UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi All,

First post here, so go gentle. I have just purchased my son a 2017 1.2 TSI Match Edition. The V5 is telling me it is a 6R not sure what mark that makes the car. Anyway, my lad wants to do some updates on the car, and I don't have a clue.

He wants to go for the 17" Parabolic alloys - Are these a straight swap - He is currently running 15" Stratfords?
He also wants to upgrade the brakes and tells me that the Audi A1 S1 brakes are compatible.

Any advice you can give would be fab.

Thanks

Welcome to the forum @Embers1970.

A 2017 Polo is the facelift of the 6R Polo so is a 6C. However, I think for the purposes of the V5 registration document, the 6C is referred to as the 6R.

The 17” Parabolica alloys from the 6C Polo GTI should bolt straight on to your son’s Polo Match Edition, using the existing original factory wheel bolts. I don’t know if there would be any brake caliper clearance issues with the reverse side of the spokes on the Parabolica alloys if Audi S1 brakes are fitted though - the S1’s factory fit alloy wheels had a more aggressive offset than the offset of the Parabolica alloys - maybe that was to give more / sufficient clearance for the (presumably) larger brakes of the S1. If a brake upgrade is something your son wants to do (is it really necessary on a 1.2 Polo?), then why not consider the 6C Polo GTI brakes? I don’t know if there would be any technical issues if fitting the GTI’s brakes which are discs all round and I’m assuming the Match Edition has front discs and rear drums.

With the Parabolica alloys, a couple of things to bear in mind;

• Parabolica alloys are diamond cut, and the ‘polished’, diamond cut face of the wheel is susceptible to unsightly white worm corrosion. The bare metal diamond cut face doesn’t provide a good ‘key’ for the protective clear lacquer to bond to, so it only takes a small stone chip to the lacquer, and white worm corrosion can set in under the lacquer. You can see the white worm corrosion on a Parabolica alloy in the picture below.
  
  When white worm corrosion does happen (it almost always does), the cost of a good quality refurbishment of the alloys to remove it is likely to cost around £90-£100 plus VAT per wheel. Also, as the refurbishment process to remove white worm involves re-cutting the face of the wheel, diamond cut alloys can only be refurbished twice - more than twice and too much metal may be removed from the face of wheel, compromising its structural integrity. Many sets of Parabolica alloys may have already been refurbished once or twice, so always ask a seller how many times they’ve been refurbished as it might not be possible to refurbish them again if they’ve already been done twice. Also ask a seller if any of the alloys have ever suffered structural damage (cracks or buckling) or had any structural repairs that might also adversely affect their structural integrity.
  
  

  

  IMG_0131.jpeg (88.58 KiB) Viewed 661 times

• Tyres for the Parabolica alloys are 215/40 R17 which isn’t a very common size. Because of this, decent 215/40 R15 tyres tend to be quite expensive compared to more common sizes of tyres.

Bear in mind that fitting different alloys to those originally fitted to the car is a modification for insurance purposes (as is a brake upgrade), so it would be necessary to inform the insurance company. Some insurance companies may charge an additional premium for wheel change / brake upgrade modifications, so if your son is a young driver with an already high insurance premium because of his age, this is something to consider.

Changing the front brakes on a car that probably has the smaller front brakes will always mean replacing the front hub carriers as the small brakes bolt directly to the hub carrier and larger front brakes have calliper carriers that bolt to different version of hub carrier, my wife's 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS has larger brakes, they are 288mm discs and ATE FN3 callipers - and they are easily good enough for that car. It has 16" alloys which again look smart enough to me while still having a small side wall.

There must come a point when increasing brake "sizes" when you need to consider changing the size of the brake primary cylinder.