Thinking of Buying a 2.0 Tdi FR - Couple of questions

[morleymackam]

Hello all,

after being messed about with an astra sport hatch order i've had going I've decided to go for a nearly new FR instead. Couple of questions:

1. It's only got the standard 17" wheels. How much will as set of 18s set me back? What could I expect to get for the 17s?

2. How much is an armrest ) Are they easy to fit?

3. Any other extras I should look at getting?

4. The gear knob is a bit scratched from a ring. How much to replace it?

Cheers for the help. Forum is a cracking read so far

 

[JonoUK]

1. Was a £350 option afaik. not sure how much each wheel is if you bought it separately/new, and no idea what the 17s are worth.
2. Think an armrest from dealer is about £100, 4 screws or so. But i think someone got one made somewhere else and was nicer(?)
3. Told you before - BLUETOOTH!
4. Not sure

 

[DanGB]

Wheels would be alot. i got £300 for my old (new) 17inch with tyres.

For 18's your looking at about 145 per wheel (more depending on which wheel) and 100 per tyre.

 

[JulianG]

Wheels would be alot. i got £300 for my old (new) 17inch with tyres.

For 18's your looking at about 145 per wheel and 100 per tyre.

There is a set of 18" FR wheels on ebay at the moment without tyres, £380 starting price !

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Leon-FR-Alloy...yZ100918QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[mode]

I ordered my FR with the 18" wheels for £350 but have had to buy a new alloy for £213 because i kerbed one if you buy a set make sure the tyres have rim protection everyone i spoke to said they couldnt guarantee the colour match of the wheel, in my opinion i wouldnt pay £800 plus for the 18 s and tyres i would seek out a car that already has them the ones on ebay are at the seat garage in anglesey by the way. You are making the right choice i had an astra h and it was rubbish always in the garage being fixed, the one thing i have on mine which is worth the money is the bluetooth phone option its very good

 

[JulianG]

My local dealers were trying to sell me a set of 18" FR alloys with tyres for £750, which is why I ended up buying a set of 18" RS4 replicas for my car. They were £525 including tyres and delivery and look better on my black car imo

You can get really nice after market 18's for alot less than Seat want for their wheels, its just whether you want to stay with a standard look or not.

Try looking at some of these websites for after market alloys :

www.elitedirect.com
www.wheel-base.co.uk
www.rochfordtyres.co.uk

I've used both elite and wheel base in the past and have had no problems, I know some people on here have used rochford and had problems though... but I'm sure if you have a search on this forum you can find out for yourself.

 

[morleymackam]

Have now bought the car

Deffo want to upgrade to 18s, improve the look no end imho. Happy to pay a couple of hundred quid to upgrade. Will have to keep an eye out for some decent (cheap) standard 18s. Don't want non-seat.

What tyres do the 18s have? What's a good set to put on those 18" rims so I can get an idea of cost? Also where to buy them from?

Cheers folks.

 

[DanGB]

couple of hundred? you'll be lucky

tyres are 225/40/18

mytyres.co.uk
blackcircles.co.uk
etyres.co.uk

 

[mode]

They come with pirelli p zero or bridgestone potenza

 

[morleymackam]

couple of hundred? you'll be lucky

tyres are 225/40/18

mytyres.co.uk
blackcircles.co.uk
etyres.co.uk

Cheers. Could probably stretch to a bit more. Are the pirellis the way to go? Know nowt about tyres.

 

[mklock]

I actually prefered the drive of the Astra but got the Fr due to Costs.

 

[mrruss]

My FR came with Bridgestone's on 18's and they have a very good rim protector.......

I did post some photos of them in a previous thread.....

Just a thought.......before collecting the car (if it is from a Seat dealer) why not ask them how much they would do the alloy upgrade for? They will have an outlet for the 17's and it will be easier than you being left to sell them if and when you do get to find some cheap 18's......they may do it at a price close to the new upgrade price of 350 quid. If they have another FR in stock, all they need to do is swap the wheels over.....

For me, the FR has to have the 18's.......no offence but the car doesn't look right on the 17's.......

 

[the cat]

Just had to shell out 145 quid for a new 18 inch Dunlop Sport maxx tyre for my ref sport (with the bbs 18s) - clipped a rock in the lakes at the weekend and developed a bleb/bump in the tyre wall.

Gutted - I've only done 2.5k miles from new.

 

[morleymackam]

My FR came with Bridgestone's on 18's and they have a very good rim protector.......

I did post some photos of them in a previous thread.....

Just a thought.......before collecting the car (if it is from a Seat dealer) why not ask them how much they would do the alloy upgrade for? They will have an outlet for the 17's and it will be easier than you being left to sell them if and when you do get to find some cheap 18's......they may do it at a price close to the new upgrade price of 350 quid. If they have another FR in stock, all they need to do is swap the wheels over.....

For me, the FR has to have the 18's.......no offence but the car doesn't look right on the 17's.......

Picking the car up today. It's not a seat dealer. It's stratstone who took the FR as part ex on a new Merc.

 

[DanGB]

Cheers. Could probably stretch to a bit more. Are the pirellis the way to go? Know nowt about tyres.

The goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3's are probably the most highly rated tyre on this site. They perform superbly, and some rim protection, and also cost less than 100 each online.