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Hi I have a Polo 9N riding on Abt 17x7.5 (ET30) on all 4 corners, the car is also mildly lowered with KW V2s, while the rears are fine the fronts are very close to rubbing.

Lately I have a chance to get my hands on a set of 996 17s with the following dimensions:

Front: 17x7 (Offset:53)
Rears: 17x9 (Offset:53)

Let's say I am prepared for minor body work (flares?) to widen the rear arches in order for 17x9s on 245/35/17 to fit, the fronts I suppose will be fine with my current set of 205/40/17. My question is, how do you calculate the size of adapter + an offset of 53???

In short, what adapter shall I get behind the front wheels so that it will not rub? My current ET30 is already getting me on the edge of rubbing, please recommand the best solution.

Thanks so much.

u need spacers at least 18mm for your new wheels, because i think the back ones will rub, my current 8" wide wheels are ET 35 , and there is about 10mm in the back between the wheel/tyre and the damper (or a part of the suspension anyway)
this will mean that your rear wheels will stick out a lot in the back, dont know if its legal in HK for flares, i know modifying isnt 100% legal

plus u need adapters for 996 as they are different PCD, not sure if spacers/adapters can work out to give u the needed spec? can someone shed some light on this part?

hope this helps (a bit)

oh thanks carmadaaron, I am certainly aware of the need of 5x100 to 5x130 adapters, I am however worried to have got them in the wrong size. What do u think? 9" wheels at the back, is that possible at all?

I am pretty sure that it is indeed illegal to add fender flares in HK, technically anything non-stock is illegal here, but nobody cares and cops do not pay attention at Europeans cars that much anyway, VWs are not that popular here compared to Hondas and Toyotas, I can almost assure you the cops won't be able to tell even if I fit a whole Koenigseider widebody!

But considering the amount of money that will cost me to stuff these 996 beauties in, I am now considering BBS RG-Rs as well...

Does any of you know what does it take to fit a brake kit made for Golf MK4s onto a 9N? Is the carrier the only difference or is there other serious difference in construction between the 2 setup?

Thanks in advance for all the help.

Can't help you with the brakes question, but to answer your other question:

The Porsche wheels have an ET of 53. The wheels you have now have an ET of 30. That leaves you 53 minus 30 equals 23 mm for an adapter, to get the new wheels to the same offset. 20mm is a common thickness for 5x100 to 5x130 adapters, so that would leave an ET of 33. Sounds reasonable to me, but I don't know if the rear wheel well will accept a 9 inch wide wheel. It's possible that you need to have an even lower ET to avoid having the wheel touching the KW on the inside. (The rule is: the lower the ET, the more the wheel sticks out).

Instead of adding flares, I'd suggest you get someone to roll out the rear arches, which could yield up to one or two centimeters of clearance.

HTH!

Wow Speedlaw u're the expert.
I took a look at the rear arches this morning, my 7.5" ET30 wheels have already flushed the rear wheel wells, so I reckon the stock 9N fenders do not give another 1.5" clearance for the 9" wheels without looking strange (this is the catch).

Btw have any of you got pics of Polos fitted with watercooled Porsches' wheels?

In case anyone cares, I scraped the Porsche wheels idea for now and went for a set of TT forged 17s. They are one hell of an improvement over my Abt 17s!!

On the other hand, I have got the wheel & tire place to keep an eye on 2 sets of Porsche front wheels for me.

Porsche wheels are always nice. Have a look at the galleries on www.lowdub.com to see some Polo's on Porsche wheels. There should be several in there, but I haven't the time to look them up (I'm at work now).