Paint or Buy Black Alloys ? and caliper Ideas?, show me yours too.

[Maypack]

Ps what’s so bad about diamond cut alloys, I few have told me to stay away but why?

seen some nice alloys online but not OEM...

Diamond Cut Alloys are susceptible to “White Worm” and do damage easier than standard alloys. They are difficult to refurbish and can actually only be done once or twice.

Depending on how careful you are with parking and not hitting pot holes etc, they are ok. They just need to be looked after a little better than normal slots to keep them looking good.


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[SRGTD]

Ps what’s so bad about diamond cut alloys, I few have told me to stay away but why?

seen some nice alloys online but not OEM...

@Wilkesy; I dislike diamond cut alloys with a passion!

• The diamond cut / lacquer finish isn’t very durable. It only takes a small stone chip to penetrate the lacquer on the diamond cut sections, and water will ‘creep’ under the lacquer, resulting in white worm corrosion (if you’ve never seen wheels with this, Google it, and there are plenty of pictures - some are quite spectacular). The diamond cut surface isn’t a very good surface for the lacquer to adhere to, so water getting under the lacquer, resulting in the onset of white worm corrosion is pretty common, and I’d say that diamond cut alloys that are free of white worm after three years is much more likely to be the exception, rather than the norm, as most will succumb to it. I had diamond cut wheels on my mk6 Golf. They were meticulously maintained, well protected with many coats of sealant and wax which was regularly topped up, and any stone chip damage to the lacquered surface was alway repaired pretty as soon as it happened. In spite of all that, two of them still succumbed to white worm corrosion when they were just over two years old.
• Because of the potential lack of durability, diamond cut alloys aren’t recommended by some on line alloy wheel sites for winter use.
• It costs more to refurbish diamond cut alloys than it does to refurb alloys with a painted / powder coated finish. Also, because the diamond cut refurb process involves cutting a layer of metal away from the face of the wheel, there’s a limit to how many times they can be refurbished (usually a maximum of twice) before the structural integrity of the wheel is at risk of being compromised.
  
• Diamond cut alloys are easily damaged by inexperienced tyre fitters and poorly maintained tyre changing equipment. I’ve seen lots of posts on various forums over the years where forum members have had their diamond cut alloys damaged when having new tyres fitted, and the fitters denying all knowledge of having caused the damage, leaving the owners to foot the bill to get them refurbished.

My current car (VW) came with diamond cut alloys and I replaced them with a set of powder coated wheels within around three months of getting the car. They’ve been on the car since June 2016 and they look pretty much as good as the day they were fitted - and that’s after having gone through nearly 4 winters. I doubt I’d be able to say the same if I’d left the diamond cut wheels on!

 

[Maypack]

@Wilkesy; I dislike diamond cut alloys with a passion!

• Diamond cut alloys are easily damaged by inexperienced tyre fitters and poorly maintained tyre changing equipment. I’ve seen lots of posts on various forums over the years where forum members have had their diamond cut alloys damaged when having new tyres fitted, and the fitters denying all knowledge of having caused the damage, leaving the owners to foot the bill to get them refurbished.

Put a lot better than my explanation.

With regards to Tyre fitters, I bought 4 PS4S tyres from BlackCircles and got my main dealer to fit them. I explained the reason behind this as wanting them to do it so if the wheels were damaged they could replace the wheels.

They did a great job and the wheels were immaculate and it only cost me £25 to have foot tyres fitted. Bargain


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[Maypack]

My main dealer had these in stock late last year. Not sure they still have them though.

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[Wilkesy]

My main dealer had these in stock late last year. Not sure they still have them though.

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just thought as well if/when getting tires fitted is the fitting price including the tyre pressure sensors too?

 

[Maypack]

just thought as well if/when getting tires fitted is the fitting price including the tyre pressure sensors too?

I may be wrong but I believe the tyre pressure is something to do with the ABS sensor.

@Damo H may be able to confirm or correct me.


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[SRGTD]

just thought as well if/when getting tires fitted is the fitting price including the tyre pressure sensors too?

Pretty certain the Leon’s tyre pressure monitoring system is the indirect system that uses the ABS sensors to compare the rotational speed of the wheels. Therefore, the direct tyre pressure sensors aren’t required.

 

[RUM4MO]

Pretty certain the Leon’s tyre pressure monitoring system is the indirect system that uses the ABS sensors to compare the rotational speed of the wheels. Therefore, the direct tyre pressure sensors aren’t required.

Correct!

 

[Wilkesy]

Will these fit think mine are 7.5, these state 7

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/164021700479

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/202881707592


going to start looking for 18s and tires just in case

 

[SRGTD]

Yes to the first set. You might want to put the details of these wheels and your existing wheels into the calculator on www.willtheyfit.com so you can see what the difference in stance is between your existing set up and what it would be with these wheels fitted.

The second set - I’m sure they’ll fit if they’re genuine OEM wheels, but there’s no details of the size given other than diameter. You’d need to know the wheel width or offset given to be able to tell what difference there’ll be in stance with these fitted. Maybe someone with these wheels on their Leon FR will be able to advise on width (J size) and offset. If they’re genuine, then I’m assuming the PCD is 5x112 and the centre bore is 57.1.

