Alloy Upgrade

[J_hutchison]

I've seen these on Ebay. Same ones on my dad's Golf and I've always liked them. Would they cause any hassle IE like the extra wheel bolts required etc?

[SRGTD]

I've seen these on Ebay. Same ones on my dad's Golf and I've always liked them. Would they cause any hassle IE like the extra wheel bolts required etc?

Unfortunately as those wheels are mk7 Golf wheels, they won’t fit your Polo because the Polo and the Golf have different bolt patterns (or PCD - Pitch Circle Diameter). If you were to draw a circle which passes through the middle of each of the wheel bolts on your wheel and then measure the diameter of that circle, that’s the PCD; expressed as the number of wheel bolts by the diameter of the circle in millimetres. For the Polo the PCD is 5x100 and for the Golf (since the mk5 Golf) it’s 5x112.

Because the Polo and Golf have different PCD’s, it means the wheel bolt holes in a Golf’s wheel won’t physically line up with the bolt holts in a Polo’s wheel hub, and vice versa.

If you buy new wheels from an alloy wheel website such as Wheelbase Alloys or Rimstyle, when you input your vehicle details, they will check aspects such as the PCD, offset and load rating of the wheels and only show you wheels that are suitable for your car. However, if you buy a set of used wheels, you’ll need to ensure they are the correct fitment yourself - for a 2017 6c Polo;

• PCD must be 5x100

• the wheel’s centre bore must be 57.1 or larger. If larger, then you’ll need to fit a set of spigot (reducing) rings inside the wheel’s centre bore to reduce it to 57.1 to ensure the wheel is a snug fit on the car’s wheel hub assembly. If you didn’t do this, then the weight of the car would be transferred to the wheel bolts, putting immense stress on the bolts and the potential for them to fail. You’d also be highly likely to experience wheel wobble / vibration if spigot rings are required but not fitted.

• the wheel’s width shouldn’t be too wide and offset shouldn’t be too aggressive, otherwise you could experience clearance or tyre rubbing issues (rubbing is also a potential issue if you change to wider tyres with a higher sidewall). Additionally, the overall rolling radius of any new wheel/tyre should be as close as possible to your existing wheel/tyre set up - if not, you will experience errors with your speedo reading (it’ll over-read or under-read). A wheel fitment calculator like the one on www.willtheyfit.com calculates all the critical measurements such as clearance issues for you if you input details of your existing wheel/tyre set up, and the same information for any new wheel / tyre set up you’re thinking of getting.

Also with used wheels, I would always check with the seller that the wheels have never suffered any structural damage or had any structural repairs (e.g. cracks or buckling from heavy impacts with, say, a pothole). I’d also want to see the identification marks on the reverse of the wheels, so if they’re advertised as ‘genuine’ original equipment wheels, they have the expected information such as the correct manufacturer part number, wheel width and offset stamped into the reverse side of the spokes to confirm they are actually genuine.

If you want to keep with original VW wheels that are a 16” wheel, then they’ll need to be wheels that were designed for the Polo. As mentioned in an earlier post, my Motorsport alloys (now sold) with 215/40 R17 tyres, which although they were 17” would’ve fitted your car without any issues. From a 2015 6c Polo brochure, the 16” factory wheel options (all with 215/45 R16 tyres) on the 6c Polo were; Portago, Rivazza, Salvador, Estrada and Knight (diamond cut). You could google each of these to see if you like any of them, then do a search to see if there are any sets for sale.

Good luck with your search.

[J_hutchison]

Thanks for the advice mate.
I've actually been looking for Salvador 16" alloys for a while but they seem scarce to find. Might try asking the local VW place when my car goes for a service if they could source them anywhere

[RUM4MO]

I'm sure that your local VW dealer could source them for you, but the cost would be quite a bit hard to stomach - which is where the big alloy wheel warehouses come into their own with alternatives at seriously cheaper prices.

[J_hutchison]

I'm sure that your local VW dealer could source them for you, but the cost would be quite a bit hard to stomach - which is where the big alloy wheel warehouses come into their own with alternatives at seriously cheaper prices.

Yeah that's the fear! they probably be a rip off cost wise

[SimonPoole]

I've just bought a set of 16" Audi A1 alloys which are quite similar to the 6R SEL wheels, but seem to be more plentiful second hand.

[J_hutchison]

I've just bought a set of 16" Audi A1 alloys which are quite similar to the 6R SEL wheels, but seem to be more plentiful second hand.

Yeh been barely able to find any Salvador alloys anywhere. There are a few single alloy for sale but no sets of 4 really

[J_hutchison]

If anyone sees any 16" Salvador alloys for a Polo give me a shout

[RUM4MO]

When I went looking for a set of 4 15" VW alloys to fit to my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI SEL, I extended my search area on ebay to mainland Europe and got what I wanted quite quickly and at a reasonable price, and in very good condition.

Sometimes, or always, the wheels are given a different name in mainland Europe.

Edit:- I can give you the VW p/n for the Rivazzas as that is what is fitted to my wife's 2015 VW Polo if you want if you are thinking about buying a set of second hand ones, searching by part number makes things easier than searching by name if extending your search to mainland Europe.

[J_hutchison]

When I went looking for a set of 4 15" VW alloys to fit to my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI SEL, I extended my search area on ebay to mainland Europe and got what I wanted quite quickly and at a reasonable price, and in very good condition.

Sometimes, or always, the wheels are given a different name in mainland Europe.

Edit:- I can give you the VW p/n for the Rivazzas as that is what is fitted to my wife's 2015 VW Polo if you want if you are thinking about buying a set of second hand ones, searching by part number makes things easier than searching by name if extending your search to mainland Europe.

Thanks for the tip mate still very few showing.

[J_hutchison]

I've also been checking other styles of VW alloys and the Portago is also another favourite. Found this set of 4 on Ebay with minor scuffs on them (doesn't bother me I have a friend who will refurb for next to nothing for me)
Tbh dont see much wrong here, just contacting the seller to see if theres been any major damage to them in the past.
Any advice would be appreciated

Link https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16-Inch-Allo ... 469bd69cfe

[RUM4MO]

They look to be as good as new!

Shame about the couriering price to UK though, that seems a bit steep, but maybe they have considered that when fixing the sale price - but not much you can do about the couriering price though, it will be a case of "take it or leave it" I suppose.

[J_hutchison]

They look to be as good as new!

Shame about the couriering price to UK though, that seems a bit steep, but maybe they have considered that when fixing the sale price - but not much you can do about the couriering price though, it will be a case of "take it or leave it" I suppose.

Yeh they look good. Listed a couple minor scratches but like I said my friend works at a alloy repair place so I'm sorted with that

[SRGTD]

They look good. Nice design that’ll be easy to clean too, and as RUM4MO has said, they look as good as new.

[J_hutchison]

They look good. Nice design that’ll be easy to clean too, and as RUM4MO has said, they look as good as new.

Ordered, be here next week. Excited now to say the least hopefully arrive all good and then slap some tyres on and they'll be right on the car