Alloy Wheels for a VW Polo

WillyWonkaBar

The current set of wheels on it are 13" and if there are any VW Polo 6n2 1.0 MPI owners out there that have put alloys on their car, can you tell me how big of an alloy that will fit on the car pleeeeease!?

MetzgerMeister

My sister has a Polo but no alloys. I'd say the biggest you could go would be 17" without having the tyres rubbing off the arches when turning/on full lock.

--Kaiser--

Might I ask why you want to fit big wheels on the car? It's usually a surefire way of dis-improving the performance of your car in every way

MetzgerMeister

Not necessarily Mr. Sozé! Wider alloys and thinner tyres will greatly improve road handling and cornering

Testament1

True, but a big wheel (17") on a small engined (1.0 litre) car does slow down acceleration time:p

MetzgerMeister

True Testament but the reduction in road friction with low profile tyres makes up for this

retrothis

I would have though that the tyre thread would contribute the most to the rolling resistance if that's what you mean...
Im sure you can get a wide 15" alloy....a good compromise me thinks

WillyWonkaBar

So a 15" is best for all needs then?

Atomic Pineapple

WillyWonkaBar wrote: »

So a 15" is best for all needs then?

I wouldn't go above 15's on a polo, too many negatives from looking crap to handling and wear and tear issues

MetzgerMeister

WWB - don't mind draffodx - put 26" on the back and 22" on the front

retrothis

Also use this: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
To see what size tyre you should put onto your new alloy. Match the circumferance of the new tire as close as possible to the old, then your speedo will not lie too much.

Oh... i cant remember who posted this link a while back....but thanks!

--Kaiser--

einheisserschre wrote: »

True Testament but the reduction in road friction with low profile tyres makes up for this

I don't think it would, even a 15" wheel is going to be a lot heavier than the standard 13" (unless you go for forged wheels, which would be worth more than the car), all of it unsprung weight

Unsprung weight

Aside from that all the suspension geometry on the car is set up for 13" wheels (believe it or not, car engineers know what they're doing), you'll also put more stress on the shocks and suspension components. The end result is that your car will accelerate slower, brake less effectively and handle worse.

MetzgerMeister

OK Kaiser makes a few good points there! OP, just stick with the original wheels and slap some nice hub-caps on them

The Real B-man

Just Make sure you dont put These on it :rolleyes:

Graham_B18C

God I hate Wolfrace wheels. OP, I had a Punto Sporting a few years ago and it had 15" wheels as standard and they looked really well on it. Perfect for that size car. Anything bigger would just look silly

colm_mcm

15 would be the ideal size. just get something plain like a simple 5 spoke design.

WillyWonkaBar

Ive decided that my car would look better without Any wheels at all.

i think i'll only go as far as 14" probably safest, dont want to risk my car being anymore slow than it already is!