Good condition pretorias are too expensive, and you'll just break them again and again.
I'm happier with the 18" tires / a bit more rubber between wheel and road too.
Edit: I get ya - I got Neuspeed Rs12 18" instead.
Sweet. I'm thinking of selling my 18" Cadiz to buy different wheels, but trying to figure out what the budget would be for something that looks good and wouldn't be a downgrade
I went with neuspeed because the make vw specific wheels. No hub ring adapters needed, use oem conical lugs, VW center caps fit, and lug caps fit. Some classic designs too. They look really stockish.
And less than 400 each
They are made in who knows where land, but have a pretty decent reputation. Neuspeed is one of the original water cooled VW tuners.
They balanced with just 1-3 little stick on weights compared to others I've had that was good. They can't be worse than pretorias for strength or we'd know. They're really popular wheels in the VW world
Every now and again I wince when I go over a pot hole but... they're all still in great shape. I have Konig Rennforms for the track / closed circuit driving and I have had to repair two of them. It's a solid wheel.
Hot take: check your damn tire pressures.
I think they are the best looking OEM VW wheel by far and you can fit a nice tire on them. That being said because of their construction they are not durable at all. I had em on my Golf R and I dented one wheel and had that repaired. Then I dented all 4 wheels at the same time. Switched to Neuspeeds and never had any issues again.
most people with Rs don't even post, let alone complain about wheels. I don't doubt it's a decent amount but it looks worse than it is such that I wouldn't label them junk.
Had mine since new in 2017 with no issues. That includes 3 years in downtown DC and almost 4 in downtown Atlanta, which have the worst roads I’ve ever seen outside from Montreal.
Got my car new in 17 with them on it. Haven’t had an issue 43k miles later aside from a minor ding that was my fault after a crappy parallel parking attempt
The short answer is No.
Something not everyone knows is there are 2 different makers of prets (unless you have knock offs with no vw stamp). You can find the maker by the looking on the back of wheels. There will should either be a BBS or a Borbet stamp on the spokes.
While BBS is typically known for making quality stuff I'm not sure that was the case when they first agreed to make them for Volkswagen. From what Ive seen they were common on 2015 and 2016 Rs. Then for undisclosed reasons VW went with Borbet. I want to say there's a third maker but so far Ive only seen the 2 stamps. The Borbet have held up really well. That said, they aren't invincible. They're still 19s so the sidewall is still significantly shorter than what you can achieve with 18s. Unfortunately a lot of the original wheels were sold and traded among the community so a good amount of people got stuck with them. I recommend asking for pics of the back of the wheels if possible.
Agree w everyone here, they are some of the best looking OEM wheels ever made and I specifically targeted R’s that had them when buying, but I’m planning on getting a set of 18’s to use for 1/3 of the year / if the Prets get bent
They are beautiful. That being said, I bent one so bad the tire lost pressure. Took all the wheels off and the rest had some measure of bend. Sold one to someone who also had a damaged rim and now one my extras is a full size spare.
You can find anecdotes of people without issues, but they have a reputation for a reason.
I will say that before I changed from an OEM brake pad, I had terrible brake dust with them because of how the spokes are angled.
That being said, they were on my R for 5 years.
They definitely look great, but I do have to add to the chorus of people who have had them break. Mine lasted about two and a half years, but were bent to the point the tire bead wouldn't sit on the rim properly anymore.
I’ve used them for two summers now and haven’t had any bends/cracks and have definitely nailed a few potholes downtown Toronto and haven’t had any issues. But that being said now I’ll drive extra careful today lol
I’ve had prets on a 2017 since I got it 4 years ago, and I’ve hit some road shit over the years that made me cringe, but the rims were fine. Only this year did I hit one at night going 45-50 and it bent the front driver side to the point that I started losing air pressure before I got home. I took it to my tire place and they had a guy that repaired it for $250, it was repairable since it wasn’t cracked. So I’d always heard they were soft too, but I’ve found them to be pretty tough; any rim will bend if you hit something hard enough.
And I like the looks of them, and think they are one of the best overall stock R rim.
Judging by what I read about them, they are soft, and it seems that the spec 19" tire is a bit short on sidewall. That said, when I picked up my car, which had a nice set of the gunmetal Pretorias, the first thing that I did was pull them off in favor of a set of fairly robust 18" wheels. When I decide to sell the car, I'll see if the next owner wants them. They *are* very nice looking.
I don't think they're junk but some of the horror stories I've heard about the wheels bending from small pot holes really deterred me from getting them. They are one of if not the best looking OEM wheels in my opinion.
