[punkjazz]

hello, i know this might get trashed and cause its my first post but here goes..

im looking to get a set of steel rims and a set of winter tires for my gti, called the dealership by where i live and he said since i have the 18" stock rims that they cant fit the car with a set of steels..? he said they would have to end up doing some mods to make it fit..

now i keep reading everywhere that a 16" rim w/ 205/55r16 on them should fit.. Any truth to this or am i really s.o.l.?

thx in advance for any help that can be given

 

[TheTechGuy]

I had the same problem with my car. Only thing was, I did not feel like buying a full set of rims and tires. My best guess is to pay a couple extra bucks to have them put snow tires on your 18" rims for around $90 to $125 a piece. Then keeping your summer tires for when the snow melts. This is at-least what I am doing. Keeping two sets of tires and rotating them properly will ensure they last a full life. Assuming you like your 18s, this would be my suggestion.

 

[punkjazz]

thats what they told me to do at the dealership but i just didnt want to keep the 18"s on all winter...cant they fit a 16" on there, like the spare in the trunk w/snow tires on it??

this sucks

 

[dataton]

16" wheels and 205/55-16 tires will fit on a mk5 GTi just fine

hello, i know this might get trashed and cause its my first post but here goes..

im looking to get a set of steel rims and a set of winter tires for my gti, called the dealership by where i live and he said since i have the 18" stock rims that they cant fit the car with a set of steels..? he said they would have to end up doing some mods to make it fit..

That is simply incorrect.
US mk5 GTi with factory 18" wheels comes with a 16" steel wheel and 205/55-16 tire stock,
it is the spare tire.

No way you would have to make a modification to a stock setup to mount the factory spare tire.

now i keep reading everywhere that a 16" rim w/ 205/55r16 on them should fit.. Any truth to this or am i really s.o.l.?...

True.

Some may point out the factory spare has warning labels
much like those found on a mini spare / doughnut. But it is not one of those.

Factory spare is a standard steel road wheel

with a VW part number

and a standard H rated all-season tire

The labels are due to handling and braking changes that would result from the contact patch
and tire construction / compound mismatch when running one 16" and three 17" or 18" tires.

OE VW 16" x 6.5" steel wheel (6.5Jx16H2 ET50) [VW PN 1K0 601 027 A] - 205/55-16 91H Continental ContiProContact

VW lawyers + US tort laws = warning labels for the obvious

As long as all four 16" wheels and tires are matched, you will be fine.

Comparing same make and model winter tire, in inclement conditions
a 16" high profile / smaller contact patch tire will significantly outperform
an 18" low profile / larger contact patch tire.
And the savings on a 16" winter tire vs an 18" winter tire of same make and model
should typically cover the cost for the 16" wheels.

Been running 16" winter tire since the day I bought the car.
Before closing the deal, I purchased a set of 16" alloys off forum classifieds,
new set of winter tires from TireRack.
Had them mounted and balanced and put in the back seat of my trade-in.
Took delivery in Feb in MI, had the 18" wheels with summer rubber
removed and placed in the back and the 16" wheels and snow tires
put on the car at the stealership before driving my new car off the lot
(for a 300 mi trip home in a snow storm).

My 2006 US GTi with the first set of 16" winter wheels and tires
purchased in haste a few days before buying the car.

OE VW 16" x 7" Vancouver (7Jx16H2 ET37) [VW PN 3B0 601 025 T] - 205/55-16 91H Dunlop Winter Sport M3

My current set of 16" winter wheels and tires purchased at my leisure for a low $40 each (May 2007)

OE VW 16" x 6.5" Ditto (6.5Jx16H2 ET50) [VW PN 1K0 601 025 BC] - 205/55-16 91H Dunlop Winter Sport M3

 

[TheTechGuy]

It's understandable to not want your 18's going through snow. Since I am most likely going to upgrade in summer to 17' or 18', I don't blame you. But I always have been cheap when looking at tires. Figure it saves me around $400 to keep my rims through winter.
Just some food for thought.

 

[JB77]

http://myfastgti.com/volkswagen/showthread.php?t=19428

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[kootenaydub]

OP, see my PM, but dataton hit it on the head.

I would never go back to a VW dealershp that told you that they can't fit 16" rim on. They are either horribly ignorant or slimey sleeze balls trying to up-sell you.

 

[dataton]

57.1mm hubcentric ring - 14x1.5mm 27mm ball seat lug bolts

When using VW oe wheels, it is of no concern,
as all VW oe wheels provide a 57.1mm hub centering ring
and all oe VW wheels use the same
14x1.5mm 27mm ball seat lug bolts (17mm hexagonal head).

Those specifications are of possible concern when acquiring aftermarket wheels.
The hubcentric ring is critical to the proper performance of the system, the center ring bears load,
the lug bolts keep the wheel firmly seated on the mating hub ring.

While it is not necessary, it is also wise to purchase wheels that use the same type of lug bolt as stock,
so you don't have to worry about finding the right lug bolts for your spare should it be needed.
(I Vag-Com'd a car for a guy who had just purchased a used GTi with aftermarkert wheels,
and we discovered the conical seat bolts used with those wheels
were incorrect for his factory spare and he did not have the right ones - ouch.)

