Ever since I’ve bought this car, I’ve had the desire to keep things OEM+ as much as possible. When looking for an larger wheel, I had very few basic requirements: The wheel should not increase weight excessively, it should enhance, not detract from the appearance of the car and it should, hopefully, be a VWAG OEM wheel. When the time came to look for a new set of rims to replace the stock Ronal 17″ Classic-X rims, I only had to look as far as the nearest VW dealership for a wheel that would catch my eye more than any aftermarket option within the same price range. In my opinion, the OEM Rial Karthoum wheel is, quite simply, the very definition of sporty simplicity.
The five-spoked wheel comes in two different finishes, Diamond Black (or Hyper-Black) and standard silver. I decided on the Diamond Black version as I believe it would better fit the Deep Black GLI. The measurements are 18″ by 8″ and has an offset of 50mm. Combined with the rear 12mm H&R spacers, the current offset on the rear wheels is 38mm which does cause some very minor rubbing on tight corners (inside of fender against sidewall of tire) but this is a non-issue at this point since it is very minimal.
The wheels enhance the look of the car quite a bit. The Karthoum five muscular thick spokes give the car a sporty and aggressive appearance. Each spoke meets the perimeter of the wheel with a triangular indentation, in a kind of throwback to the Lamborghini Gallardo. Even though they are larger than stock wheels, they weigh less than 1lb more per wheel. The five-spoke design also makes them a breeze to maintain and clean- I can fit my whole hand inside the barrel and with a thin enough brush, I can clean the barrel around the calipers without issue. The wheel is also 1/2 inch wider than the stock 17″ which to some extent enhanced the cars’ handling due to the wider contact patch. They also do a wonderful job of showcasing the GLI signature red painted calipers. Road feel is also a lot more sensitive due to less rubber to dampen imperfections on the road, which is somewhat of a sacrifice.
I decided to match them with OEM-spec Kumho ECSTA ASX rubber which is an ultra-high performance all-season tire. According to Tire Rack ratings, they have similar handling scores as the more expensive Pirelli PZero Nero M+ S at almost $60.00 less per tire so it was really a no contest. Living in Seattle, I can’t get away with summer tires year round and I do intend to run this set of wheels as a year round wheel so I had to choose an ultra-performance all-season tire regardless of brand. The rubber is still breaking in so I can’t say exactly how much better they handle compared to the stock Michelin ones but I’ll venture to guess they will handle better even if they end up sucking, which I am sure they won’t.
Overall, I am very pleased with the setup. It is exactly what I was going for; a simple, sporty, clean looking OEM wheel.
Published under: Exterior, Performance, Wheel & Tire
This post was written on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006 at 3:10 pm and categorized under Exterior, Performance, Wheel & Tire. You can follow the ongoing discussion (if any) by subscribing to the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also leave a reply, or Trackback from your own site.
Discuss this entry - (6 comments so far)
hey man, i was wondering where you bought your karthoum’s. i googled “diamond black karthoum” and your page came up. i have an 07 Rabbit and love those wheels.
These were bought at a VW dealership. Any dealership should be able to get them for you since it’s a Volkswagen OEM wheel.
Hey there…those wheels are gorgeous. How much did you pay for them? Do you think you could email me some pics of your car?
Thanks,
Al
Sorry man, I can’t really say how much I paid. MSRP on these is about $423 USD per wheel which is pretty close to what I paid. As far as pics, just right click > save as on the ones you see here but please don’t use them without permission.
Hi there, I don’t know if this site is still active, but I thought I’d leave a message anyway. I really like the simple but effective modifications you’ve made. I bought a Jetta 2.5 recently and I’ve been thinking about the Karthoum rims. You mentioned that there was some rubbing, can you tell me more about that? And are you finding that the ride is too rough or is it something I can get used to?
Thanks,
Norm
Hello, Norm
Thanks for the kind comments.
As far as the rubbing, keep in mind that I am lowered on sport shocks/race springs in addition to having 12mm spacers in the rear which basically push the wheels outbound to make them flush with the body of the car. The rubbing involves the inner of the rear fenders lightly touching the sidewall of the rear tires under heavy compression. Certainly nothing to be concerned about.
The ride is rougher compared to the OEM 17″ wheels my car came with but also not punishing or unbearable.
Hope this helps.