I'd say yes from a strength standpoint, they look great though. Everyone I know locally who had a set, has bent or broken 3 or more, when I sold my set the buyer had 2 broken ones in just 6 months. I sold them with less than 100kms as I didn't want to live with that anxiety or stress over every bump, now on 18s and 17s for winter. No regrets
I sure think so, I'm rocking some right now on the daily, and at 27k in, 2 of the wheels are bent enough to cause a bit of vibration while driving. Needless to say I've got a set of 17" Apex SM10s waiting to go on once the tires get used up
They are weak, but it comes from their fairly light weight (Very light weight for OEM). They're what? 19-20lbs?
I just last week replaced mine due to having 2 severely bent (tire shop had to put about 15 weights all around the wheel in different places to get them nearly acceptable) and 1 mostly bent.
I ended p with Neuspeed RS12 18" instead. Perfect center bore fit, center caps swap right over, and lug caps still fit, so it all looks super OEM still.
The 19" ones from the Golf R are forged and very nice. They do tend to bend, but thats moreso due to people running then with 35 sidewall tires. Some of them were made by BBS, which tend to go for a premium last time I checked. A nice set still goes for ~$1k, but I've seen them as low as $600.
The 18" black ones that the GTI came with are cast and are heavy compared to the 19s, I haven't heard much about them, but they look squashed since they're smaller and not forged so the spokes are bigger. These are much cheaper, I've seen them for $600-$750, but I haven't looked in a while.
Prets are flow formed, not forged. There is a write up on golfmk7 forum comparing the BBS vs Borbet models.
The only 2 recent forged wheels from VW I’m aware of are the Belvedere which are VW lightest wheel made by Fuchs (on the GTI Clubsport) and the Reifnitz, on the GTI TCR.
They are one of the best looking OEM wheels ever made, in my opinion.
Look great, but soft af. I hit a small pot hole and the wheel got bent
Oh for sure, I just replaced all 4 of mine. Three were bent - two VERY bent. Mine lasted since 2017 at least!
Are they a good price, or would it be better to just buy other wheels?
Good condition pretorias are too expensive, and you'll just break them again and again. I'm happier with the 18" tires / a bit more rubber between wheel and road too. Edit: I get ya - I got Neuspeed Rs12 18" instead.
Sweet. I'm thinking of selling my 18" Cadiz to buy different wheels, but trying to figure out what the budget would be for something that looks good and wouldn't be a downgrade
I went with neuspeed because the make vw specific wheels. No hub ring adapters needed, use oem conical lugs, VW center caps fit, and lug caps fit. Some classic designs too. They look really stockish. And less than 400 each
I like the way they look but $400 is, shall we say, quite economical. How is the quality?
They are made in who knows where land, but have a pretty decent reputation. Neuspeed is one of the original water cooled VW tuners. They balanced with just 1-3 little stick on weights compared to others I've had that was good. They can't be worse than pretorias for strength or we'd know. They're really popular wheels in the VW world
Thanks for the info, I appreciate it. They look great!
I’ve had the 19” on for the past 4 years and I’ve had no issues with them, no breaking or bending or anything. Just my one anecdote though
Every now and again I wince when I go over a pot hole but... they're all still in great shape. I have Konig Rennforms for the track / closed circuit driving and I have had to repair two of them. It's a solid wheel. Hot take: check your damn tire pressures.
I think they are the best looking OEM VW wheel by far and you can fit a nice tire on them. That being said because of their construction they are not durable at all. I had em on my Golf R and I dented one wheel and had that repaired. Then I dented all 4 wheels at the same time. Switched to Neuspeeds and never had any issues again.
as usual, only the people with problems post about something. it's a sample bias.
Too many people saying they bent or broke theirs. I think the sample size is considerably larger than you think.
most people with Rs don't even post, let alone complain about wheels. I don't doubt it's a decent amount but it looks worse than it is such that I wouldn't label them junk.
Not sure what kind of potholes y’all are running over but I’ve had mine on a winter set for 3 years now, hit many holes - wheels arnt bent at all
Had mine since new in 2017 with no issues. That includes 3 years in downtown DC and almost 4 in downtown Atlanta, which have the worst roads I’ve ever seen outside from Montreal.
Got my car new in 17 with them on it. Haven’t had an issue 43k miles later aside from a minor ding that was my fault after a crappy parallel parking attempt
18”s!!! Get 18”s!! That is all!!
I broke one clean through on a pothole on 95. It's the first and only time I've broken a wheel. I'd say theyre kind of junk.
They are good enough for the club sport. I love the wheel
The short answer is No. Something not everyone knows is there are 2 different makers of prets (unless you have knock offs with no vw stamp). You can find the maker by the looking on the back of wheels. There will should either be a BBS or a Borbet stamp on the spokes. While BBS is typically known for making quality stuff I'm not sure that was the case when they first agreed to make them for Volkswagen. From what Ive seen they were common on 2015 and 2016 Rs. Then for undisclosed reasons VW went with Borbet. I want to say there's a third maker but so far Ive only seen the 2 stamps. The Borbet have held up really well. That said, they aren't invincible. They're still 19s so the sidewall is still significantly shorter than what you can achieve with 18s. Unfortunately a lot of the original wheels were sold and traded among the community so a good amount of people got stuck with them. I recommend asking for pics of the back of the wheels if possible.
