New wheels and tires on our VW Passat

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Hello:

We bought the car new in December 2018. VW Passat SEL Premium. It's my wife's long distance commute car, sometimes being driven 1,000 miles per week.

It looked a bit like a taxi when we first bought it. Here is what I've done to it since then: 1) Window tint. 2) Suspension upgrades; Bilstein B6 Sport struts/shocks, plus H&R OE Sport lowering springs (-3/4" front, -2/3" rear). 3) BBS SX Anthracite 19"x8.5" 46mm offset wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport P4S 235/40-19 (stock was 18"x8" 48mm offset with Bridgestone RE-097 235/45-18). 4) I had the silver strip in the grill painted gloss black.

The first two pictures were when it was completely stock.

Scott

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RF OEM.jpg


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So you stiffened up the ride with performance struts / shocks and lowering springs, and, went to an even bigger wheel / lower profile, ultra high performance tire, on a long distance commuter, where comfort seems like it would be more important than handling.


Who's car is this ... ?
 
nice car + although those wheels look good going to a smaller diameter is better as more sidewall = less prone to damage + a better ride IMO, leave those "rubber band" tyres for racers!
 
Originally Posted by benjy
nice car + although those wheels look good going to a smaller diameter is better as more sidewall = less prone to damage + a better ride IMO, leave those "rubber band" tyres for racers!

Consider the OP's location. Their roads are much nicer than what we have here in midwest or north east.
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Looks great, Scott!

How is your wife liking the car overall?

Originally Posted by bdcardinal
That looks so much better.

Originally Posted by wemay
Very nice and OE-like. Great choice.

Thanks!
Originally Posted by geeman789
So you stiffened up the ride with performance struts / shocks and lowering springs, and, went to an even bigger wheel / lower profile, ultra high performance tire, on a long distance commuter, where comfort seems like it would be more important than handling.

Who's car is this ... ?

Given that my wife's previous commuter was our 2011 BMW 328i M-Sport with Eibach Pro-Kit springs (far more aggressive than the H&R OE Sport springs) and Bilstein H8 struts/shocks, with BBS CH 19x8.5 235/35 RE-11s front and 19x9.5 255/35 RE-11s rear (those Bridgestone RE-11s have huge bite and are wickedly stiff), even after the modifications the Passat rides like a cushy cruiser in comparison. In fact, when we first bought the Passat my wife explicitly told me the front end was too softly sprung and the damping wasn't stiff enough. She knows her stuff and likes her cars on the stiff side. She has been around high performance cars and road racing her entire life.

Scott
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Looks great, Scott!

How is your wife liking the car overall?

Pete, I missed the second part of your reply.

The Passat has greatly exceeded our expectations. Long story short, we got a GREAT deal on the car. MSRP was $38.5K. We got it out the door for $26.5K. How did we do that? It was a 2016 model year that we bought brand new in December of 2018. Yeah really. It had something like 70 miles on it, probably most of those miles being moved from one side of the lot to the other. Eeeck! But being who I am, I changed the oil and filter the moment I got it home. It had about 110 miles on it. In fact I bled the brakes yesterday when I swapped wheels. I take care of my stuff.

Anyway, the Passat is super smooth and quiet, even with the changes I made. It has high quality interior pieces. It has nice looking, comfortable leather seats. We love the DSG trans, it's super quick shifting and has perfect rev matching. The back seat is HUGE, by far the most roomy back seat we've ever owned. That will come in handy some day. It has the VR6 motor, 280hp, lots of power, expensive sounding, and 31mpg combined on her road trips.

Our original plan was to keep the Passat only through her retirement, which is just 11 months away. But given how the car has so greatly exceeded our expectations, it's going to become a part of our "permanent" fleet. We have a stable of machines that should reliably last us for 5 or 6 more years. I always buy new, maintain them myself, and typically keep them for a long time.

Scott
 
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
The Passat has greatly exceeded our expectations. Long story short, we got a GREAT deal on the car. MSRP was $38.5K. We got it out the door for $26.5K.

That's a sweet deal on a really nice car. You can't even get a Jetta GLI for this much these days.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Should have left the factory that way! Great job, as always.


If it was a German or European market car it likely does leave the factory that way. We in the USA always get watered down VW and Audi products.
 
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Should have left the factory that way! Great job, as always.

Appreciate it! I'm really stoked with how it came out.
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
The Passat has greatly exceeded our expectations. Long story short, we got a GREAT deal on the car. MSRP was $38.5K. We got it out the door for $26.5K.

That's a sweet deal on a really nice car. You can't even get a Jetta GLI for this much these days.

I agree it was a sweet deal, but I confess to having serious reservations before buying it, even given the bargain basement price. I would never buy that color, Reef Blue, if I had the choice. But it was the last 2016 they had on the lot. Also too, the car sat outside for two years and was short tripped to the extreme. There's nothing good about that! But, we bought it and are happy we did. It really is super nice.

Scott
 
My lease Jetta base is sprung like a marshmallow and needs more roll stiffness too especially out back at the twist beam

Your old wheels would look good on my Jetta
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But alas, lease. 6MT and turbo though
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Last edited:
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by bdcardinal
Looks like you got it from my sister store in SLO. Hope they treated you well.

Is she the Dutch woman, the sales manager?

Scott


I only know the parts people there and one of the service writers. I bought my first Mustang there ~14 years ago. I am like most people and do anything possible to avoid interactions with sales.
 
Originally Posted by geeman789

So you stiffened up the ride with performance struts / shocks and lowering springs, and, went to an even bigger wheel / lower profile, ultra high performance tire, on a long distance commuter, where comfort seems like it would be more important than handling.


Who's car is this ... ?

Originally Posted by benjy
nice car + although those wheels look good going to a smaller diameter is better as more sidewall = less prone to damage + a better ride IMO, leave those "rubber band" tyres for racers!
Better slap some 16s and all seasons on there so granpappy can have a comfy commute to his doctor's appointments.
 
Total sleeper status!

Honestly, I really don't care for many late model Euro cars (BMW included) but this is a vehicle I'd make an exception for (even before your upgrades).
Making this a permanent car is a great choice
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