GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk8 => Topic started by: Guzzle on 11 January 2021, 21:56
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Someone on another thread mentioned a poll on the Richmond alloys. Thought I'd jump in.
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Not a huge fan,but have now decided to live with them.
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Got my GTI with Richmonds on arriving next month, I can’t see them when I’m driving so I used the upgrade money on DCC which I will notice.
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Is the 'hate' for the wheel based on;
1. The design of the wheel itself
2. The size of the wheel ie doesn't fill the wheel arch as best it could, or
3. The position of the wheel ie doesn't quite sit far enough out relative to the wheel arch
or combination of the above?
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Is the 'hate' for the wheel based on;
1. The design of the wheel itself
2. The size of the wheel ie doesn't fill the wheel arch as best it could, or
3. The position of the wheel ie doesn't quite sit far enough out relative to the wheel arch
or combination of the above?
For me, it’d be the design and the fact they’re diamond cut.
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For me its the wheel design (for the record, I hated the parkers and the whatever they were on the Mk5 too). They do follow a common look over the years and I've hated them all.
I'd sooner have 18's for fuel reduction, tyre economy and ride.
I don't care about "filling the arches". I spend no time in McDonalds car parks.
And yes, diamond cut has been a problem on or after 3 years on both of my Mk7.x's. It is a liability and VW should be utterly aware of this. They don't make body panels that rust after 3 years, why make wheels that fall apart after 3?
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Horrible, just like the standard MK7's where
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And yes, diamond cut has been a problem on or after 3 years on both of my Mk7.x's. It is a liability and VW should be utterly aware of this. They don't make body panels that rust after 3 years, why make wheels that fall apart after 3?
It's not just diamond cut wheels that have this problem. My Mk5 had plain silver wheels, 3 of which got replaced under warranty for peeling lacquer just before the 3 year point. The fourth wheel also started to peel not long after the warranty expired.
My Mk7.5 has just turned 3, and so far the diamond cut finish is holding up pretty well. 🤷♂️
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And yes, diamond cut has been a problem on or after 3 years on both of my Mk7.x's. It is a liability and VW should be utterly aware of this. They don't make body panels that rust after 3 years, why make wheels that fall apart after 3?
It's not just diamond cut wheels that have this problem. My Mk5 had plain silver wheels, 3 of which got replaced under warranty for peeling lacquer just before the 3 year point. The fourth wheel also started to peel not long after the warranty expired.
My Mk7.5 has just turned 3, and so far the diamond cut finish is holding up pretty well. 🤷♂️
I’ve never had an issue with painted / powder coated alloys, and all but one of the cars I’ve owned since 1982 have had alloy wheels. The only alloys I’ve had an issue with have been diamond cut.
The finish on diamond cut alloys - a ‘protective’ coat of lacquer applied to a bare, machined / polished surface - doesn’t result in a particularly durable finish, as the bare metal surface doesn’t provide a good ‘key’ for the lacquer to bond to. Additionally, the thickness of the lacquer may be less on the edges of the spokes and other parts of the wheel where there are ‘sharp’ edges and changes in the angle of the metal face on the wheel, so potentially more limited protection in these areas. A small stone chip left unrepaired on the edge of a spoke, and water can get under the lacquer and you’ve got the ideal conditions for the start of white worm corrosion.
As Fred has said, there can be issues with white worm corrosion at around three years, and based on many owners experiences on various forums I visit, it’s pretty commonplace. I’ve read of very few instances of corrosion issues on painted / powder coated alloys. There’s a good reason why many reputable alloy wheel refurbishing companies provide a more limited warranty on diamond cut wheel refurbishments than the warranty they give do on painted / powder coated wheels. It’s also not unusual for aftermarket alloy wheel retailers to not recommend diamond cut alloys for winter use.
I had two diamond wheels succumb to white worm corrosion when they were at 2.5 years old. I’m pretty OCD about my car, and the wheels were cleaned every 7-10 days, protected with wax and / or sealant every three months, and any stone chips repaired pretty much as soon as they occurred. In spite of this, two wheels suffered from white worm.
Given the choice, I’d go for alloy wheels with a painted / powder coated finish every time.
Apologies if I’ve taken this thread off topic, but the diamond cut finish on the standard 18” GTi alloys is one of the reasons for hating / disliking those wheels - or any diamond cut wheels for that matter - so IMO the above is relevant.
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For me, the standard wheels on the MK5 GTI all those years ago were lovely. Iconic almost. And in every iteration/facelift since, they've gradually ruined them.
MK6 GTI - wheel design was the same but instead of the nice gun metal grey inserts, they were gloss black (not as nice imo)
MK7 GTI - instead of the nice curved (almost telephone dial) spokes, we got the straight lines "swastika" look... which are also directional so they look backwards on one side of the car! Still, they weren't too bad, definitely not ugly but not as pretty as the MK5 iteration imo.
Mk7.5 GTI - this is where it really started to go wrong. Those parkers meant the 19" upgrade became almost essential. A needless "For the sake of it" evolution of the MK7 swastika look.
MK8 GTI - very similar to the previous Parkers but somehow seem even uglier? They look undersized under those arches, too tucked in, spokes are much too large, giving them an "E-Car" appearance. Absolutely awful imo. So much so, I consider the car wheel-less from the factory, i.e. the wheel upgrade is as essential as fuel in the tank.
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I don’t have an option to vote.
Similar to SR I don’t like polished designs from a longevity point of view. They’re designed for markets where one changes to winter wheels before the salt spreading starts. Almost all car manufacturers use diamond cut wheels and have done for some time so it’s far from just VW. It provides good income for refurbishment companies in the UK.
I think the Richmonds look ok side on but I’m very fussy about visuals and the fact they are far too inset bothers me a lot.
