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Why so few stock-size wheels?

M

MiteyF

Ready to race!
I just bought a '12 GTI in fantastic condition, aside from having corrosion on the wheels, so I've been looking into picking up a set of aftermarkets. The car had brand new tires put on before I bought it, and I'd like to buy a set of stock size wheels (18x7.5) to swap the tires onto, instead of throwing a bunch of extra money at a set of new tires for no reason.

It seems almost no one makes stock size wheels, and everything starts at 18x8 and goes wider from there.

I don't have any real desire for a wider wheel.

Are there any companies or shops out there with a half decent selection of 18x7.5's in our 5x112 pattern with stock (or very near stock) offset?
 
g-magoo

g-magoo

Autocross Champion
I doubt the difference between a 18x7.5 and 18x8 would be much of an issue if you are trying to keep the stock sized tires you have now. Many people throw 225/40s on 8" wide wheels all the time, for numerous reasons. Below gives you a rough idea how that looks using the standard et45 found for most aftermarket wheels for our cars.

1687808610718.png
 
Thumper

Thumper

Autocross Champion
Yeah, an 8" wheel is perfectly within spec for a 225 tire, won't look stretched or cause any issues as long as you stay within the correct offset as mentioned. You're talking about 1/4" on either side of the centerline of the hub, get some new wheels. (y)
 
M

MiteyF

Ready to race!
Thanks guys. I'll keep looking.

Are these cars hub centric? And if so, what's the hub diameter? I've never had to mess with aftermarket wheels on any of my rigs.
 
S

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
MiteyF said:
I just bought a '12 GTI in fantastic condition, aside from having corrosion on the wheels, so I've been looking into picking up a set of aftermarkets. The car had brand new tires put on before I bought it, and I'd like to buy a set of stock size wheels (18x7.5) to swap the tires onto, instead of throwing a bunch of extra money at a set of new tires for no reason.

It seems almost no one makes stock size wheels, and everything starts at 18x8 and goes wider from there.

I don't have any real desire for a wider wheel.

Are there any companies or shops out there with a half decent selection of 18x7.5's in our 5x112 pattern with stock (or very near stock) offset?
Click to expand...
If your wheels are structurally sound, then another option might be to get them refurbished which should work out cheaper than buying a new set.

I'm in the UK, and to get a top quality refurb of a set of 18” alloys would probably cost around £100 - £120 ($127 - $152) per wheel. If your existing wheels are diamond cut, then I’d get them refinished in a powder coat finish to avoid the issue of (white worm) corrosion coming back.
 
M

MiteyF

Ready to race!
I made a few calls locally to get my current wheels refurbished, no one does 2 tone wheels (stock 18" Serrons). It's super easy to find someone that will re-finish in a single color however.

You can see what the current wheels look like



I've spent a lot of time searching for new wheels in the last week or so, and don't think I've found a single set of wheels that has a 57.1mm hub recess aside from new . I'd prefer not to go lug centric, but don't see many other options.
 
A

AM407

Autocross Champion
Most aftermarket wheels are made to accept hub-centering rings. The hub bore is purposely made big, then there’s a plastic or metal ring to make them hubcentric.

The rings can be kind of a PITA sometimes, but they work.
 
S

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
MiteyF said:
I made a few calls locally to get my current wheels refurbished, no one does 2 tone wheels (stock 18" Serrons). It's super easy to find someone that will re-finish in a single color however.

You can see what the current wheels look like



I've spent a lot of time searching for new wheels in the last week or so, and don't think I've found a single set of wheels that has a 57.1mm hub recess aside from new . I'd prefer not to go lug centric, but don't see many other options.
Click to expand...

I dislike diamond cut alloys with a passion. The machined / diamond cut face of the wheel doesn’t provide a good surface for the lacquer clear coat to bond to, so durability is compromised compared to a powder coated finish.

In the UK there are one or two companies that’ll refurbish alloys in a two tone finish to replicate the original diamond cut look; it’s quite expensive though as it’s a time consuming process (and time costs money) to do the precision masking up after the first colour has been applied to ensure a sharp edge between the two different colours and to prevent overspray and / or colour ‘bleed‘.

There’s a guy on golfgtiforum.co.uk who had the wheels on their mk7 GTI powder coated in two tone back in 2020 - see pictures in the first post at the link below. It cost around 15% more for a two tone finish than it would have cost for a diamond cut refurbishment, but IMHO they looked very good;

https://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=286595.0
 
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M

MiteyF

Ready to race!
Those wheels were actually on my short list. And a great price.

I ended up ordering a set of Enkei TFR's from Tire Rack, mostly because they come with the centering rings and proper lugs, and their customer support is absolutely killer. Unfortunately they won't be here until the end of August. Tire Rack got a hold of me and said if I want to change my order to something they have in stock before then, they're happy to do it. But for right now, unless I get super antsy, I'm going to try and wait it out.
 
S

SRGTD

Autocross Newbie
MiteyF said:
Those wheels were actually on my short list. And a great price.

I ended up ordering a set of Enkei TFR's from Tire Rack, mostly because they come with the centering rings and proper lugs, and their customer support is absolutely killer. Unfortunately they won't be here until the end of August. Tire Rack got a hold of me and said if I want to change my order to something they have in stock before then, they're happy to do it. But for right now, unless I get super antsy, I'm going to try and wait it out.
Click to expand...
They’re a nice design but they’re diamond cut, so you’re likely to have the same issue with white worm corrosion that you’ve got with your OEM Serron alloys.

If they’re also manufactured in an anthracite powder coat finish, that’d be my choice.
 
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