 

[kootenaydub]

excellent point dataton on the spare lugs

 

[punkjazz]

wow, thanks for all the replies..turns out the guy at dealership thought i asked for 18" steel rims..idiot, anyway they quoted me $1,100 for (4)16" steels (4) 205/55/16 to pricey for me..

so i went on tire rack and found 4 16" steel and 4 Dunlop ds3 and total was $652!!

http://www.tirerack.com/cart/HoldingAreaB.jsp

gonna order those tomorrow and just get them mounted somewhere else.. dealership told me to go try NTB they are cheaper than VW for just mounting needs..

thx for the help hopefully these will work out great, and they said the offset should be about 50mm, sound right?

 

[punkjazz]

called dealer back and he said that he thought i wanted 18" steel rims...idiot.. anyway they quoted me $1100 for the steels and blizaks.. i told him id call back and found these on tirerack
http://www.tirerack.com/snow/preferredpackages.jsp Wadda ya think?

think ill be doing these, no wheel cover and just have them installed.. wayy cheaper.

thx for all the replies it was a big help

 

[punkjazz]

for anyone who has bought these off tirerack can they use the factory lugs from the rims that came on the car to mount the winter steelies??

 

[JB77]

for anyone who has bought these off tirerack can they use the factory lugs from the rims that came on the car to mount the winter steelies??

You'll need different lugs for the steels. Tirerack included them with my order.

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[TheTechGuy]

I was debating on keeping the tires on my car i have now, and swapping out winter tires on the same rims i have now (keeping the summer tires). Is it bad for the tires if i keep swapping out the same tires between winter and summer?

 

[dataton]

You'll need different lugs for the steels. Tirerack included them with my order.

Well that sucks. The VW steel wheels use the standard VW lug bolts.
Are you sure the TireRack steelies are a different lug seat?
Sometimes TireRack includes a set of lugs with wheel / tire packages
even when they are the same.

excertpted from Tire & Wheel Packages
...
• All necessary hardware (lugs, center caps, centering rings, etc.) included at no charge with most wheels.*
...
*NOTE: A few wheel applications use Original Equipment hardware, do not use center caps, or have caps only as an optional
accessory at an additional cost. Search results will display the exact hardware included based on vehicle and wheel selected.
---

I was debating on keeping the tires on my car i have now, and swapping out winter tires on the same rims i have now (keeping the summer tires). Is it bad for the tires if i keep swapping out the same tires between winter and summer?

Mk4 1.8 Turbo, ECS Chip.

No, it is not harmful to the tires.
Long term, it may be harmful to your wallet.
Obviously costs vary, but the unmount / mount and hidden balance costs me $70 a set.
Do that twice a year for more than two years and a second set of wheels can be less expensive.
(I am on my sixth season with my mk5 winter wheels, third set of tires)
Mostly depends on how many miles you drive and how and when you buy the extra wheels.
US '06 does not have TPMS, so that cost is avoided.
16" oe VW steel wheels show on vwvortex 5x112 Classifieds
as low as $150 + ship a set.

Wait, I am confused, your post title is Re: winter rims and tires for 06' gti mkv...../ noob/,
but do you have a mk4? They will clear 15s won't they? (my mk4 1.8T did)
If so, mk4 wheels are 5x100 and I have in OH a full set of 15" 5x100 mk4 oe Avus alloys
with Bridestone Blizzaks mounted I would love to sell. (mk4 was sold).

 

[TheTechGuy]

No, it is not harmful to the tires.
Long term, it may be harmful to your wallet.
Obviously costs vary, but the unmount / mount and hidden balance costs me $70 a set.
Do that twice a year for more than two years and a second set of wheels can be less expensive.
(I am on my sixth season with my mk5 winter wheels, third set of tires)
Mostly depends on how many miles you drive and how and when you buy the extra wheels.
US '06 does not have TPMS, so that cost is avoided.
16" oe VW steel wheels show on vwvortex 5x112 Classifieds
as low as $150 + ship a set.

Wait, I am confused, your post title is Re: winter rims and tires for 06' gti mkv...../ noob/,
but do you have a mk4? They will clear 15s won't they? (my mk4 1.8T did)
If so, mk4 wheels are 5x100 and I have in OH a full set of 15" 5x100 mk4 oe Avus alloys
with Bridestone Blizzaks mounted I would love to sell. (mk4 was sold).

I posted in here because I did not want to make and entire new post for such a simple question, but my problem is, I have upgraded break calibers and 15 in Steels will rub against them. So I am stuck either getting a nicer pair of rims for summer use (And using my currents for winter. Or I will end up swapping tired in summer and winter.

 

[JB77]

Well that sucks. The VW steel wheels use the standard VW lug bolts.
Are you sure the TireRack steelies are a different lug seat?
Sometimes TireRack includes a set of lugs with wheel / tire packages
even when they are the same.

The steel wheels I got for my MKVI required a round seat for the lug. Which looks different from the stock wheels. They were free and the guy I spoke to at tirerack recomended using them.

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[punkjazz]

the steels w/mounted dunlop sport3d got dropped off today!

the invoice says to reuse O.E. bolts but will not work with O.E. wheel covers

i have alloy 18s so im not worried about wheel covers i just hope the lugs do work!

 

[punkjazz]

just took the gti up to NTB to have them put the steels on and the guy said "by law we cant take tires off that have tpms and put a set back on that dont have them" WTF **** you ntb..lame

 

[JB77]

just took the gti up to NTB to have them put the steels on and the guy said "by law we cant take tires off that have tpms and put a set back on that dont have them" WTF **** you ntb..lame

Why don't you just swap the wheels yourself? Set the torque to 88ft lbs and be done.

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