Thinking about new wheels...

Post by **S4RS4** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:48 am

Pete.S wrote:
Dippy wrote:Maybe I'll stick with refurbed Avus wheels after all.
I reckon that's the best option mate. In my honest opinion the S4 is one of the only cars I can think of that's spoilt (looks wise) by fitting non-standard wheels. There was a site up a while ago with photos of the B5 S4 with tens of different wheel combinations fitted, and all looked worse than the Avus. Always seems to make the car look a bit, I dunno, Gary-ish. And if you want to go down that route, may as well buy a Scooby or Evo....

If you browse the RS6.com S4 forum I think you'll find a few pics of S4s with aftermarket wheels, but again, none have impressed. The only option that's ever grabbed me is (and it may well have been someone on here) the B6 S4 with RS6 alloys.

Have you looked into putting the 18" Avus from the B6 S4 on the B5? I'd like to see the result...

I have the B6 S4 wheels on my B5 S4. See my gallery.

Post by **S4RS4** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 9:56 am

Dippy wrote:Interesting.

I went to my local wheel company this afternoon to discuss it. They will try to fit an 18" RS4 replica tomorrow. However they clearly stated that if the wheels won't fit without spacers, they will not fit the wheels. They are happy to supply spacers to customers, but will not take any responsibility by fitting them.

I'll see what happens tomorrow. I wanted to avoid spacers, and with that advice I'm now fairly against them. Maybe I'll stick with refurbed Avus wheels after all. I am also still concerned about ride harshness with a lower profile tyre...

The 18" RS6 replica in ET35 WILL need spacers to clear your Porsche calliper and you will get rubbing problems. The RS4 replica in ET35 WILL clear your calliper and will not need spacers and will not rub. Ask AMD or hundreds of S4 owners who have done this. Also, do not worry about good quality spacers. Porsche fit them as standard. Also, you will not notice any deteriation in the ride - just a slight sharpening of the steering.

Post by **Pete.S** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 1:12 pm

S4RS4 wrote:I have the B6 S4 wheels on my B5 S4. See my gallery.

Very nice

Post by **Nige_RS4** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 2:03 pm

Does anyone have a pic of the rubbing, as I had 18" RS4's on for 2 years and haven't noticed any rubbing on the fenders - that's with 3 track days too! I remember a while back, that some RS4 chaps had problems with fender rubbing and had to get a new pair of liners? Does it wear down the inner edge of the tyre?

Post by **S4RS4** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:46 am

Nige_S4 wrote:Dippy, I have moved from RS4 replicas (30lbs each) to OZ superleggeras (18lbs each) - I used to suffer from the car crashing over pot holes (I might add I have H&R ARBs and powerflex bushes fitted, so the front end is might stiff anyway). I can definately feel the difference with the new alloys - it seems to be much more compliant over the same pot holes - I am well impressed - here is a link to the alloys on an S4 - http://forums.audiworld.com/s4/msgs/1443262.phtml

Nige.

What Powerflex bushes do you have? Where did you get them? I have looked into this before abd could not find any for the S4? Do they make a noticeable difference?

Post by **Dippy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:09 pm

S4RS4 wrote:The RS4 replica in ET35 WILL clear your calliper and will not need spacers and will not rub. Ask AMD or hundreds of S4 owners who have done this. Also, do not worry about good quality spacers. Porsche fit them as standard. Also, you will not notice any deteriation in the ride - just a slight sharpening of the steering.

Thanks. You are right - the RS4 replica they tried on yesterday did indeed clear the caliper without a spacer. I then had a long conversation with the guys there about the possibility of rubbing.

Basically they asked me if I used my car as an Estate, i.e. fully loaded. Of course I said yes - only last week it was loaded up with the wife and kids, luggage in the back and a roof box on top. They thought that there would be a chance of rubbing when the road was uneven or I went over speed bumps. Indeed on my holiday I went over lots of uneven roads and speed-bumps.

Maybe it will be rare when my car is fully loaded and the chances of rubbing still low, but I decided it isn't worth the risk. I do like my Avus wheels and I already feel every single bump in the road because of my H&R setup (which I will not give up under any circumstance). Maybe the steering might be sharper with 18" wheels but the main reason to upgrade is just aesthetics, and that's just not enough.

So I'm getting my Avus wheels refurbed and fitted with some new Michelin PS2s. Then I can forget about the whole business again and concentrate on my SatNav plus project...

Thanks to you all for your advice.

