Recommend me some wheels

[IsaacS1]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice from the community on alloy wheels/tires after buying a 2017 T6 with the OEM 16” wheels fitted with Toyo Open Country A/T III tires, (almost new).
I know all-terrain tires are loved by some, & I was willing to give these a go, they are super-durable, great ride comfort, & according to reviews - great in the snow. Then I drove them in the rain, they were shockingly bad! And they use about 10% more of fuel to run, I don’t think they are for me.

So I’m thinking new 18” alloys and general purpose road tires, anyone suggest some nice black or black/silver alloys with tire combo?

I don’t have a lot of experience in this area, and it’s not cheap to make a mistake with the wrong choice. Cheers.

 

[Lubrown]

Is the van lifted - looks higher than normal to me, and are you looking for swamper style wheels bit more road friendly tyres or looking for more road focused wheel styles?

Tyre manufacturers for me - always Michelin. Last longer than most and are comfortable with good characteristics. All season tyres are a good compromise if going off road or you live in the hills but if you only ever drive on tarmac then summer tyres beat all seasons in the rain every time.
Never go cheap on tyres, you might end up paying a fortune because of the extra stopping distances.
Tyre Reviews is a great website and he has a YouTube channel. He’ll tell you never to go cheap either, it’s not just me being a snob. Some of the comparison videos are shocking with just how bad cheap tyres are. They should be banned.

Personally I love Ronal R50/Aero 18 wheels but really depends on your weight. Maybe no good for a T32 that gets loaded to the max (I can’t remember the specs off the top of my head).

 

[Lubrown]

Meant to say there is a site called Velonity that has a lot of wheels and you can see what they look like on your vehicle - they have standard renders of transporters and you can even change the colour and ride height so it looks like you van.

 

[JOG]

Firstly, have the height of your van checked out - it looks like Zebedee on springs! 17” or 18” wheels on Michelin Cross Climates is a popular choice

 

[IsaacS1]

Thank you Lubrown, some handy advice there. And thanks to JOG also.
I wasn't aware it had been lifted, but now you mention it, maybe!

Idk why the previous owner removed these nice black alloys, (pictured), and replaced them with the OEM 16" original ones, people do strange things to their vans! ‍
Anyway, road-focused seems to be a no-brainer for me, the Toyo All-Terrain tires have terrible breaking grip in the wet and ridiculous understeer, it shocked me how bad the van handled in the wet, and an extra £300-£400 a year in fuel costs!? In case it snows? My oh my.

I think the van weighs around 2600-2800kg, if that's relevant to my tire choice, and the thought of rolling into Costco every few years to get a 4 season Goodyear sound good to me!
I just need some nice alloys to go with the van, apparently, I have a vanity side I'm itching to indulge

 

[Deleted member 24538]

Got 18" Wolfrace Dortmund black and polished on mine. Maxxis Premitra (All Season). Been very happy with the tyres - good handling, good in snow, seem to be lasting a decent amount of time - similar to Michelin Cross Climate. Mine's been lowered and Koni shock upgrades

 

[IsaacS1]

Got 18" Wolfrace Dortmund black and polished on mine. Maxxis Premitra (All Season). Been very happy with the tyres - good handling, good in snow, seem to be lasting a decent amount of time View attachment 267088- similar to Michelin Cross Climate. Mine's been lowered and Koni shock upgrades

View attachment 267089

I like the Wolfrace alloys, I fancy the Assassin GT2, but I have heard several people talking about how the Wolfrace delaminates rather quickly and might need powder-coated after a few years, that's £400-£500 treatment, sounds a bit scary tbh.