With both sets, I’d be asking the seller to confirm they’re not bucked / they’ve not been repaired, and I’d want to see a picture of the reverse of the 18” wheels to see the markings on the reverse of the spokes - part number, diameter, offset, manufacturer’s name and Seat logo. I’d also want the seller to confirm the dirt on those 18” wheels isn’t hiding any cosmetic damage!

On a related issue - I struggle to understand why people advertise wheels in such a dirty condition. Do they want to sell them? If it was me advertising wheels for sale, they’d be thoroughly cleaned - front and back - to show them off at their best to increase the likelihood of selling them! Rant over.

 

[BigJase88]

Will these fit think mine are 7.5, these state 7

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/164021700479

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/202881707592


going to start looking for 18s and tires just in case

Top ones are fitted to the se dynamic spec cars and the bottom ones are the fr sport 18” alloys, i have the fr sport ones on my fr (optional extra dealer fit)

 

[Wilkesy]

Yes to the first set. You might want to put the details of these wheels and your existing wheels into the calculator on www.willtheyfit.com so you can see what the difference in stance is between your existing set up and what it would be with these wheels fitted.

The second set - I’m sure they’ll fit if they’re genuine OEM wheels, but there’s no details of the size given other than diameter. You’d need to know the wheel width or offset given to be able to tell what difference there’ll be in stance with these fitted. Maybe someone with these wheels on their Leon FR will be able to advise on width (J size) and offset. If they’re genuine, then I’m assuming the PCD is 5x112 and the centre bore is 57.1.

With both sets, I’d be asking the seller to confirm they’re not bucked / they’ve not been repaired, and I’d want to see a picture of the reverse of the 18” wheels to see the markings on the reverse of the spokes - part number, diameter, offset, manufacturer’s name and Seat logo. I’d also want the seller to confirm the dirt on those 18” wheels isn’t hiding any cosmetic damage!

On a related issue - I struggle to understand why people advertise wheels in such a dirty condition. Do they want to sell them? If it was me advertising wheels for sale, they’d be thoroughly cleaned - front and back - to show them off at their best to increase the likelihood of selling them! Rant over.

did the will they fit check got this response: Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 8.4mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 4.4mm less than before.

so they may look better too.

 

[RUM4MO]

Top ones are fitted to the se dynamic spec cars and the bottom ones are the fr sport 18” alloys, i have the fr sport ones on my fr (optional extra dealer fit)

I like the low pricing of the second ebay link, hopefully so poor sod does not try to scoop up a "bargain".

 

[RUM4MO]

did the will they fit check got this response: Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 8.4mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 4.4mm less than before.

so they may look better too.

Is that what you are trying to achieve, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the inner rim is 8.4mm further out from the suspension upright, and the outer rim is 4.4mm further in than what you currently have fitted, then that means that the wheel rim width is possibly smaller than the rim size currently on your car. Is that part of your plan or is the construction of these two different wheels such that the rim width is the same - note here that the wheel rim width determines the range of tyre widths that can safely be used with it.

 

[SRGTD]

Is that what you are trying to achieve, correct me if I'm wrong, but if the inner rim is 8.4mm further out from the suspension upright, and the outer rim is 4.4mm further in than what you currently have fitted, then that means that the wheel rim width is possibly smaller than the rim size currently on your car. Is that part of your plan or is the construction of these two different wheels such that the rim width is the same - note here that the wheel rim width determines the range of tyre widths that can safely be used with it.

Yes, @Wilkesy ‘s current wheels are 7.5J and the 17” wheels in the first eBay link are 7J.

did the will they fit check got this response: Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 8.4mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 4.4mm less than before.

so they may look better too.

@Wilkesy; when looking at the car, the stance won’t look that much different compared to the stance with your current wheels. They will be tucked into the wheel arch space more - 4.4mm. I’d say that most people who fit different wheels try to avoid less ‘poke’ as the wheel can look ‘lost’ under the wheel arch. However, with 4.4 mm less poke, you might not notice it too much, if at all.

I’d say that most people would aim for an outcome that has either slightly more ‘poke‘ than with the existing wheels, or a neutral position where the face of the wheel relative to the wheel arch edge is in the same position when comparing new v’s existing set up. Spacers can be used to achieve a more aggressive stance, although from what I’ve read on some forums, not all insurers like wheel spacers as a modification, plus with spacers, you’d need new (longer) wheel bolts.

 

[Wilkesy]

Yeh that’s right just wanted to make sure, was happy with everything else just not the j fitting, it’s it been .5 of a difference.

just waiting for a reply from the seller

 

[SRGTD]

Yeh that’s right just wanted to make sure, was happy with everything else just not the j fitting, it’s it been .5 of a difference.

just waiting for a reply from the seller

The PCD and centre bore are the same on the hubs of all models of mk3 Seat Leon, so those wheels which have a PCD of 5x112 and a 57.1 centre bore will bolt straight on your car.

AFAIK the only time a genuine OEM mk3 Leon wheel may not fit on another mk3 Leon is if you downsize the wheels to a smaller OEM wheel, as there may be insufficient clearance between the barrel of a smaller wheel and the brake calipers - especially on performance Leon’s with larger brake calipers.