I’ve opted to change them for a multitude of reasons but don’t actually hate the design.
As Joe says, the telephone dial Monzas are iconic but from the Austins onwards the wheel designs are just generic and not very sporty unless an upgrade is chosen.
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Looks like VW have come up with a cunning plan to extract 800 quid from everyone.... much like when their marketing department geniuses came up with the free colour being Purple Nasty.
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I don’t have an option to vote.
Similar to SR I don’t like polished designs from a longevity point of view. They’re designed for markets where one changes to winter wheels before the salt spreading starts. Almost all car manufacturers use diamond cut wheels and have done for some time so it’s far from just VW. It provides good income for refurbishment companies in the UK.
I think the Richmonds look ok side on but I’m very fussy about visuals and the fact they are far too inset bothers me a lot.
I’ve opted to change them for a multitude of reasons but don’t actually hate the design.
As Joe says, the telephone dial Monzas are iconic but from the Austins onwards the wheel designs are just generic and not very sporty unless an upgrade is chosen.
Edited the poll, just for you :grin:
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Edited the poll, just for you :grin:
:kiss: :laugh:
Voted!
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I have just noticed something with the Richmonds....... Due to the non-symmetrical design, they go 'forwards' on left hand side of the car and 'backwards' on the right hand side. I'm laughing at myself as clearly that has to be the case (ie only one design) but I've never thought about it before (also the case with the Parkers but less pronounced). This is really messing with my OCD...... :grin: :grin:
Tin hat on...
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I have just noticed something with the Richmonds....... Due to the non-symmetrical design, they go 'forwards' on left hand side of the car and 'backwards' on the right hand side. I'm laughing at myself as clearly that has to be the case (ie only one design) but I've never thought about it before (also the case with the Parkers but less pronounced). This is really messing with my OCD...... :grin: :grin:
Tin hat on...
And also the Austin’s on the mk7 GTI and the Reifnitz alloys on the GTI TCR, and Adelaide alloys on the mk8 (there are probably others too).
Just to really mess with your OCD, I can remember someone on the mk7 forum board posting an image of their infotainment screen showing fuel consumption data for their GTI. On the image of the car on the infotainment screen, I think the spokes on the alloys were pointing in the opposite direction to the spokes on the road wheels on the car! :grin:
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I have just noticed something with the Richmonds....... Due to the non-symmetrical design, they go 'forwards' on left hand side of the car and 'backwards' on the right hand side. I'm laughing at myself as clearly that has to be the case (ie only one design) but I've never thought about it before (also the case with the Parkers but less pronounced). This is really messing with my OCD...... :grin: :grin:
Tin hat on...
And also the Austin’s on the mk7 GTI and the Reifnitz alloys on the GTI TCR, and Adelaide alloys on the mk8 (there are probably others too).
Just to really mess with your OCD, I can remember someone on the mk7 forum board posting an image of their infotainment screen showing fuel consumption data for their GTI. On the image of the car on the infotainment screen, I think the spokes on the alloys were pointing in the opposite direction to the spokes on the road wheels on the car! :grin:
I guess with the Richmonds, it’s the fact that the design is so pronounced in one direction that they look like they should only roll one way. Can I change my vote?! :whistle:
Interesting that they look ‘correct’ on the left hand side of the car.....
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Have to say the optional 19s for the 8 GTI are the oddest wheels I have ever seen on a performance car. On that basis I would prefer the 18s but equally, where on Earth are VW going with their cool design bypass??
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On a positive note, the 18s and 19s offers on the 8 make my Parker’s look good!
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On a positive note, the 18s and 19s offers on the 8 make my Parker’s look good!
lol, yeah
I never understood the hate towards the Parkers. I much preferred them to the Austins. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder and all that.
IMO the front of the Mk8 looks alright, the alloys are 'meh', and the rear looks like a Tiguan. It may be easier to resist buying one than I though. :undecided: :smiley:
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Parkers are a good looking wheel perfectly suited to the Golf GTI. The internet is wrong.
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Parkers are a good looking wheel perfectly suited to the Golf GTI. The internet is wrong.
Yeah, every time I look at mine, I really do wonder why a few people on here hate them.
The GTI alloys are probably the most distinctive and obvious part of the car. The car would look less like a GTI without the stock alloys.
This reminds me of the fella that went to buy Golf R. His wife and son went with him. There was a Golf R in the showroom. He was telling his family that he didn't like the Cadiz alloys. They looked at the options. Both his wife and son though that the Cadiz alloys looked better than the alternatives. He was surprised.
When I first had my Golf, I was parked waiting for my wife. It was a warm day so I had the windows down slightly. There was a boy around 10 years old standing beside my car. I heard him say admiringly, "wow, look at those alloys daddy!" The unbiased opinion of that boy means far more to me than a few internet haters.
To be fair, it was just a very few, very vocal people on the internet. Though, I would never use the language they used to describe another persons car/alloys.
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Having had two GTIs with Austins I lamented their passing on the 7.5.
That feeling has just about gone now and I have the purely subjective feeling that Parkers are maybe a bit more robust? Maybe that’s an illusion.
A common cry on the forum used to be the amount of white worm spreading on Austins. I haven’t heard the same extent of complaints with Parkers.
Again, is that simply my illusion?
Finally, I like a wheel that is “signature” as it is often the universally recognised feature.
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Sorry everyone, this is turning back into a Mk7 thread!
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Parkers are a good looking wheel perfectly suited to the Golf GTI. The internet is wrong.
Though, I would never use the language they used to describe another persons car/alloys.
Yeah, people should be careful what they say about another man's alloys.
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I like aerodynamic wheels with more surface but I'm one of the few
Liked the parker, and the richmond too although they're overcomplicated in the middle. But you only notice from one view.
I also like the Skoda Comet (just as an example).