 

[Deleted member 24538]

They've been alright for me, but I've had plenty of factory alloys on cars that have gone that way

 

[Kind of Blue]

Unless driving regularly off road All Terrain Tyres, AT are probably not the first choice. All Season Tyres will give the best all round use for most people. Both types can be had with 3Peakes Mud and Snow with an emblem showing the 3 peaks. The best versions give good results all year round and are by far safer in the winter. There are plenty of good reviews. The Michelin Cross Climate has been a champion for a number of years and keeps on improving. In car sizes and possibly van sizes there are other challengers now some it is claimed better depending on criteria. The links below are amongst the best reviews in my opinion but most car magazines do reviews also

Tyre Reviews, Tests And Ratings - Tyre Reviews And Ratings

Read Unbias Tyre Reviews, Tyre Tests And Ratings At Tyre Reviews. The Leading Independant Source Of Tyre Information

www.tyrereviews.com

Tyre Reviews

The Leading Source of Independent Tire Information in the World, covering North America and the EU. https://www.tyrereviews.com/

www.youtube.com

If you want to save some money then you could use your original rims many have their own preferences for one reason or another. It is not the wheel that fills the arch but the tyre or wheel and tyre combination. All season will get most people most of the time in and out of campsites. One can have more than one set of rims and say have pure winter on one and a summer set on another or one type and AT on another set. The best AS are nearly as good as some of the best summer tyres and also some of the best winter tyres also. You need to do a little research on the links decide what you need and listen to what some of the other have to say. If yo want bigger tyres or and rims their will be plenty of advice on here and there are mountains of comments on these pages.

In my view by Law everyone should either have AS or similar but cold have a set of winters and a set of summer. Their is a bit of a fashion fad at the moment with the dropped or lowered enthusiasts to have AT.

 

[Kind of Blue]

Unless driving regularly off road All Terrain Tyres, AT are probably not the first choice. All Season Tyres will give the best all round use for most people. Both types can be had with 3Peakes Mud and Snow with an emblem showing the 3 peaks. The best versions give good results all year round and are by far safer in the winter. There are plenty of good reviews. The Michelin Cross Climate has been a champion for a number of years and keeps on improving. In car sizes and possibly van sizes there are other challengers now some it is claimed better depending on criteria. The links below are amongst the best reviews in my opinion but most car magazines do reviews also

Tyre Reviews, Tests And Ratings - Tyre Reviews And Ratings

Read Unbias Tyre Reviews, Tyre Tests And Ratings At Tyre Reviews. The Leading Independant Source Of Tyre Information

www.tyrereviews.com

Tyre Reviews

The Leading Source of Independent Tire Information in the World, covering North America and the EU. https://www.tyrereviews.com/

www.youtube.com

If you want to save some money then you could use your original rims many have their own preferences for one reason or another. It is not the wheel that fills the arch but the tyre or wheel and tyre combination. All season will get most people most of the time in and out of campsites. One can have more than one set of rims and say have pure winter on one and a summer set on another or one type and AT on another set. The best AS are nearly as good as some of the best summer tyres and also some of the best winter tyres also. You need to do a little research on the links decide what you need and listen to what some of the other have to say. If yo want bigger tyres or and rims their will be plenty of advice on here and there are mountains of comments on these pages.

In my view by Law everyone should either have AS or similar but could have a set of winters and a set of summer. Their is a bit of a fashion fad at the moment with the dropped or lowered enthusiasts to have AT.

 

[ginkster]

18” Calibre Tourer in gun metal with Continental All Seasons. The rims are great value, easy to clean and have the right load capacity. Mine are about 4 years old and absolutely spotless. The tyres are great too and easily as good as Michelin Cross Climates (I have those on my car).

 

[Kind of Blue]

Continental make very good tyres. All year I have kept BFG AT on, here because it has been such a very wet year and getting in and out of our remote off road property could not be guaranteed on AS tyres but I shall be looking for a set of AS late spring if the weather improves and I shall see what is available then. I have 3 sets of rims one with a trashed set of winters but I doubt I shall buy pure winters again. If I lived in the Scottish Highlands and not off road I may have gone for winters but BFG AT KO do fine. I shall probably buy the same size AS as the BFG I use and hope to swap over at each season which is long for the off road tyres so they get hammered a bit.

 

[TeeCeeJay]

I like the Wolfrace alloys, I fancy the Assassin GT2, but I have heard several people talking about how the Wolfrace delaminates rather quickly and might need powder-coated after a few years, that's £400-£500 treatment, sounds a bit scary tbh.