Post by **Nige_RS4** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 1:35 pm

What Powerflex bushes do you have? Where did you get them? I have looked into this before abd could not find any for the S4? Do they make a noticeable difference?

S4RS4, my local specialist fitted them for me - I don't think they are listed on the powerflex website - you need to call them. There is a slight loss in ride comfort (not to be confused with quality) - I can feel every bump through the wheel - almost Porsche-like. The front end is much tighter now, but I'm not sure I would do it again. It's difficult to compare it to std bushes, as mine were shot.

Nige.

Post by **Dippy** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 2:50 pm

Nige_S4 wrote:There is a slight loss in ride comfort (not to be confused with quality)

Do you want me to give the ISO definition of quality? (rhetorical question)

Post by **Nige_RS4** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 3:19 pm

Do you want me to give the ISO definition of quality? (rhetorical question)

Yes, please, but could you do it in Swahili - it might make it more interesting

Post by **sash** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:10 pm

http://www.sanders-stuff.com/Cars/S4_Wh ... heels.html

Guy near me has a silver s4 avant wth bbs LM or RX (always see it from a distance) and it really does look special, better than RS4s IMHO.

I have H&R setup with 18*8.5 et35 BBS CH and you get rubbing on fast tight corners, it does make you drive differently and it kinda dampens the fun of having a fast quattro. I think you are doing the best thing by sticking with stock.

As for your Satnav + project have you seen the guy on audiworld who has built a carputer that has sat nav, dvd, mp3 and all the other benefits of having a pc as an entertainment device. His carputer synchronises with his desktop when he pulls into his garage. His car then downloads the latest music from his desktop pc automatically, pretty neat stuff.

Post by **ajsl** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:09 pm

I'm in sort of similar situation to Dippy. My stock wheels have taken a battering since I got the car.. (Which is a bit ironic as I was really anal about not wanting any scratches on the wheels when I bought it last year! )

Anyway, I like the look of the stock wheels too. I like the whole "sleeper" aspect of the car and the wheels are part of that for me.

As for RS4 replica wheels, pretty much all of the TTs up here in Glasgow seem to have TT-R wheels on them (which look very similar to the RS4 ones) and I don't really want my car looking like that

There was a post here a while ago about someone running stock B6 S4 wheels on their car and that looked pretty good. However I'm pretty sure they had to use spacers and longer bolts.

That leads me to three questions :
1. Is there any advantage (other than ascetic) of having 18" wheels over the stock 17" ?
2. How much heavier are the B6 S4 wheels than the stock B5 wheels?
3. With stock suspension and brakes, will I get rubbing with B6 wheels?

Any thoughts?

Post by **Dazw** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 12:17 pm

Gotta be these! ...https://secure5.nexternal.com/shared/St ... =298621773

Post by **S4RS4** » Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:06 pm

ajsl wrote:I'm in sort of similar situation to Dippy. My stock wheels have taken a battering since I got the car.. (Which is a bit ironic as I was really anal about not wanting any scratches on the wheels when I bought it last year! )

Anyway, I like the look of the stock wheels too. I like the whole "sleeper" aspect of the car and the wheels are part of that for me.

As for RS4 replica wheels, pretty much all of the TTs up here in Glasgow seem to have TT-R wheels on them (which look very similar to the RS4 ones) and I don't really want my car looking like that

There was a post here a while ago about someone running stock B6 S4 wheels on their car and that looked pretty good. However I'm pretty sure they had to use spacers and longer bolts.

That leads me to three questions :
1. Is there any advantage (other than ascetic) of having 18" wheels over the stock 17" ?
2. How much heavier are the B6 S4 wheels than the stock B5 wheels?
3. With stock suspension and brakes, will I get rubbing with B6 wheels?

Any thoughts?

Not sure about weight differences between B5 S4 and B6 S4 wheels - probably negligible and not worth worrying about. I run stock B6 S4 wheels on my B5 S4 - you need to use spacers but I get no rubbing with lowered suspension and hard driving. I love the fact that the stock Avus look is mantained but just looks subtley more up to date. The main reason i fitted 18" was to clear my huge brakes.

Post by **BlackShadow** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:02 pm

So how much are the standard Avus then? Can you get them cheaper from a non-Audi UK source?

Post by **philipwalker** » Mon Aug 23, 2004 9:16 pm

Have a set of 18" OZ superleggeras S4 fitting, slight kurbing marks, tyres not clever...£550.....

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