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2005 Passat wheel upgrade

1807 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Davethedyer
Hello,

I've got a 2005 Passat Highline 1.9 TDi, and it's awesome. Got it last year, and it's been great at sitting on my drive over the pandemic :)

Anyway, the car came fitted with 205/60 15" wheels, that look like this
The original alloys are in pretty good condition, only front passenger has some peeling.

I'd really like to put on 16" wheels on it, and I really like these

They are stock Passat wheels, and use the 205/55 16" tyre which is one of the most common sizes, and you can find really cheap quality tyres.

Now, here is my dilemma, I can get cheap set of matching alloys for my car, and just replace the damaged one, or I can add a bit more, I'm talking £80, and get a full set of 16". Or just try and get the existing wheel fixed, or just drive it as is, and hope it doesn't die too soon.
As the car is now fully 16 years old, I'm getting into territory of any big investment is not worth it. Is there a big improvement in ride or something that would justify the upgrade? Ultimately, I'm a family man, and pimpin' up my ride isn't really at the top of my priority.
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There is a significant upgrade in handling by going with a 16" wheel over a 15" wheel. I would not go with mismatched wheel sizes. The cheapest choice is to buy the 15" set, keep one and sell 3 individually to people in the same circumstance as you.
To me, the upgrade in handling was significant enough that I did it not just on my car, but also on my wife's car. Since the wheels are taller, you end up using shorter tires. A 205/55/16 or 225/50/16 tire will keep the speedo the same.
So you get to choose between options 1 and 3.
1 - 2 of 10 Posts
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