Clubsport Alloys

[CS_Thomo]

Hi, got a GTi Clubsport in Grenadilla Black due March 1st, coming with standard 18" Richmond Alloys, I want to swap out the Richmonds for an Estoril style or similar 18" style black wheel. Has anyone done similar? I know the factory estorils are an 19" I've been looking at sets on Wheelbase and CM Wheels. Anyone had experience with sets of alloys around the £600 mark or any photos of them fitted would be appreciated.

[Exonian]

I ran a set of CM wheels replicas albeit not Estorils on my mk8 Clubsport for 3 years and they lasted ok. One took a massive winter pothole impact without cracking, just a slight dink in the rim which impressed me (unlike the actual impact which nearly gave me whiplash!)

I did consider getting a set of CM Estorils to run over winter this year but never got round to it.

One thing to bear in mind is you’ll need aftermarket centre caps as the originals don’t fit.

[Ewankinch]

I run black Pretoria reps for winter wheels bought from "Selectrims online" from ebay in 2019 for £390. They're more than that nowadays! I used then for 6 winters on my old mk7 Gtd and this is the first winter using them on my 8.5 Gti. I ran Goodyear winter tyres for 6 years on the Gtd and fitted cross climate 3 sports for this winter. The quality has been good I also hit a pothole the first year I bought them and popped a tyre. Absolutely no damage to the wheel just a replacement tyre was required. There is slight corrosion on them but very minimal bearing in mind Im on my 7th winter. The only problem I've had has been the replica vw centre caps corroding as they are bare aluminium. I polished them up with metal polish then lacquered them and that has helped. I would 100% buy another set of reps. I also had a set of replica s4 wheels many years ago that were fitted to my mk5 golf they were also great wheels.

[Ewankinch]

I run black Pretoria reps for winter wheels bought from "Selectrims online" from ebay in 2019 for £390. They're more than that nowadays! I used them for 6 winters on my old mk7 Gtd and this is the first winter using them on my 8.5 Gti. I ran Goodyear winter tyres for 6 years on the Gtd and fitted cross climate 3 sports for this winter. The quality has been good I also hit a pothole the first year I bought them and popped a tyre. Absolutely no damage to the wheel just a replacement tyre was required. There is slight corrosion on them but very minimal bearing in mind Im on my 7th winter. The only problem I've had has been the replica vw centre caps corroding as they are bare aluminium. I polished them up with metal polish then lacquered them and that has helped. I would 100% buy another set of reps. I also had a set of replica s4 wheels many years ago that were fitted to my mk5 golf they were also great wheels.

[SRGTD]

One thing to bear in mind is you’ll need aftermarket centre caps as the originals don’t fit.

And if you damage one beyond repair you can’t just buy a single replacement; you’d need to buy a set of four. However, relatively speaking a set of replica alloys aren’t that expensive and you’d probably get a complete set of four replicas for less than the price you’d pay for one genuine VW OEM alloy.