Do VW steel wheels or alloy wheels weigh more?

I think that may depend on the particular alloy wheels you are talking about. The idea behind the first alloy wheels is their reduced weight. However I suspect that many today are heavier than the steel wheels they are replacing.

Do consider that alloy wheels are more prone to damage and leaks than steel wheels. If you are in a pothole area this can be an important issue. One pothole and you may be looking for a new wheel. Finding a new one in a few years to match the other three could be impossible.

They can, however be repaired if necessary. There's a shop near me that fixed some really ugly lip damage on one of my GTI wheels for about $100 IIRC. They also restored some old BBS mesh wheels for me that had been both bent and curb surfed for about $300 a pair.

nate

I can tell you this because I sold a VW 1.5 x 17 OEM alloy wheel which was

Weighed two 13" VW wheels:

-- Roger

My 15" Alloys on my GLS feel lighter then the 15" steels on my dad's CL... but not by all that much.

Since when does a Golf come with 16" steel wheels? (Did you upgrade?).... I didn't think they were even using 16" alloys unless you went with a GTI model.

Yes, I know Golfs come standard with 15 inch wheels in the US and Canada - mine were upgraded to 16 inch German wheels.

Yes, I know the original intent of alloy wheels was light weight and this is a marketing angle for selling them and that lots of alloy wheels are actually heavier than the steel wheels they replace.

Yes, I know alloy wheels are more prone to damage and cost more than steel wheels and might be hard to replace in kind if needed down the road.

Thanks for the replies so far and its all interesting, but who will finally get the big prize for answering my question?

Fred

Fred Fartalot wrote: ...

I believe I answered it correctly "I think that may depend on the particular alloy wheels you are talking about."

"16 inch alloy RAVE wheels" These are OEM VW wheels. I believe this is specific in that it describes a single type of wheel with one unique weight.

See:

Looks like I may have stumped the ng here! (may just have to take off one of my wheels, remove tire, weigh it, order a new wheel from VW on the condition I will be able to return if if it weighs more than my steel wheel, weigh it and then decide whether to order three more wheels which was my original plan after stumping the VW guys)

Fred

Odds are that VW doesn't publish the weight of its alloy wheels or give this info to employees in order to perpetuate the public myth that they are lighter weight than standard wheels!

Jim B.

I'm thinking you've never hit a REAL pothole say in teh midwest or the northeast with an alloy wheel. It can put such a flat spot in a rim there is no way you can ever fix them. I've probably bought 6-8 rims in the last

I think that it absolutely depends upon the alloy and the model but I do know from experience that upgrading with VW factory alloys weighs heavy on the wallet. Here's a 15" alternative to save you some dough in

Oh hell yes I have. Actually the BBS mesh wheels I referred to below were so mangled I thought they were unrepairable, I was given a set of 4 for free I was going to keep the two good ones and chuck the other two but the wheel shop (Ye Old Wheel Shop, Elkridge, MD) fixed 'em right up. I was impressed.

nate

Biz wrote:

replying to Fred Fartalot, Lars L Tomasson wrote: I am pretty sure you will find the steel rims are lighter. Especially if you eliminate the hub caps. I weighed the 16" wheels for my 2015 passat and found the steel wheels were about 5lbs!!! lighter than the alloy. The allow wheels are made very thick for safety.