[Mark.cup]

Good thinking keeping the originals and those wheels actually suit the car and look very nice!
Lots of aftermarket stuff I've seen on the GTi would make me not want to own the car... a nice set of wheels can make or break a car for me

 

[Charliefarlie]

Good thinking keeping the originals and those wheels actually suit the car and look very nice!
Lots of aftermarket stuff I've seen on the GTi would make me not want to own the car... a nice set of wheels can make or break a car for me

That’s why I won’t sell the old wheels. There are clearly reading some of the posts here that would only want a car in totally original order and I completely get that. 👍👍👍

 

[Mr Cholmondley-Warner]

I saved almost 4 kg per wheel going with these OZ’s in 16”

View attachment 4990 View attachment 4989

They look amazing. Best 16" solution out there visually, although it might cause a bit of GBH to the wallet.

 

[tootes]

Your right I’m no lover of the standard wheels nor any black wheels but that’s just personal choice.
I will be replacing my ones when we’re moving around normally, I was going to sell the standard ones but I darent because if I decide to sell the car and a prospective owner wants originals I’d be stuffed. To buy another set of originals later on would be mega expensive and that’s IF I could find some. So these ones will go in the loft over the garage,

I quite like these. £550 for four 👍👍👍
View attachment 6123

They do look good, however am I right in thinking they are 17s? if 16s then do you have a linky?

 

[tootes]

They look amazing. Best 16" solution out there visually, although it might cause a bit of GBH to the wallet.

Agreed, and 4kg savings a corner is healthy bit of un-sprung weight saved.

 

[Mr Cholmondley-Warner]

Agreed, and 4kg savings a corner is healthy bit of un-sprung weight saved.

I haven't really looked into the prices but I saw them for at least £1,100 in this country. I'm going to an Up GTI to save cash so it goes against my principles to spend anything on mine when I get it. Certainly anything like that. But I can't help but applaud them as 16s normally look appalling and they just look great.

I think some gunmetal MSW85s for the winter might happen, but that will be the full extent of any cash that gets slung in its direction. It won't be getting souped because if I wanted something fast that badly, I'd just get something fast. Horses for courses - everyone's got their reasons and if we were all the same it would be a bit boring.

But back to wheels - it annoys me that modern cars by design seem to need big wheels and no sidewall to look any good, but if you look at an 80s performance car with four dirigibles on each corner they look fine with them. I want to see hot hatches on big fat tyres with a 15 or 16 inch wheel somewhere in the middle looking ace. It's like that concept of the Renault 5 EV came out and it must be sat on 19s or something that it's never going to wear. The car industry needs to make something that looks good on no wheel and lots of rubber - it must be possible?! That would be clever.

 

[freemansteve]

These 16" Serpens alloys look nice on my car....but you see what I did here? (My car is pearl black and this is not my car ----

 

[Charliefarlie]

They do look good, however am I right in thinking they are 17s? if 16s then do you have a linky?

Hi.... I’ve kinda dropped the ball re changing wheels due to the covid thing as we are shielding due to my wife’s poor health. To be honest the wee Up hasn’t turned a wheel since mid December so it’s not been at the forefront of my mind...... I’m leaning towards some Sparko wheels that I’ve seen on this forum somewhere but I can’t find that thread.

 

[911ts3]

Like these ?

SPARCO TERRA WHITE BLUE LETTERING ALLOY WHEEL 16X7 ET42 4X100 | eBay

Pure OZ Racing Style, pure Italian Style. Discover the OZ Collection: Top Class (luxury modular wheels), I-Tech (Italian Technology derived directly from our experience in F1), Via Veneto (a Tribute to classic Italian Design), Racing (capturing the spirit of the GT, WRC Rally, and Le Mans series...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[freemansteve]

Do they charge extra to have the blue logo text removed? The wheel is nice, but the logo is terrible! It's like some project from Wheeler Dealers involving an 80's Ford!

