Model Year 20/21 New rim question

[Naxterra]

Hello

My sommer tyres were a bit damaged and I am thinking about getting new tyres, and while doing that I am also thinking about buying new rims. Cupra's original rims cost an arm and leg, plus a kidney, so I wonder if it would be a good idea to buy rims from 3rd party. I checked reifen.com and RC Design RC32 and RC34 looked nice to me. Do you know if it is a good idea to buy them? This will be my first time buying a complete wheel set, so I am pretty much inexperienced here.

More questions
Will there be a performance difference between these ones and Cupra's original rims?
What is the difference between RC32 and RC34? Just color or durability and performance are different?
Which tyres should I get? I am driving mostly on Autobahn, and I wasn't happy with my Bridgestone Turanza 5 (original tyres from Cupra). and these Pirelli Zero PZ4 Sport, Bridgestone Turanza 6 and Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport looks ok, but I am not sure they will be good for the rims and car.

Any other recommendations are also welcome.

I have 2021 Formentor VZ 1.4 e-Hybrid

 

[SRGTD]

I had a set of 18” RC Design RC32 in Ferric Grey Matte powder coat finish on my VW (Polo GTI+). I bought them because (a) I’m not a fan of the diamond cut OEM VW alloys the car came with, (b) I wanted a set of alloys with good durability that would withstand winter road and weather conditions and (c) the RC32’s were exactly the same spec as the OEM alloys on my car (same width, diameter, offset and centre bore size), and used the VW OEM ball seat wheel bolts so they bolted straight on my car with no fitment or clearance issues. RC32‘s are also TUV, KBA and JWL certified.

I no longer own the car but I had the RC32’s on it for 3 years and nine months and durability was very good - as I’d expect with powder coated alloys. They stood up very well to the poor state of the UK’s roads; no cracks or buckling from potholes and dropped or raised drain covers and no cosmetic damage, other than a small incident where an oncoming garbage collection lorry veered onto my side of the road and forced me into a kerbstone! In the garbage collection lorry scenario, the resultant kerb damage would have happened whatever alloys I had on the car.

I had Michelin PS4 tyres on the RC32’s and IMHO they were a very good tyre - good roadholding, grip and braking performance, and after 16-17k miles the rears sill had 6mm of tread and the fronts had 4mm of tread remaining. They also provide good rim protection for the alloys too. The wear rate of Michelin PS4 on a Formentor might not be quite as good as I experienced on my Polo GTI+ though, as the Formentor is a heavier car.

I kept my original alloys and put them back on the car before I sold it. It’s worth bearing in mind that aftermarket alloys might not be to everyone’s liking, so selling a car fitted with aftermarket alloys might be more difficult than selling one with the original alloys.

Based on my experience of RC Design RC32 alloys, I’d be more than happy to have another set. Sorry, can‘t answer your question regarding performance differences with the Formentor’s original alloys as I don’t own a Formentor.

 

[Naxterra]

I threw away my summer tyres, and wanted to ask your opinion about P-Zero (PZ4) Luxury 245/40 R19 94W P-Zero (PZ4) Luxury FSL (https://www.reifen.com/de-de/24540-r19-94w-pirelli-p-zero-pz4-luxury-8019227362763)

Will this fit to my car? Also what does L,S,XL mean? What should I look for my car? Also this set is 94W, do I need higher number or is this enough for a family usage as well as Autobahn driving with high speed?

 

[SRGTD]

I’m not familiar with modern Pirelli tyres; the last time I had a car fitted with Pirelli’s was over 40 years ago back in 1982. Customer reviews, and links to group tyre tests that included Pirelli’s P Zero PZ4 can be found at the link below;

Pirelli P Zero PZ4

Will the Pirelli P Zero PZ4 suit your car? Find the best tyre for your car read 72 reviews for Pirelli P Zero PZ4 and compare to other Ultra High Performance tyres

www.tyrereviews.com

As to whether or not 245/40 R19 tyres will fit your car; I don’t know what size tyres Cupra fit to your specific model of Formentor in the factory when it’s built, but when replacing tyres I would always recommend fitting tyres that are the same specification (width, sidewall height, speed rating, load index) as those that were originally fitted to the car - that assumes you’re not changing the wheels to a different size. Depending on your country, be aware that fitting tyres of a different size and specification to those originally fitted by the car manufacturer might also have insurance implications, although that could depend on who the insurance company is.

At the link you’ve posted, clicking on ‘L.S.‘ it states it’s the Luxury Saloon Version of the P-Zero PZ4 tyre. I’m just guessing, but maybe the sidewalls of the L.S. / Luxury version are a little more flexible than the sidewalls on the non-L.S. version (assuming there is a non-L.S. version) and so may give a slightly softer ride. The trade-off with softer tyre sidewalls might mean less responsive handling though.

XL on a tyre sidewall means Extra Load, which means the tyre sidewall is reinforced and designed to carry heavier loads than non- XL tyres of the same size.