Which wheels - give me an opinion

[wfdTamar]

Looking to get new wheels for my 2008 Skoda Octavia 4x4 wagon and just want opinions on the look and ride quality of options.

The 4x4 is the standard Octavia height (not raised like the Scout). Currently has 16x6.5" wheels (I think ET50 offset, could be ET45) with 205/55x16 tyres.

I have Koni FSD shocks which keep the standard ride height, have a more comfortable ride, but are still capable of handling a sporty drive. Also H&R anti roll bars, SuperPro alloy lower control arms and poly bushings.

Most of my driving is on sealed Tasmanian country roads (and some unsealed which is fun), so I want more nimble handling (lower profile, wider tyres). I was thinking to go for 18x8" wheels with 225/40x18 tyres. A little worried about ride quality (comfort) and possible damage to the rims on dodgy roads. Maybe 17" would be a more sensible choice, but the Koni's will, I think, allow a lower profile tyre.

Found some BBS SR wheels which sound good quality, though not light. I don't want to be spending a heap. These are about $300 a wheel (plus tyres). Already paid for these, but as they aren't available for a few weeks, I can change colour or size, or even get a refund.

Here's the car with existing wheels (my car windows are now tinted):





and rough mock ups with 18" wheels. First of all, it might look stupid with such low profile wheels - not being lowered. Nothing worse than elaborate wheels on an otherwise plain car. Looks a bit kinda - 'Johnny saved up all his pocket money to buy these. They're worth more than the car'.

I'm concerned about the Himalaya Grey BBS SR wheels suffering grazes etc and how bad they may look with damage given that the alloy would be exposed in the scratch. It may be better to go for the Volcano Grey ones with diamond cut face so any gutter scrapes will be less noticeable.

BBS SR wheels in Himalaya Grey


BBS SR in Volcano Grey (with Diamond Cut face)

[wfdTamar]

Here's some cars as close to mine with these wheels.

An RS (lower than mine) Octavia Mk3 with 18" wheels (just to show wheel to tyre proportion).


A Mk3 RS with Himalaya Grey BBS SR (not sure of the size, either 17" or 18")






A Passat with the Volcano Grey Diamond Cut version

[wfdTamar]

Found a Skoda with the Volcano version

[Martin]

Here's mine 18x8 ET45 225/40

[wfdTamar]

Yes, my tint is about that look. My car just sits a bit higher and is the older model.

So you'd have the same tyre size as the originals? If not any thoughts on ride quality? How do you think the diamond cut wheels look?

The other issue is my dirty old plain brakes will more visible.

[dylan8]

Make sure the bbs are genuine if you want a nice quality wheel

[Dutch77]

The BBS SR is a winter wheel so will be super solid, but super heavy.

$300 per wheel is mega sharp, is that including freight and customs? Can't go wrong anyway.. they come in 17s if you're worried about ride and height look - ride quality is definitely in the ahem rear of the beholder so almost impossible to judge until you see for yourself.

The diamond cut certainly has more of an OEM feel on the VWs, perhaps less so on Skoda but I'd think these would be a lot more at risk of marking then the greys - repairing the slightest touch on those will be a costly exercise. I wouldn't let that determine your choice though, go with your color preference.

[kaanage]

Do you have any friends with vRS Octavia's or Golf GTi's that you could borrow the wheels off for a test drive on your wagon?

That's the only way to really know if you would find the larger rims with lower profile tyres acceptable or unbearable since we all have different ideas on this.

[donweather]

Here's my RS MkII with 18s and stock suspension. I have to say even with my RS the arch gap particularly at the front is still to large for me.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f149/what-did-you-do-your-octavia-today-99991-13.html#post1098658

Post #123

[brad]

Q1: Have you ever checked the accuracy of your speedometer? I know when I had 205/55r16 the speedo was 10% out which means you can go with a taller tyre that will fill the guards a bit better (and give a more accurate speedometer).

Keep in mind that generally, the bigger the wheel, the heavier the assembly. You will notice the reduced acceleration & increased fuel consumption.

I've had
16x6.5 ET50 205/55r16,
17x8 ET35 225/45r17 (very light BBS rims)
16x7.5 ET50 225/55r16,
17x7.5 ET45 225/50r17
18x7.5 ET52 225/40r18

If I could pick an ideal compromise of weight, ride, rim protection & looks I'd go with:

weight: try & keep the assembly under 18kg (20kg max)
diameter: 17"
width: 8" is the ideal width but you'll save a chunk of weight in 7.5" without giving up much.
offset: For 8" ideally ET50 but no more poke than ET42 (ET35 sticks out too far at the front for my liking). For 7.5" go with ET45, ET50 looks a bit lost.
Tyre size: 235/45r17

If you mist go with 18s then 18x8 ET50 with a 235/40r18 and a really good rim protector. Personally, I think 18s look lost under there.

[kaanage]

For 8" ideally ET50 but no more poke than ET42 (ET35 sticks out too far at the front for my liking).

Not to mention that only 1" increase in track is allowed so et37 is the minimum legal offset (from the stock 50mm offset).
That is, if you care.

[wfdTamar]

Brads thinking carries a lot of weight since he's tried a lot of different wheels.

The wheels come from Tunershop-worldwide (in Germany) off eBay and I got them during a 20% off sale eBay had recently (they're normally $340 shipped) so the 18x8 Himalaya ones were $289 shipped. I got 2 on my account and 2 on my GF's shipped to her place so they won't come in together and be under the $1000 mark (or was that dropped recently to $250?). Well, even if they're taxed it will still be pretty cheap.

I don't know anyone with wheels I can try. Speedo is a bit out now with the stock 16" (according to my GPS). At 100 on the GPS, I'm doing about 108 on the speedo. Proportionately similar all around the speedo (110GPS/120speedo).

Tossing up wether to bother at all. Don't know if they'll make that much difference to handling. I have a 2001 Saab 9-5 Aero wagon which has 17" wheels that fit (just bigger centre bore) so I could try them. Pretty wacky looking wheels too.



Also found a similar coloured BMW with 225/50x17" BBS SR Himalaya Greys:

From this site (nice clear pics there)
BBS SR on BMW 3 Series

[wfdTamar]

Right - finally got the new tyres on wheels and on car.

BBS SR 18x8" Himalaya Grey wheels with 225/40Rx18" Continental ContiSportContact 5 tyres. They have the standard VW/Skoda badge hole so a new set of badges fit perfectly. I also have tyre pressure doo dahs on the valves in case you're wondering what they are.

The car did have 16x6.5" wheels. It's a standard Octavia ride height (but the car is 4x4).

Feels less 'rubbery' around corners. I can go around 10-20 km faster than before (not really explored this yet). Barely any difference in comfort - I'm sure the Koni FSD shocks play a big part in that. I haven't hit any potholes yet though. Can't say I've noticed any difference in acceleration - I haven't weighed the wheels to see if they weigh any more than the originals.

Ride height/appearance - the rear looks fine, maybe the front would look better a tad lower, but in the flesh it looks ok. Remember this car is 4x4 so I'm not going for the low sports look.



The brakes look small now, but the wheels should be very easy to clean.

[wfdTamar]

[brad]

looks fine to me.