 

[911ts3]

I think they're just decals

 

[tootes]

I haven't really looked into the prices but I saw them for at least £1,100 in this country. I'm going to an Up GTI to save cash so it goes against my principles to spend anything on mine when I get it. Certainly anything like that. But I can't help but applaud them as 16s normally look appalling and they just look great.

lol, same with me, ill look but will probably never spend. Its my daily car and spends 99% of the time filthy and full of crap. Chip power increase is the only thing I think I will ever do. And the armrest.

 

[Charliefarlie]

Like these ?

SPARCO TERRA WHITE BLUE LETTERING ALLOY WHEEL 16X7 ET42 4X100 | eBay

Pure OZ Racing Style, pure Italian Style. Discover the OZ Collection: Top Class (luxury modular wheels), I-Tech (Italian Technology derived directly from our experience in F1), Via Veneto (a Tribute to classic Italian Design), Racing (capturing the spirit of the GT, WRC Rally, and Le Mans series...

www.ebay.co.uk

Yes but in the gunmetal grey colour. Not sure about white but there’s nothing wrong with them.

 

[Lightning]

lf you want a more compliant ride quality l would suggest the VW 15" wheels rather than going for 16"
l think the VW ones are the only 15" that will fit without spacers.

 

[Charliefarlie]

lf you want a more compliant ride quality l would suggest the VW 15" wheels rather than going for 16"
l think the VW ones are the only 15" that will fit without spacers.

15s look horrible IMO..... 16s are just about as far as I would go 👍

 

[Lightning]

The VW ones are OK, it just doesn't look like a GTi anymore

 

[Mr Cholmondley-Warner]

The VW ones are OK, it just doesn't look like a GTi anymore

Yep, going to a smaller or uglier wheel is a personal compromise. To some it won't matter, to others it will. It's just important to make sure you're happy with it. If you're going to hate them, don't bother. I haven't seen anything other than those OZs that would make me do it, but then again they're expensive as ****. If they're the only game in town I'd probably have to go for it, but I'll be doing a lot more looking online first for a cheaper alternative.

I am quite a long way from getting one though, so I've got a lot of 200bhp not driving to do before I start not driving my 115bhp car if I get it, such is the amount of driving I presently do.

 

[freemansteve]

It strikes me in this debate, that the big thing is more that the wheels should look good, irrespective of actual size - I'm saying a nice 15/16 can look better than a dodgy 17. Also when we get into unsprung weight saving? C'mon, it's an Up! not a Le Mans racer, and it's a pity we can't do blind comparison testing as easily as we can with say HiFi's (which is a scam anyway)....

I for one would not want wacky advertising logos or colours that didn't suit the car, whatever the wheel size. I realize that if you need to project the fact that you have a GTi, you kinda need the 17's.... If however, you prefer better ride and arguably better non-track handling (i.e. on real road surfaces, where even 50 section is borderline), 16's might be a fair choice - so long as you find the look of wheel you like!

 

[Charliefarlie]

It strikes me in this debate, that the big thing is more that the wheels should look good, irrespective of actual size - I'm saying a nice 15/16 can look better than a dodgy 17. Also when we get into unsprung weight saving? C'mon, it's an Up! not a Le Mans racer, and it's a pity we can't do blind comparison testing as easily as we can with say HiFi's (which is a scam anyway)....

I for one would not want wacky advertising logos or colours that didn't suit the car, whatever the wheel size. I realize that if you need to project the fact that you have a GTi, you kinda need the 17's.... If however, you prefer better ride and arguably better non-track handling (i.e. on real road surfaces, where even 50 section is borderline), 16's might be a fair choice - so long as you find the look of wheel you like!

Unsprung weight or loosing it is one of the most positive ways to improve handling and to get the best from your suspension. It’s nothing like loosing weight from the rest of any car.
I could waffle on for ages about it because it was one of the main areas to lose weight on racing motorcycles. .... But trust me the improvements are subtle but huge .

 

[tootes]

Agreed, its a bigger deal than elsewhere, I think half the charm of the Gti is its light weight and would love to drive one that had lost another 150-200 kg.

Its amazing how the characteristics of the Elise changed as it got steadily heavier down the years. I have an early one with relatively light rota wheels and the light MMC disks and its quite different to even the later S1s. Its like a mountain goat compared to my mates S2 111s although his car is great for other reasons.... things fall off less frequently..