What size wheels do I choose?

I am looking at putting some 16's on my mk1 golf GTI cab (90)

What offest should I go for/size should I go for? Got coilovers on the car at the moment and rolling the arches shouldn't be a problem if required.

Anyone got advice or maybe done this already? I don't want any rubbing issues if poss!

Thanks…

The main criteria for wheel size choice, should be to ensure it clears the brakes. Do you have modified brakes?

Thanks for your reply.

No. standard brakes.

I think you'll be into a world of pain with trying to find larger wheels which won't rub, with coilovers. Fit bigger wheels and don't lower it much, and you'll be okay. Lower it on coilovers and retain standard wheels, and you'll probably be alright. But try the combination together, and you'll have lots of issues - do a search and see how many times this has come up!

16" rims will require tyres so low profile, they'll give almost no flex so it will accentuate the harshness of the hard suspension with coilovers, and alter the handling balance so much that the car will grip to a point (better than standard, if you pay attention to the correct geometry settings) but then when they do 'let go', will probably result in a lot of oversteer rather than progressively worse understeer with increasing cornering speed.

I echo what Paul said.

As soon as you go wider than standard and drop it, you are going to get either:

1 - Tyre contact with the coilovers
2 - Tyre contact with the arches

…depending on offset.

Any reason you want 16's? 15's normally look plenty big enough…  :dontknow:

Thanks for your replies. Isn't there a possible offset/size of 16" which would fit? I am not looking to slam the car…but I'd like to fill the arches.
I had 15's on a mk1 driver I had about 10 years ago and fancied going a bit bigger.
The car will be used at weekend so I won't be carrying people/suit cases etc which should help regarding the rear arches.

Pretty sure and you can probably check on one of those tyre websites  that a 195/45 x 16 tyre is a very similiar height to a 195/50 x 15 tyre, so as long as you go no wider than a 7 inch rim, stick to about et35 and dont lower too much things should be hunky dory.
Sorry yes the following post is correct 7inch wide et 35 will probably hit the stupid coilovers if wound down behind the tyre.

abfmk1 said

Pretty sure and you can probably check on one of those tyre websites  that a 195/45 x 16 tyre is a very similiar height to a 195/50 x 15 tyre, so as long as you go no wider than a 7 inch rim, stick to about et35 and dont lower too much things should be hunky dory.

ET38 and a 6 inch rim (Standard) can give probs with tyre contact against spring/spring seat when using coilovers.

et35 is only giving you 3mm in the right direction on the offset, though the fact that the wheel is now 7" wide (0.5 inches either side of the centreline, this pushes you approx 12.5mm back the other way meaning overall, you are nearly 10mm closer to the spring!

Add to this the camber setting…

Wheels really are a problem when you start to go for non standard sizes. You should go with a tried and tested set-up, or if possible, try before you buy, otherwise, there is an element of risk!  :dontknow:

hi,
have got 16 borbet a on mk1……rears are 9x16 with et 15….tyres are 215 35 16,,,,on adjustables and at right height no rubbing……. fronts are best with 7 1/2 16 et 20…..with same tyres all ok……

Thanks. Don't suppose you have any pics of your motor? Sounds like what I'm looking to achieve.
Any recommendation to an alloy wheel supplier who'd be able to advise and is reasonably priced?
I appreciate all your comments…really helpful.

send a mail to transdriversolutions@yahoo.co.uk    and i will send you a few pics…..also some ideas and advice how to obtain at good price,,,,,,regards

Hi. Been advised by a local alloys wheel specialist that 16" et38 with 195/45 will fit with no problems of rubbing.

Any views?

HI, I LIKE PEOPLE LIKE US THAT THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX....16 ON A MK1 LOOK AWESOME.AND WITH THE RIGHT TYRE THE ROLLING RADIUS CAN BE LESS THAN WITH 15 WHEELS.....THE LOWER THE PROFILE THE BETTER THE HANDLING...LESS TYRE DISTORSION.....WITH COILOVERS THERE IS MORE INNER CLEARANCE TOO......GOOD LUCK......WORTH TALKING TO JUSTIN AT TOP GEAR BRIDPORT....HE CAN DO SOME AMAZING DEALS ON TYRES AND EVEN BETTER ON TYRE AND WHEEL COMBOS....REGARDS

Sorry to disagree with the local tyre firm but you aint getting 16" wheels an a cabrio with no clearance issues. Also I think Mustang is wrong with having more clearance on the inners with coil-overs.

I have spent a fair amount of time getting my car running right with aftermarket wheels. I am running the car very low on static coils, so I haven't made life easy for myself. the wheels are Zender 15" x 7"




This has been an expensive nightmare to get this lot rolling without fouling, however there is still a bit on cornering.

The wheels are mounted on hubcentric spacers, 18mm front and 25mm rear. the fronts were needed as the wheels were locked solid against the coils when I first fitted them, the rear is for looks.

The rear arches are "butchered" and bear little resemblance to the standard car. Lips are totally removed, plastic arches ground back to match.

also running 1 degree neg camber on the rear.

It took several weeks to get the wheels on (not counting the 2 months it took to cut out the rotten inner wheel arch and replace it)

There is always a price to pay for running non standard wheels, I ran 17's on 309 GTI back in 1997, that was hard work, but worth it, the car was featured in Revs magazine, had to work everything out for myself back then, no forums to help!

Hope you get something sorted soon!

chris-h said

Sorry to disagree with the local tyre firm but you aint getting 16" wheels an a cabrio with no clearance issues.

I agree.

Normally, the spring sits on the spring plate, which is up in the arch, above the top of the tyre.
With coilovers, the spring goes down behind the inner sidewall of the tyre. This is thicker than the old strut on its own and this is why you get issues.

mustang351 said

THE LOWER THE PROFILE THE BETTER THE HANDLING…LESS TYRE DISTORSION

I also disagree somewhat with this.

While a tyre wall is allowed to flex it "gives" when cornering, giving you a more predictable, forgiving cornering experience.
A small sidewall is unable to do this and when the tyre loses grip, it can do so very quickly, catching the driver out!

Sometimes handling gets muddled up with road holding which are really 2 different things.

AL_Mk1 said

chris-h said

Sorry to disagree with the local tyre firm but you aint getting 16" wheels an a cabrio with no clearance issues.

I agree.

Normally, the spring sits on the spring plate, which is up in the arch, above the top of the tyre.
With coilovers, the spring goes down behind the inner sidewall of the tyre. This is thicker than the old strut on its own and this is why you get issues.

This is correct I can tell you from experience that 7x15 et38 (195 50 15 tyres) do not fit with coilovers. The tyre is squashed against the spring couldn't tell if the rim itself fouled but it would have been very very close the tyres on this combo sat proud of the rim. 7x15 et24 (175 50 15 tyres) fitted fine I could get my finger between the spring and the rim (this combo the rim was proud of the tyre).

Didn't ride or handle that well on the second combo but didn't ever have any rubbing despite running it pretty low.

I Think a lot of the clearence issues with coilovers is down to how low you run them.

I guess this is part of the reason "bags" are fitted to every car in PVW at present.

I'm still unsure on the tyre strech thing. I ended up with 185/45/15 tyres on my rims, would have liked a lower profile, but they don't exist!

I'm still intruiged by how mustang got 9x16 wheels to fit on his Mk1 with no issues. Can you post some pics of it?

http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=98190&highlight=