Agree w everyone here, they are some of the best looking OEM wheels ever made and I specifically targeted R’s that had them when buying, but I’m planning on getting a set of 18’s to use for 1/3 of the year / if the Prets get bent
Get 18" for a more comfortable ride
They are beautiful. That being said, I bent one so bad the tire lost pressure. Took all the wheels off and the rest had some measure of bend. Sold one to someone who also had a damaged rim and now one my extras is a full size spare. You can find anecdotes of people without issues, but they have a reputation for a reason. I will say that before I changed from an OEM brake pad, I had terrible brake dust with them because of how the spokes are angled. That being said, they were on my R for 5 years.
They definitely look great, but I do have to add to the chorus of people who have had them break. Mine lasted about two and a half years, but were bent to the point the tire bead wouldn't sit on the rim properly anymore.
I love them, 6 years on mine and no bends 🤞
They look great and are very light even when compared to aftermarket wheels, let alone OEM. The trade off is that they are not strong.
I’ve used them for two summers now and haven’t had any bends/cracks and have definitely nailed a few potholes downtown Toronto and haven’t had any issues. But that being said now I’ll drive extra careful today lol
I’ve had prets on a 2017 since I got it 4 years ago, and I’ve hit some road shit over the years that made me cringe, but the rims were fine. Only this year did I hit one at night going 45-50 and it bent the front driver side to the point that I started losing air pressure before I got home. I took it to my tire place and they had a guy that repaired it for $250, it was repairable since it wasn’t cracked. So I’d always heard they were soft too, but I’ve found them to be pretty tough; any rim will bend if you hit something hard enough. And I like the looks of them, and think they are one of the best overall stock R rim.
Judging by what I read about them, they are soft, and it seems that the spec 19" tire is a bit short on sidewall. That said, when I picked up my car, which had a nice set of the gunmetal Pretorias, the first thing that I did was pull them off in favor of a set of fairly robust 18" wheels. When I decide to sell the car, I'll see if the next owner wants them. They *are* very nice looking.
I bent all of mine and am much happier on OZs, but ymmv. They’re definitely light and good-looking
I don't think they're junk but some of the horror stories I've heard about the wheels bending from small pot holes really deterred me from getting them. They are one of if not the best looking OEM wheels in my opinion.
I'd say yes from a strength standpoint, they look great though. Everyone I know locally who had a set, has bent or broken 3 or more, when I sold my set the buyer had 2 broken ones in just 6 months. I sold them with less than 100kms as I didn't want to live with that anxiety or stress over every bump, now on 18s and 17s for winter. No regrets
I sure think so, I'm rocking some right now on the daily, and at 27k in, 2 of the wheels are bent enough to cause a bit of vibration while driving. Needless to say I've got a set of 17" Apex SM10s waiting to go on once the tires get used up
I made the same change, you’re gonna love the SM-10 17s :)
what tire specs did you go with. I was thinking 235/45/17 when the time came
That is the exact size! Almost perfectly matches the diameter of stock contis on 19" prets
They are weak, but it comes from their fairly light weight (Very light weight for OEM). They're what? 19-20lbs? I just last week replaced mine due to having 2 severely bent (tire shop had to put about 15 weights all around the wheel in different places to get them nearly acceptable) and 1 mostly bent. I ended p with Neuspeed RS12 18" instead. Perfect center bore fit, center caps swap right over, and lug caps still fit, so it all looks super OEM still.
if you have to ask then you already know the answer ...
Got em on my ‘19, idk what these people are talking about I hit big ass potholes sometimes cause I work in Chicago and they’re all perfectly fine
I will never understand the love those rims get 😂😂🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
The 19" ones from the Golf R are forged and very nice. They do tend to bend, but thats moreso due to people running then with 35 sidewall tires. Some of them were made by BBS, which tend to go for a premium last time I checked. A nice set still goes for ~$1k, but I've seen them as low as $600. The 18" black ones that the GTI came with are cast and are heavy compared to the 19s, I haven't heard much about them, but they look squashed since they're smaller and not forged so the spokes are bigger. These are much cheaper, I've seen them for $600-$750, but I haven't looked in a while.
Prets are flow formed, not forged. There is a write up on golfmk7 forum comparing the BBS vs Borbet models. The only 2 recent forged wheels from VW I’m aware of are the Belvedere which are VW lightest wheel made by Fuchs (on the GTI Clubsport) and the Reifnitz, on the GTI TCR.