GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

LIGHTWEIGHT Wheels

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
Yeah I noticed that. However I've found TireRack's overall selection to be quite limitted. They don't carry half of what Enkei offers, no PF07, nor do they carry Konig or Neuspeed. But then they carry a dozen other brands I've never heard of...Maybe some of those brands are good too, but I don't know.

True Tire Rack doesn't sell every brand, you will need to shop different retailers depending on the wheel brand. There are definitely other Enkei dealers out there that may stock more, or that do drop shipping from Enkei.

Discount Tire Direct would be a good place for Konig, and Neuspeed is sold but a few great forum sponsors like Modded Euros, ECS Tuning and a few others.

PF07s are listed as special order only by Enkei so unless someone decided to stock them Enkei doesn't keep them in their US warehouse. That might be a tough wheel to find laying around.
 

Crild

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Florida
Yeah I noticed that. However I've found TireRack's overall selection to be quite limitted. They don't carry half of what Enkei offers, no PF07, nor do they carry Konig or Neuspeed. But then they carry a dozen other brands I've never heard of...Maybe some of those brands are good too, but I don't know.
Discounttire.com
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
I'll have to check them out later. Their website currently will not leave their store locator page...

You'll want to use discounttiredirect.com for online shopping, Discounttire.com is going to be more focused on their retail Discount and America's Tire Stores, but the "direct" site for online only sales.
 

DarkArrow

Drag Racing Champion
Location
OC
Car(s)
'18 R
No they will not make any difference if you aren't driving the car hard in autocross or track.

If you don't buy nuespeed or a hub centric wheel you WILL need the hub rings & you will still need the proper seat bolts as well.

I honestly, would agree with this. If you WANT to feel a difference from running different wheels, you will. I agree there is a minor increase in ride quality, acceleration and braking performance, etc but it's probably much less pronounced than an enthusiast thinks it is. Just like how there's probably more pronounced difference than an average joe thinks there is.

If you had an average joe drive a GTI/R with stock Austins/Englishtowns and then drive a GTI/R with forged by the force of god ultra-super-crazy light wheels and same tires. I bet the average joe will not be able to feel a difference between the two cars.

IMHO, if you like the stock Austin look and are getting too overwhelmed by wheels, I'd just stick with the Austins. Majority of people putting wheels on their car are either for track or aesthetics.
 

theBrandler

Ready to race!
Location
New England
Yeah, that's a valid point. I've just gone all analytical because the car came with Austins that are beat up. And when I looked into replacing them, it's ~$500 if used, ~$1000 if new. So then I started thinking "well heck, if I'm spending money, why not get lighter wheels while I'm at it?"


But yeah it's overwhelming, especially when I do like the style of stock, and the only other's I really like, Neuspeeds for example, are expensive - well expensive from my perspective anyway. You can still get a set of Neuspeeds for the cost of one Forged wheel, so there is that...


Edit: But to your point, if the Austins had been pristine, or close to it when I got the car, I wouldn't be looking for new wheels. This is the first car I've had that I've fallen in love with and I want it to look nice.
 

flipflp

Autocross Newbie
Location
PNW
Car(s)
'16 Golf R DSG
I honestly, would agree with this. If you WANT to feel a difference from running different wheels, you will. I agree there is a minor increase in ride quality, acceleration and braking performance, etc but it's probably much less pronounced than an enthusiast thinks it is. Just like how there's probably more pronounced difference than an average joe thinks there is.

If you had an average joe drive a GTI/R with stock Austins/Englishtowns and then drive a GTI/R with forged by the force of god ultra-super-crazy light wheels and same tires. I bet the average joe will not be able to feel a difference between the two cars.

I don't think you can fully agree with an absolute statement like "no, you will not in any way notice a difference unless you are 10/10ths on a race track" and then agree there are "minor" improvements. Even if you don't notice it, physics doesn't lie and there are benefits to removing unsprung weight and virtually zero negatives.

I think an enthusiast might know better WHAT to notice, especially if it's their car and they've put a lot of miles on a car with heavier wheels. I know I noticed a huge change when I went from OEM Cadiz to my ~42lbs a corner Konigs in just regular day to day driving and ride quality. Bumps that used to hurt now hurt less, etc.

I don't think anyone is going to hop in a car they have never put a mile on before and be able to feel a difference between a normal and lightweight wheel setup back to back. That's asking a lot. Maybe Ayrton Senna would? haha
 

Scala

Ready to race!
Location
Florida
Found them...17x9 +45 advanti racing storm in black.


And:

1790BAT505112G72 TSW Bathurst Grey 17*9 et50


Many thanks to both, much appreciated!

