19” Santiago Wheels...Comfort?

[X42]

Hi All,

New member to the forum and first GTI. Little background history, previously owned an Alfa 159 and Audi A5, and more recently a 17 plate RS3 built from new and a 15 plate F10 M5. I loved the RS3 but I always remembered the ride being unreasonably crashy at times with the huge rotors that came standard.

Anyways I’ve recently just put a deposit on a 16 plate Golf GTI with the performance pack. The car comes with the 19 inch Santiago wheels. Can anyone speaking from experience tell me how they found the ride comfort on the car with these wheels fitted? I’m considering dropping down to the 18 Austin’s if I can do a direct swap although I do actually prefer the look of the 19’s, I just need something that can do the commute comfortably with little expense but with a bit of speed to match. To be honest maintenance and fuel alone on my M5 surpassed £4k a year easy.

So the overriding question is...is the GTI still comfortable with the 19’s fitted or should I endeavour to find some 18’s?

Cheers

[Talk-torque]

It’ll be down to how you find the ride, in the end, but I’m on my third recent Golf. The first two, a GTD and a GTI, had 18s, while my current GTI Performance has 19” Brescias. I can honestly say that I haven’t noticed any difference in ride comfort, or NVH, with this car. Pretty sure, from previous comment on here, that most people find 19s OK.

[kmpowell]

TBH this is a very subjective thing so opinions will vary. Speaking personally 19’s without DCC was way too harsh for the day-to-day (in central London where the roads are terrible and littered with speed humps) and very long journeys up & down the motorway which I do. So after test driving a car on 19’s without DCC I was left with the manual lumbar support digging in my back and feeling very uncomfortable, so I specced DCC to get the adaptive dampers in ‘comfort’ mode, and the result is perfect at soaking up the harshness and surface problems and makes long journeys a breeze. 

So in short, it’ll depend on the type of driving you do and your own threshold to what’s uncomfortable. My advice is to try and get a test drive for at least 30mins on roads you normally use, then you’ll be in a better position to make an informed choice. 

 

[X42]

TBH this is a very subjective thing so opinions will vary. Speaking personally 19’s without DCC was way too harsh for the day-to-day (in central London where the roads are terrible and littered with speed humps) and very long journeys up & down the motorway which I do. So after test driving a car on 19’s without DCC I was left with the manual lumbar support digging in my back and feeling very uncomfortable, so I specced DCC to get the adaptive dampers in ‘comfort’ mode, and the result is perfect at soaking up the harshness and surface problems and makes long journeys a breeze. 

So in short, it’ll depend on the type of driving you do and your own threshold to what’s uncomfortable. My advice is to try and get a test drive for at least 30mins on roads you normally use, then you’ll be in a better position to make an informed choice. 

 

Ah I'm glad to hear you found them reasonable with the DCC. To be honest I didn't even realise that was something you could spec. I believe the car I'm buying does come with the DCC and will allow me to set the car to Comfort. I thought the RS3 was pretty uncomfortable with it's full sports setup and 19 inch alloys, but that being said it's a performance car. I test drove the Golf only for 10 minutes on a reasonably crappy road in an industrial estate and found it to be far more pleasant a ride than the RS3. The M5 was comfortable but you're paying the price for that.

It’ll be down to how you find the ride, in the end, but I’m on my third recent Golf. The first two, a GTD and a GTI, had 18s, while my current GTI Performance has 19” Brescias. I can honestly say that I haven’t noticed any difference in ride comfort, or NVH, with this car. Pretty sure, from previous comment on here, that most people find 19s OK.

Also good to know. As I mentioned I actually quite like the look of the 19's so I'm glad to hear people seem to find them OK. Even with the DCC they should even more reasonable.

[Zan]

I have the santiago's on my GTI PP with DCC and find the comfort level ok on my commute which is mainly pothole ridden roads.
Just to also note I never have the car in comfort mode only normal or sport.

[Ryan90GTI]

You'll undoubtedly find 18's more comfortable as you've got a higher profile tyre. One thing I will recommend if you are considering changing the wheels is to look for something lightweight, it will improve driveability all round.

[Watts]

Mine is on Santiagos without DCC and I find it perfectly acceptable. Better than my previous Audi on 17s!

[hobbes22]

I'm on 19" Brescias without DCC and found them to be perfectly fine, quite often I have the wife and 2 kids in the car, and they haven't once complained about the ride quality. I have 18s on at the moment with winter tyres, and notice no real difference in ride quality, the standard suspension setup is that good.

[X42]

I have the santiago's on my GTI PP with DCC and find the comfort level ok on my commute which is mainly pothole ridden roads.
Just to also note I never have the car in comfort mode only normal or sport.

Good to hear. My commute at the moment isn’t long but it could change to being something at least 30 miles or so with mixed motorway and town driving, such is the nature of my job but at the moment it’s more to be used as a general daily driver.

You'll undoubtedly find 18's more comfortable as you've got a higher profile tyre. One thing I will recommend if you are considering changing the wheels is to look for something lightweight, it will improve driveability all round.

Thanks Ryan. I agree the 18’s probably are more comfortable but it’s good to get an opinion from people who have tried both and can testify to the 19s not being the ‘be all, end all’ of the comfort the Golf offers. That was my concern originally, as I wanted a sporty car with it still being able to transport wife and family in comfort even on the 19’s.

Mine is on Santiagos without DCC and I find it perfectly acceptable. Better than my previous Audi on 17s!

A good choice of wheels I must say, I really like the Santiago’s. I found the ride in my RS3 horrible at times and I usually have quite a high tolerance to comfort in sports cars, but the magnetic ride suspension was a must. Unfortunately it costs over a £1k if you were to spec it. Doesn’t take away from the fact that car is a monster. Glad my GTI will be coming with DCC.

I'm on 19" Brescias without DCC and found them to be perfectly fine, quite often I have the wife and 2 kids in the car, and they haven't once complained about the ride quality. I have 18s on at the moment with winter tyres, and notice no real difference in ride quality, the standard suspension setup is that good.

Awesome thanks Hobbes, glad to hear your opinion having tried both wheels. Puts my mind at ease with the 19’s. It’s looking like I’ll stick with the 19 wheels, of course if I drive it long term and find 18’s way more comfortable then I’ll try to get them, but If I wanted a overhaul of comfort I probably would have gone for something different than a GTI.

[Talk-torque]

Another aspect of this, which has been discussed elsewhere, is tyre pressures. Current recommended pressures are set to enhance efficiency, so pretty hard. I run mine at 35psi, rather than the recommended, which, from memory, is 39psi. Certain to have a big influence on comfort.