Winter Wheels question.

[p3asa]

Now the wife has a BMW I'm going to have to use the Mk6 this winter so I think it's time to go down the winter tyres route too. I'm also going to buy a set of cheap (ish) alloys too in order to protect the Monza Shadows.

I'm sorry if this has been covered before but exactly what size 18 inch alloy do I need to buy? Despite having read previous posts on offsets and so on I still don't understand it. And there's 8, 8.5 and so on. I just want to know the exact size before I start trawling the net. I assume the tyre size will be the same as the Monza Shadows?

Any recommendations for decent winter tyres too?

Smaller skinnier winter tyres would be better in the snow and ice than 18" low profile winter tyres. So the choice is really up to you whether you can stomach the look of the car over the winter months like that!! Hence why the OP of this thread went for 16". They are also a lot cheaper for tyres. A decent set should look all right.

http://www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Volkswagen/Golf%206%20%282008%20-%202012%29/ has a list of equivalent wheels that will fit the golf

[Ess_Three]

Smaller skinnier winter tyres would be better in the snow and ice than 18" low profile winter tyres. So the choice is really up to you whether you can stomach the look of the car over the winter months like that!! Hence why the OP of this thread went for 16". They are also a lot cheaper for tyres. A decent set should look all right.

http://www.wheelfitment.eu/car/Volkswagen/Golf%206%20%282008%20-%202012%29/ has a list of equivalent wheels that will fit the golf

From experience of running winter tyres on my last 3 cars...the size of wheels and width of wheel have less of an impact than people assume.
Once you make the swap to winter tyres, the difference between standard width winter tyres and narrower winter tyres is so small that it probably isn't a real factor.
I run 225/40/18 winters (Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme/Michelin Pilot Alpin) and notice absolutely no adverse effects compared to my fathers Golf running 16" Avon Ice Touring winter tyres in 205/50/16 (I think that's the VW suggested winter tyre size).

I can see the theoretical advantage of narrower tyres on snow/slush...but the reality is, I've noticed absolutely no difference. The winter tyre compound is what makes the difference - not the width.
It's not as if you are driving like a rally driver on a winter rally stage, is it? 

Looks are subjective...but to my mind, a 18" winter wheel/tyre will always look better than a 16" winter narrow wheel & tyre...and if the performance is not significantly affected...why not run a 17" or 18"?

At the end of the day...it's the tyres that make the difference, so whether it's on 16", 17" or 18" doesn't matter...as long as you have them fitted!

[andykram]

I wasn't intending going down to 16s. 17s would have been my minimum. Presumably the tyre size would be different if I went for 17s?

[Ess_Three]

I wasn't intending going down to 16s. 17s would have been my minimum. Presumably the tyre size would be different if I went for 17s?

Standard GTI tyre size of 225/45/17 would work just fine.

[Jimble]

Why not go for some standard 17" monza's? There will be plenty of genuine ones around plus they'll look good on the car and are fairly cheap to refurb.

[Schuey]

Why not go for some standard 17" monza's? There will be plenty of genuine ones around plus they'll look good on the car and are fairly cheap to refurb.

This is what I have, kept a set from a previous MK5 with nearly new SP Sports, I only intend swapping them to protect my Shadows as I'd be gutted if I damaged one.

[Raffe]

Why not go for some standard 17" monza's? There will be plenty of genuine ones around plus they'll look good on the car and are fairly cheap to refurb.

Good call

[p3asa]

I can see the theoretical advantage of narrower tyres on snow/slush...but the reality is, I've noticed absolutely no difference. The winter tyre compound is what makes the difference - not the width.
It's not as if you are driving like a rally driver on a winter rally stage, is it? 

That's good to know cheers.

[Buck]

I agree re Ess_Three's point.

I ran Vredstein Wintrac Xtremes on a set of 18" alloys last year and they performed brilliantly in the snow and ice but also in the colder days, grip was noticeably improved.

I felt dropping to 17s or 16s would alter the look of the car too much for what is effectively a 6 month period of time.

I plan to swap mine early next month and theyll stay on until the end of March/April.

[Snoopy]

Essthree would the contact area not be a different shape with narrower tyres (tyre pressures, car weight, axle loads all been equal)