Use the code 2024v for 10% off direct from Wolfrace website.

It's not just Wolfrace wheels that delaminate. Seems anything with a diamond cut finish will eventually suffer from white worm corrosion after a couple of winters.

I've got Wolfrace X10X in 18inch version shod in the ever popular Michelin CC2.

18s are a popular compromise between comfort and looks unless you're desperate to go for big 20s.

 

[Sasquatch]

Wolfrace Outland in 18" flavour would suit your van nicely.



I have ATs, but after reading around plumped for Coopers. The tread pattern is a bit more continuous than some ATs so economy is decent and I've no cause for complaint in dry, wet, or moderate snow.

 

[IsaacS1]

Wolfrace Outland in 18" flavour would suit your van nicely.

View attachment 267098

I have ATs, but after reading around plumped for Coopers. The tread pattern is a bit more continuous than some ATs so economy is decent and I've no cause for complaint in dry, wet, or moderate snow.

I would agree with these rims for my current AT tires, but they are a death trap in the rain, I would feel safer moving to an AS tire setup, then getting these alloys, or similar.

 

[IsaacS1]

Unless driving regularly off road All Terrain Tyres, AT are probably not the first choice. All Season Tyres will give the best all round use for most people. Both types can be had with 3Peakes Mud and Snow with an emblem showing the 3 peaks. The best versions give good results all year round and are by far safer in the winter. There are plenty of good reviews. The Michelin Cross Climate has been a champion for a number of years and keeps on improving. In car sizes and possibly van sizes there are other challengers now some it is claimed better depending on criteria. The links below are amongst the best reviews in my opinion but most car magazines do reviews also

Tyre Reviews, Tests And Ratings - Tyre Reviews And Ratings

Read Unbias Tyre Reviews, Tyre Tests And Ratings At Tyre Reviews. The Leading Independant Source Of Tyre Information

www.tyrereviews.com

Tyre Reviews

The Leading Source of Independent Tire Information in the World, covering North America and the EU. https://www.tyrereviews.com/

www.youtube.com

If you want to save some money then you could use your original rims many have their own preferences for one reason or another. It is not the wheel that fills the arch but the tyre or wheel and tyre combination. All season will get most people most of the time in and out of campsites. One can have more than one set of rims and say have pure winter on one and a summer set on another or one type and AT on another set. The best AS are nearly as good as some of the best summer tyres and also some of the best winter tyres also. You need to do a little research on the links decide what you need and listen to what some of the other have to say. If yo want bigger tyres or and rims their will be plenty of advice on here and there are mountains of comments on these pages.

In my view by Law everyone should either have AS or similar but cold have a set of winters and a set of summer. Their is a bit of a fashion fad at the moment with the dropped or lowered enthusiasts to have AT.

This is a great bit of information - thank you.

 

[JumpShip]

Don't buy anything diamond polished , they just don't last .

 

[IsaacS1]

Don't buy anything diamond polished , they just don't last .

I'm assuming the alloys I would like to buy are diamond cut, (Wolfrace Assassin GT2), and wouldn't last, but do you know if there is any protective treatment I could use on them before installing them to make them last longer? If I could get theses wheels for £600, I wouldn't mind spending a few hundred more getting them protected before putting them on the van.

 

[Paynewright]

Firstly, have the height of your van checked out - it looks like Zebedee on springs! 17” or 18” wheels on Michelin Cross Climates is a popular choice

It has the plastic trims around the arches that make the gap look bigger. I think the height looks about right for stock suspension.

I’d avoid anything diamond cut as they are prone to corrosion after a year or two.

 

[IsaacS1]

It has the plastic trims around the arches that make the gap look bigger. I think the height looks about right for stock suspension.

I’d avoid anything diamond cut as they are prone to corrosion after a year or two.

Thank you. So as I thought would be the case - if I buy the alloys I want, I'm likely to end up getting them refurbished within a few years, not cheap to do, but that's the price I would have to pay to get the look I want.