2010 Volkswagen GTI: Denver vs Detroit

The Huffs and the orginal 17" from the last model GTI were (way) better as well.

As a resident of a state that sees quite a bit of snow in the winter months, I'd much rather have the smaller Denver wheels if only for the following reason. Road salt. The Denver wheels are painted silver and therefore aren't nearly as prone to pitting like the larger Detroit wheels are. The Detroit ones are machine finished with a little clear coat on them, and in my experience road salt attacks machine finished wheels much more aggressively than plain painted alloy wheels. Yes, if you wash your car in the winter every single week that will help avoid a lot of the pitting problems, but sometimes the weather just doesn't allow for that.

These are very polarizing designs. Most people either love them or hate them. I literally drove my GTI from the dealership to the tuner shop to rid myself of the Detroits (aka "cuisinarts", "cheese slicers"). If I had to be stuck with either, probably the Detroits would be less offensive. ;0)

My only fear would be how they would hold up in areas that use salt during the winter. Would the black portion of the wheel chip and rust? Or would the paint flake over time and cause the wheel to look ridiculous? Or did VW think about all of this and it is nothing to worry about - because nothing will happen.

The Denver wheel looks like a wheel cover.

the detriot wheels turned me off of the GTIs on local lots.

The Detroits should hold up. The pocket is painted gloss black which shouldnt pit. Ive had issues in the past with polished aluminum pitting in the pockets of the spokes, but I would think that since these are painted in that area then they should be ok. I prefer the look of the real metal on the Detroits over the painted look of the Denvers.

Both the Huffs and the Detroits are love-it-or-hate-it designs. I think they're great. They really fill out the wheel arches and give the car presence and a bit of 'bling'.

I would also go the 17-inch route, though. I prefer 17s for being lighter, cheaper, and better-riding. However, I think the 17-inch Denvers are terrible. When you purchase a car, VW will sell you some more attractive 17s via the dealer --probably at a large discount if you trade in the Denvers.

Try some 17" anthracite "Goal" wheels.

I have a 2011 GTI and personally I love the Detroits. I think the Denvers look cheap and small on this car and was very pleased to hear that the Detroits were standard on the 2011s.

I got the 17" Denvers on my GTI. They are among the ugliest wheels I've ever seen on a car. They look like they could grate cheese. That said, I do prefer the 17s on the car for their extra sidewall, though on a direct comparison with my brother's GTI on 18" Detriots I could not notice any significant difference in ride quality or handling. They both have good turn in and a fairly compliant ride.

I upgraded my wheels to the Moda MD11 and kept the stock tires. They look very nice and match the machined and black accent look of the Detriots. Another side benefit is that they weigh less than the old Denvers. $110 a wheel plus mounting and balance turned out to be about $500 well spent IMO.

Moda MD11
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee344/autoboy70/ModaMD11onGTI.jpg

Vs stock Denver
http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/ee344/autoboy70/2010-07-17_184114.jpg

"The Denver wheel looks like a wheel cover."

So does the Detroit wheel look like a wheel cover with the trim painted black?

I'm a big fan of both Denver and Detroit styles as far as the so-called cheese-grater shape, however, I would much rather have the machined look, which looks more upscale. And I've always loved the black painted horseshoes. The pitting might be an issue, but IDK as non of my family's cars has machined alloys. Anyone else have experience with this?

The big question for me would be are there any handling differences 17 inch summer vs 18 inch summer.

I don't like either. I prefer alloy wheels with five beefy spokes.

And, I don't ever want a wheel bigger than 17".

teampenske3@ I would think the handling would be improved given weight saved on the 17" alloy.

Detroit style, Denver size for me please.

Road salt really shouldn't be why you decide between wheels. If road salt is used in the winter go with a set of winter tires with steel rims. 18 inch snow tires are expensive and don't work as well as smaller sized ones.

In my honest opinion, the "Topas" wheels were the best looking on the GTI, the black "Karthoum" wheels belong on a Honda, however the silver ones aren't terrible.

Topas:
http://i.imgur.com/TTYH6.jpg

The MKV "Classix" GTI/GLI multispoke/mesh wheel looks alot better IMO than the "Denver" wheels.

