Tires and rims for a B6 Passat.

Just a quick note/thought:

While perusing TireRack’s website, a regular habit of mine, I was test-fitting some rims and tires for the new (B6) Passat. Now, on my (B5) Passat, the widest tires I can fit are 245s, and that’s only if the rims have a wide enough offset. However, on the new Passat—a four cylinder, front-wheel drive, German sedan, you can fit 265s(!!!). I put some ridiculous BFG racing slicks in 265/35 18 size on some gorgeous, extremely lightweight Volk Racing wheels. The rims are 18 x 8 inches and only weigh 16.5 pounds each. The subject of unsprung weight is worthy of a Post all its own, but suffice it to say, that reducing unsprung weight on the corners of cars has a drastic impact on all areas of performance—acceleration, handling, braking. I don’t know the stock weight of a B6 Passat rim, but I would guess that the Volk Racing rims take approximately 10 pounds of each corner of the car. Granted, putting 265s on each corner is going to eat away at some of that reduction, but I’d hazard a guess and say that the end result would either break even or possibly reduce overall unsprung weight.

Also, 265 racing slicks would provide a huge amount of grip for the car. Needless to say, this would be something you’d want to do if you were making a track car out of your Passat (a subject Nathan and I have been discussing at great length lately). But it’s pretty freaking cool that you can fit 265s on that car.