Alloy wheel question

Aaftab Mughal

Active Member
Jun 4, 2020
57
10
Slough
I have a seat Leon with 17 inch standard alloys. I think the tyre size is 225 45 17.

I have a rear driver side flat tyre.

Will an alloy wheel from a Passat 2006 fit my Leon as a temp measure?
Tyre size 235/45/17
Alloy is 7.5 x17 et 47

thank you.
 

Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
2,614
906
If the stud pastern is the same, which I don't know about, then yes it will fit. The offset is slightly out but it will work.
 

Jay5959

FR 184
Apr 26, 2020
500
256
Hi Aaftab,
Stud pattern is the number and location of the wheel nut holes on the face of the wheel. Seat Leons and Volkswagen group cars have similar stud patterns across the range. The leons have 5x112, assuming the pattern on your Passat is the same, it should fit fine. Have a look at this wheel guide. It’s got all the information you could possibly need. The offset of 47 will fit fine.

 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,279
@Aaftab Mughal; Also bear in mind that If the Passat wheel has a 235/45 R17 tyre and the tyres on your Leon are 225/45 R17, then Passat tyre will have a slightly higher sidewall, which will mean the radius and overall circumference of the Passat wheel/tyre will be larger than that of your existing wheels/tyres;

Your tyres (225/45 R17) - sidewall height = 225 x 45% = 101.25 mm
Passat tyre (235/45 R17) - sidewall height = 235 x 45% = 105.75 mm

Tyre sidewall height difference; 105.75 - 101.25 = 4.5mm, so the Passat wheel will be rotating at a slightly different speed to the other three wheels.

Bear in mind that by fitting one odd sized tyre, if the tread depth and tread pattern is different to the other wheel / tyre on that same axle, then your car may handle unpredictability in the event of having to make an emergency manoeuvre (hard braking or swerving manoeuvre). I don’t know if there are any legal issues if one tyre on the car is a different size to the remaining three, but it might be worth checking this out.

In your position, I’d only use an odd wheel / tyre in the same way as a temporary space saver spare - i.e. only put it on the car to get me to a tyre fitting place to get your flat tyre repaired or replaced.
 
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Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
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I don’t know if there are any legal issues if one tyre on the car is a different size to the remaining three, but it might be worth checking this out.
It must be legal as space savers are often smaller than the normal wheels and are obviously narrower. It's a good point that using an odd wheel should be seen as a very temporary solution and not a good idea to use it on the front of the car. I'm assuming he just needs to keep the car moving until the tyre gets fixed or replaced?
 

black_sheep

Active Member
Mar 10, 2013
1,256
585
It must be legal as space savers are often smaller than the normal wheels and are obviously narrower. It's a good point that using an odd wheel should be seen as a very temporary solution and not a good idea to use it on the front of the car. I'm assuming he just needs to keep the car moving until the tyre gets fixed or replaced?
May be a different size, but the circumference is the same - the point being made above is that the circumference is different due to the tyre profiles, even though the rim will physically fit. Even with ‘full size spare’, if this is a different size to the remaining three wheels the temporary speed limit of 50 mph applies and wherever possible should be fitted to the rear axle.

Couldn’t believe some ‘male chicken’ in an A4 tail-gating me on the motorway, then accelerating to 90mph+ with a space saver fitted to the front of the vehicle a couple of weeks ago.
 

rafletcher

Active Member
Feb 18, 2021
531
214
It’s illegal and will invalidate your insurance having one odd wheel on the car. Space savers have the same rolling circumference as the cars usual wheels.
 
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Mr Pig

Active Member
Jun 17, 2015
2,614
906
Couldn’t believe some ‘male chicken’ in an A4 tail-gating me on the motorway, then accelerating to 90mph+ with a space saver fitted to the front of the vehicle a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, I've seen that sort of thing too. I think that the law should be that cars have a full-sized spare or nothing at all. Tyre goop should be illegal.
 

Aaftab Mughal

Active Member
Jun 4, 2020
57
10
Slough
Sorry for the late reply guys. Thank you for all the info. It was a temporary measure so that I could drive to a tyre depot to get my flat tyre replaced. The Passat alloy fitted fine. It was on my car for about 4 miles. Luckily had no incidents with the police.
 
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SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
2,388
1,279
Until recently, VW included a space saver spare as part of the standard spec with most of their cars and a few got a full size spare. A spare is now an extra cost option (I know it’s been that way for some time with Seat).

VW would no doubt say that deletion of the spare is a weight saving measure and has environmental benefits (less weight = improved fuel consumption and lower emissions). I’d call it penny pinching and cost cutting 🤔.

As for the Audi driver playing chicken at 90+ mph with a space saver fitted - madness IMHO. Driving at excess speed on a space saver is not only putting themselves at risk, but other road users too.
 
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