Sharan wheel options

[sharansporttdi]

My 51 plate Sharan has the 5 spoke "Magna something or other" wheels fitted (16 inch). I'm looking at different wheel options, eg 17 or possibly 18 inch.

I don't know what the offset is on the wheels that are fitted, so what other wheel options and from what VAG cars could I use, with out having to use spacers or having tyre rub when on full lock.

Muchus grassy.......

[carbon8ed]

I have a Mark 1 Sharan which came with 15" steels on 195/65/R15 tyres. I upgraded to some RS4/RS6 copies with 225/45/17 Toyo tyres. Tyre wear has not been exaggrated with the larger wheel/lower profile tyre. Road grip (except snow) is better with more rubber on the road. I used one of the many on line tyre/wheel suppliers and calculated the 225/40/17 gave same total wheel/tyre diameter as the 195/65/15's such that gearing was the same (car doing 70 mph when speedo says 70 mph - speedo inaccuracies notwithstanding.

225/45/17 seems to be the sweet spot for 17" tyres (price wise). I was thinking extra economy by going for 225/50/17, but the price increase over 225/45/17's put me off. I did notice the extra width of rubber made my only 110hp 1.9 tdi struggle a little (until the remap). I looked at 18" wheels, but the extra tyre width to gain the same diameter would I think have caused the tyres to rub on the mudflaps/inner arch lining. My 17's catch on my lose mudflap, but only on full lock in reverse

Oh lastly dropping tyre wall from 195/65 to 225/45 helped with comfort too, but if you're already on 16" wheels, such a change may not be as noticeable for you. I reckon going to 40% prfile on the 18" tyres would also have made the ride too harsh.

HTH

[sharansporttdi]

I will more than likely now stick with the 16" wheels since wifey has this habit of driving up kerbs. She still thinks she is in her (previous) 4x4