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The stock 17" GTI wheels

Gulfer

Administrator
Staff member
Location
Everywhere
Car(s)
Nothing
Some interesting info about this wheel:

This wheel is made by BBS, which is no big surprise for Golfs, but they are using a new technology called "Air inside" for it. Its the first mass produced wheel to use this stuff.

This "air inside", basicly hollowed out metal parts, technology is basicly there for weight savings. And the bonus is the weight savings is not in the center of the wheel where most wheel makers save weight from when they advertise a light wheel. BBS has been making hollow spokes for a while, thats not news, but now they figured out how to do it at the wheel edge in the flanges.

If you don't know, on wheels, there is a relationship between performance and wheel weight, and more importantly, the farther out from the center of the wheel that the weight resides, the harder it is to turn it. So for example, a 19" wheel has alot of its weight at the edge fo the rim which is very far from the center. So even a very lightweight 19" wheel (say 20lbs) will perform worse then a 24lb 16" wheel because the 16" wheel may be heavier, but the weight is closer to the center, and thus much easier for the car to turn.

This wheel looks just like the larger Hufweisen wheels and I believe comes standard on euro GTIs, but wont be coming standard for the US Gtis... but it is some nice technology..
 

AJChenMPH

Lt. Commander, USPHS
Location
Old Bridge, NJ
Any idea of what the stock 17" US-spec wheels weigh?
 

JJ-R32

Administrator
Staff member
AJChenMPH said:
That's heavy, but that's not too bad -- I was afraid they were approaching 30 lbs. Thanks for the info.

Yea, definitely not light for 17's. Glad to help. :smile:
 

hakgwai

Touring Car Newbie
Location
Waltham, MA
Car(s)
BMP GTI
are those the same as the 17" stock ones for the US?
 

Dr. Woo

Ready to race!
Location
Hampton, VA
Car(s)
2008 VW .:R32
A good way to look at this is to envision a steel tube with two 10-pound weights at either end. Pick up this tube at the center and try to rotate your wrist back and forth, like you're spinning it like a helicopter back and forth.

Now envision this same steel tube with the 20 pounds of extra weight at your hand, dead-center of the steel tube. Now picture yourself doing the same thing.

The same principle can be applied to cars. Put the majority of the weight as close to the center of your vehicle as possible and it becomes easier to turn. Hence the performance abilities of mid-engined cars, and the idea behind pushing the wheels of a car to the outmost extremes, minimizing overhang.
 

herrstreet

Touring Car Newbie
Location
Pittsburgh, Pa
I know that 17's are more practical but the 18's look SOOOOO much better with the jacked up suspension in the US version. My main concern is durability. Has anyone here had a nightmare story with such low profile tires??? The 18's have 40mm sidewalls...
 

AJChenMPH

Lt. Commander, USPHS
Location
Old Bridge, NJ
Technically, they have 90mm sidewalls (the "40" in 225/40-18 represents 40% of the 225), but that's just semantics...

Almost invariably, you will have more issues, either with bent rims or with bubbling a sidewall after hitting a hard bump or pothole. I'm running 17" rims (that are admittedly somewhat softer OZ Superleggeras) for summertime, and two of the rims have bends in them; my fiancee just bubbled her second sidewall (she's running Continental CH95's in 225/45-17). I used to bubble sidewalls pretty regularly (Nitto NT450's in 225/45-17). Given that Pittsburgh is in the snow and ice belt, I'd try to stay with 17's, but that's just me...
 

NewYorkMike

So hot right now. . .
Location
AZ
Gulfer said:
Some interesting info about this wheel:

This wheel is made by BBS, which is no big surprise for Golfs, but they are using a new technology called "Air inside" for it. Its the first mass produced wheel to use this stuff.

This "air inside", basicly hollowed out metal parts, technology is basicly there for weight savings. And the bonus is the weight savings is not in the center of the wheel where most wheel makers save weight from when they advertise a light wheel. BBS has been making hollow spokes for a while, thats not news, but now they figured out how to do it at the wheel edge in the flanges.

If you don't know, on wheels, there is a relationship between performance and wheel weight, and more importantly, the farther out from the center of the wheel that the weight resides, the harder it is to turn it. So for example, a 19" wheel has alot of its weight at the edge fo the rim which is very far from the center. So even a very lightweight 19" wheel (say 20lbs) will perform worse then a 24lb 16" wheel because the 16" wheel may be heavier, but the weight is closer to the center, and thus much easier for the car to turn.

This wheel looks just like the larger Hufweisen wheels and I believe comes standard on euro GTIs, but wont be coming standard for the US Gtis... but it is some nice technology..

which wheel are you specifically talking about.....like the ones in my garage??

Kust curious:respekt:
 
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