Please check my thinking:

First, find out who has free shipping AND accepts returns.

Second, check for hub centers and lugbolt fit prior to ordering.

Third, order one of each (both the ET45 and the ET50) and check for clearance to lower retainer and to the brake calipers.

Fourth, return one and order three more of the other.

I'll be using the Bridgestone RE-71R in size 255/40R17 which has the same diameter (25") as the stock 225/40R18 but adds
1.1" in Section Width. Thankfully the Tire Rack accepts returns!

The Contact Patch area goes from 231 to 275 cm2, a whole 20% ! Enough to start worrying about aquaplaning?

Your thoughts?
 

victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
And:




Many thanks to both, much appreciated!

Please check my thinking:

First, find out who has free shipping AND accepts returns.

Second, check for hub centers and lugbolt fit prior to ordering.

Third, order one of each (both the ET45 and the ET50) and check for clearance to lower retainer and to the brake calipers.

Fourth, return one and order three more of the other.

I'll be using the Bridgestone RE-71R in size 255/40R17 which has the same diameter (25") as the stock 225/40R18 but adds
1.1" in Section Width. Thankfully the Tire Rack accepts returns!

The Contact Patch area goes from 231 to 275 cm2, a whole 20% ! Enough to start worrying about aquaplaning?

Your thoughts?

et50 is too high. The re71r runs pretty wide (not as much as other, but wide), and the et50 will have you hitting the spring perch. Even with an et45, hitting the perch with a very wide 255/40/17 is possible under hard cornering deflection.

Are you planning on running this on the street? If so, you should know the combination of such wide and sticky rubber, with so much poke, will basically sandblast the paint on your car. I'm currently on a 245/40/17 and inset more because of a +48 offset and my paint behind each wheel shows signs of light damage (5k miles on these wheels/tires). I actually once flung a piece of hot tar stuck to my tire from paddock through my window, through my helmet opening, under my sunglasses, and onto my cheek on track. I pulled into the pit lane and there were spots of hot tar melted to the paint behind the wheels. Lucky for me my car is silver! Easy to make it "look" clean.

I wouldn't worry about aquaplaning due to rubber size as much as tire design. RE71R are not super water friendly, they're not meant to be. Also, you won't gain 20% contact patch. The larger tire also means more weight displacement across the tire, so your contact patch will essentially stay the same but change shape.
 

Clem604

Autocross Champion
Location
Vancouver BC, Canada
Car(s)
2018 VW GTI
BTW, winter tires always hurt fuel economy. They're heavier, produce more drag, and have softer sidewalls. Aren't you also running a very different size winter and summer tire? Do you change tire diameter settings via obd11 or vcds when you swap wheels/tires?
No I didn't change any settings via VCDS/OBD11.

Winter
Neuspeed RSE05 17x8 (17lbs approx)
Arctic Claw TXI 235/45/17 (weight unknown)

Summer
OZ Alleggerita 18x8 (18lbs)
Riken Raptor 235/40/18 (weight unknown)
 

Scala

Ready to race!
Location
Florida
Also, you won't gain 20% contact patch. The larger tire also means more weight displacement across the tire, so your contact patch will essentially stay the same but change shape.

Thank you, all good points except that we don't agree on the contact patch where I've done all the calculations. Those numbers were proven correct on prior occasions when I was corner balancing my SCCA Miata and used tracing paper to check the theory.

Either way the issue deserves more thought particularly since the car is "only" a DD.

I'm glad you chimed in.
 

chillax

Drag Racing Champion
Location
Wi
Car(s)
18 GTI SE plaid
If that answer to lightness is a definitive "yes" then the next question is, do I really want to fiddle with hub rings and custom bolts to get Konigs or Enkei or anything else when Neuspeeds just mount to the car with stock bolts and no adapter rings and are only ~$300 more for a set?

If you go with Konig you get Discount Tire to fiddle with them for you for not much extra.
 

theBrandler

Ready to race!
Location
New England
If you go with Konig you get Discount Tire to fiddle with them for you for not much extra.
What does that mean?

Also, I've spent more time tonight going over all the options for their flow form line. None of Konigs 18 inch wheels allow me to use 225 width tires. They are all 8.5 inches wide [emoji19]. And only two options allow for 17 inches in the 5x112 pattern [emoji849]

Enkei has more options. Neuspeed rse10 18x8 is still my favorite. Are there any other brands like neuspeed that cater to VW at reasonable prices? Don't say Fast, can't get them in the states [emoji30]

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 

AtlantaDad

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Cumming, GA
Get lucky and get them secondhand?


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