Swap 17" parkers for 18" brescia's

[csrajput1]

Hi fellow forum members.
I've seen a very well spec'd gti+ for a good price but it has the 17" Parker wheels on it.

If I do go ahead and purchase the vehicle, one of my first mods would be to swap to the brescia alloys.
Probably a silly question but is it a straight swap? Any considerations such as longer wheel bolts etc?

Thanks in advance.
Chets

[Stuart_Rendall]

Hi fellow forum members.
I've seen a very well spec'd gti+ for a good price but it has the 17" Parker wheels on it.

If I do go ahead and purchase the vehicle, one of my first mods would be to swap to the brescia alloys.
Probably a silly question but is it a straight swap? Any considerations such as longer wheel bolts etc?

Thanks in advance.
Chets

Swapping from the standard 17's to 18's will require no new fixings as the bolt pattern, offset and widths are the same.

Worth noting thing brescias 2nd hand are rather expensive. Could go down the aftermarket route.

[csrajput1]

Thank you very much for the swift reply.

Will be selling the 17" parker wheels to offset the cost unless someone was open to swapping.

[Andy Beats]

Good decision
Colleagues were taking the mick out of me upgrading the alloys to 18" Brescia, until an offshore worker parked his Polo gti with parkers outside for weeks on end.
I was able to go "see" and they all went "yeah, right enough"
They are awful.

[SRGTD]

They are awful.

In your opinion of course.

I went for the 18” Brescia option. However, it’s not all about aesthetics; cost of replacement tyres and ride quality will be factors that will be important to some owners. Factory fit Michelin 215/45 R17’s on Parker’s will give a more compliant ride than Bridgestone 215/40 R18’s on Brescia alloys. Some owners will actually prefer the looks of the Parker alloys to the Brescia’s - we’re all individuals and like different things, which is a good thing IMO.

I think the facelift Polo GTI is keeping the Parker’s as the standard alloys. The mk7.5 Golf GTI had 18” Parker’s as the standard wheels, but these have been replaced by the Richmond alloys on the mk8 Golf GTI. Now I know which of the two I prefer, and it’s not the five arm swastika design of the mk8’s Richmond alloys; judge for yourself;

Parker;

520F6042-0EA6-48B4-A5D7-7263EE3A4B27.jpeg (105.91 KiB) Viewed 1243 times

Richmond;

E1D69E28-80BD-43CF-8756-7E4502028739.jpeg (97.54 KiB) Viewed 1243 times

I do hope the Polo GTI does keep the Parkers and doesn’t get a 17” version of the Richmond alloys.

[monkeyhanger]

They're almost the same wheel apart from the tail end of the spokes. TBH, I marginally prefer the Richmond, but Brescia are far better looking and we'll worth an extra £350.

[SRGTD]

On looks alone, I agree the £350 outlay is worth it to get the Brescia’s. However, as said above, it’s not always just about aesthetics - some owners will consider a more compliant ride from a 17” alloy and a tyre with a higher (45 profile) sidewall to be an important consideration.

The Richmond alloys seem to get more negative comments on Golf forums than I can remember the Parker alloys getting when they appeared on mk7.5 GTI as the standard alloy. Quite a few owners on golfgtiforum.co.uk have swapped the Richmonds for Pretoria replicas or other aftermarket alloys. I’m firmly in the ‘don’t like’ camp for the Richmonds but as I said in my previous post, we’re all different and have different likes and dislikes

Probably a deliberate ploy on VW’s part not to offer an alternative 18” alloy on the mk8 Golf GTI, so those prospective owners who don’t like the Richmonds upgrade to more expensive 19” factory fit options - and possibly spending even more £££’s and speccing DCC too as they have concerns over the the ride on 19’s with standard suspension being to firm for them.

[Andy Beats]

Who buys a GTi and then looks for a compliant ride?
I'd go 19s if it wasn't for potholes.

[SRGTD]

Who buys a GTi and then looks for a compliant ride?
I'd go 19s if it wasn't for potholes.

Maybe not compliant then, but less firm.

You might be surprised but there are people who to go for a GTI and don’t want an overly firm ride - on the performance Golf forums, a regular discussion topic over the years has been whether or not the optional 19” alloys will give too firm a ride compared to the standard 18” and whether it’s necessary to pay extra for DCC if you have 19’s. I can remember a few posts on this forum too where discussions have been around 17’s v’s 18’s on the GTI and concerns over ride quality on 18’s has been mentioned.

I personally wouldn’t want 19” alloys on a Polo GTI - expensive tyres, increased risk of kerbing and as you’ve said potholes would be another reason for not having them - just my opinion though.