Bill.
You can probably still buy VW 15” steel wheels that will fit. Back in the day they were popular as they looked OEM but were slightly larger for aesthetics and would fit over larger brake conversions.
You might be able to source genuine OEM 14” wheels still too, be they alloy or steel.
There will be people with decent second hand sets stored away at the back of their garages so a wanted advert here, on social media forums and wherever owners of classic water cooled VW’s hang out.
You’d be surprised what people have tucked away forgotten about.
When I moved house about 4 years ago I found a single 14” GTI steel wheel, a pair of mk2 Golf rear light housings (I’d upgraded my GTI’s lights to half tint), some orange side repeaters and even a DIN radio blank (genuine VW) as once upon a time Golfs didn’t even come with a radio as standard. Lord knows what happened to it all.

Shake a few trees and you’ll maybe unearth some interesting bits!

[bogwoppit]

There are quite a few sets of BBS RA wheels on ebay in 14" and 15" inch on ebay, could be worth a look.

When I had a 1990 GTi (8v) I removed the standard 14" steels and fitted a set of 15" BBS RA wheels.
They were a factory option on the 8v at the time and standard fit on the 16v, still got the brochure somewhere in the attic.
Plus the brochure for the BBS dealer fit wheels for the Golf at the time.
Factory tyre on the 15" was 185/55, but a lot of people fitted 195/50 instead.

[dubber36]

My 1990 16V has factory 15" RA wheels with the correct 185/55 tyres.

If you want OEM looks, then although yours is an earlier car, I think they are the the best of the bunch for the Mk2 size and shape.