In my opinion the Denver wheels look a bit dated, while the Detroits are remarkably contemporary. I'll call them Denver 2.0.

I have a 2011 GTI. The Detroits are a love/hate for me - love the look, and they get as many comments as the car does (and that's a lot), but they weight 29 lbs. each - too much. If VW made these in a forged model (stronger metal - just make the Cuisinart holes bigger) as an upgrade they would sell a lot of them.

I have never driven one of these cars with the smaller wheels, but can easily believe that they ride better with them - handling probably not so much. Car is stage 1 chipped and has no issues swinging the weight around, so acceleration is not an issue. I drove a nephew's xB that he mounted 18s on that was markedly slower out of the blocks - no surprise there.

I won't drive the car in winter, but realistically, if you're going to drive an 18" wheel sporting a 40-aspect-ratio tire in the winter, you are going to have larger issues than salt attacking the finish. I live near Buffalo and do a lot of winter driving.

We ever find out what happened to IL's LT GTI to cause the curb rash?

"So does the Detroit wheel look like a wheel cover with the trim painted black?"

No.

Give me the 17" Denver for all-season duty... and then I'll get some 19s for summer (something BBS would be nice, VMR mesh if the budget calls for it... maybe the multispoke OZ wheels)

I like the two tone of the Detroits better, but also I like the sharper, cleaner edges on the larger rim, and the slight circular brushed pattern on the outer surface.
Still, with the (grippy but very mushy) stock all season tires, the Detroits weighed in at 52 pounds per corner, and that didn't seem right to me, so I replaced them with (light and non mushy) summer tires on 17s, and change with which I am very happy.

It appears that I'd go with a set of 17 inch Denvers (painted like in the link) for winter wheels, and 18 inch Detroit for summer. Wish the Detroits were lighter though...but C/D did manage to get really good handling numbers with the 18 inchers on summer tires.

On the showroom floor and in a brochure, an 18" on a GTI or Jetta looks great. However in the real world, where we have potholes, straight granite curbs, valets etc. all conspiring against you, a 17" would be a smart choice. Maybe not a Denver design, but to each his own.
VW IMHO, seems to put a lot of thought into wheel designs, they use real BBS and Speedline wheels as well as having great designs of their own. The downside of course, is the outrageous cost. I had to replace a 17" VW designed twin spoke five star wheel on my 2002 Jetta GLS and the dealer retail was over $400.

The Detroit is one of the the ugliest rims I've seen. The Denver is another.

They're both as ugly as sin. I'm sure VW dealers do a brisk business in taking these off prior to delivery and substituting either genuine VW accessory wheels or a proper-looking aftermarket design. I know I would have to replace them if I was every convinced to buy a GTI. they are the most egregious weakness in an otherwise appealing design.

All this talk makes me miss the teardrops on my 88 GTI 16V.

detroits are are some of my favorite factory wheels. totally one-of-a-kind design

My 2006 GTI has the original 17" ClassicX wheels and I've been very happy with them.

http://i.imgur.com/PXQ7y.jpg

The Hufs have become iconic of the MkV-MkVI, but they're very heavy wheels, and the design of the ClassicX is more timeless IMO. I have never regretted my choice.

I have 2011 GTI and I wish it came with 17" Denvers instead of the Detroits. Ride is noticeably harsher, and the chance of scratching them is higher... However I love the way Detroits look. So it is a give and take situation.

Detroits for me.

"So does the Detroit wheel look like a wheel cover with the trim painted black?"

I think it might be the finish on the Denvers...it looks plasticy in pictures to me.

I am not looking forward to having Detroits when I buy my GTI later this year. I don't like them in the least and that they're heavy is an even bigger problem. Finally, I would prefer 17's for practicality purposes but I do admit 18's fill out the arches nicely. I'm not sure I can justify the price of different wheels, not after dropping so much on the car itself, but if at all possible, I really would want something different.

If the manufacturer only has one wheel option listed on their site when you build the car, are you stuck with it or can you work with the Dealer to swap for something else? (I don't have experience with this, that's why I am asking any who do)