SOFT WHEELS & DEALER NONSENSE

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Nige_RS4
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Post by Nige_RS4 » Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:59 pm

Sounds about right Dhali, i posted on 19Oct that i had 5 new wheels and they arrived Friday
How the hell did you manage that - were all 5 within tolerance?
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ScottyBoy
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Post by ScottyBoy » Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:48 pm

I had 1 that was fine (spare never been used) 3 were 3mm and 1 was 4mm so i was told.
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mattrs4
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Post by mattrs4 » Fri Aug 03, 2007 12:01 pm

I had the same problem but with a split on the inside of a soft alloy, not on the kerb side. it was sent to audi uk but no joy, which I was less than happy with, I just feel that they will try any excuse not to honour the guarantee, which shows audi uk in a bad light... also the fact that all dealers don't seem to be aware of the soft alloy situation... seems like they are trying to dodge the issue...
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TopBear
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Post by TopBear » Fri Aug 03, 2007 1:03 pm

mattrs4 wrote:I had the same problem but with a split on the inside of a soft alloy, not on the kerb side. it was sent to audi uk but no joy, which I was less than happy with, I just feel that they will try any excuse not to honour the guarantee, which shows audi uk in a bad light... also the fact that all dealers don't seem to be aware of the soft alloy situation... seems like they are trying to dodge the issue...
Did you get the wheel returned to you that you sent to Audi CS\warranty?

I've just had 5 brand 'hard' compound alloys provided via warranty to replace the soft wheels provided with the car, of which one cracked and another slighly bent.
I was advised during my discussions with Audi UK CS, that you can upgrade to the hard wheels at any time, irrespect of the condition of your soft wheels.

My dealer was useless at 'dealing' or even knowing\understanding the issues around the RS4 wheels.
:blackrs4: B5 RS4, MRC Remap, Milltek, RS6\B7 Brakes, Black\Carbon

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quattrokid1
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Post by quattrokid1 » Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:05 am

just replaced the front tyres yesterday on the RS the chap said I should have a look at this rim on the balance machine, it looked like Fred Flintstones but it balances up perfectly so I was wondering after speaking to Top Bear that Audi will replace the rims under warranty.

I wonder if Audi would change to the S5 rims and we would pay the difference in the coast of the 2 sets of rims. We would like to have the S5 blade style rims fitted BUT they have a 24mm off set so 12m each side extending the track..... would this be a problem?

We also like the B7 RS4 rims but I didnt have time to find out what ofset they are. Do they just go straight on or is there any other changes to be made?

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dace
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Post by dace » Sun Aug 12, 2007 9:43 am

Offset on the B5 RS4 is 20mm, so you would get away with 5mm spacers on the S5 wheels.
Dave

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quattrokid1
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Post by quattrokid1 » Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:59 pm

ok thanks, I'll make a note of that :D
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quattrokid1
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Post by quattrokid1 » Sat Aug 18, 2007 11:26 am

just brousing ebay and found this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AUDI-RS4-18in-ORI ... dZViewItem

just wondering why the seller says its an original RS4 rim "off an S3"

is this ok for the B5 RS4?

cheers
Misano red B5 RS4 710 D/V's SERVICED BY EL GRIZZMO:).... Wife's !!
Tornado red WR quattro :):)
UrS4 saloon auto:) resurected by Unit20
Audi S3 8L Imola yellow

Audi B6 S4 Cabrio SOLD :( :(
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Audi 80 cabrio 2.6 V6 (SOLD)
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mikeyquattro
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Post by mikeyquattro » Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:26 pm

AFAIK the ET is 20 on RS4 rims.

So no it's not ok for an RS4
Tomorrow is another day

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quattrokid1
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Post by quattrokid1 » Sun Aug 19, 2007 10:51 am

ok thanks Mikey :beerchug:
Misano red B5 RS4 710 D/V's SERVICED BY EL GRIZZMO:).... Wife's !!
Tornado red WR quattro :):)
UrS4 saloon auto:) resurected by Unit20
Audi S3 8L Imola yellow

Audi B6 S4 Cabrio SOLD :( :(
Audi 100 2.2E SOLD
Audi 80 cabrio 2.6 V6 (SOLD)
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bneaves
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Post by bneaves » Thu Jan 03, 2008 9:23 pm

Dealer phoned me today to confirm they would replace my 3 buckled wheels with 4 new hard alloys. They said Audi UK were no longer offering soft alloys, they say it was a "good will" gesture though (For who!!)

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TopBear
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Post by TopBear » Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:15 pm

bneaves wrote:Dealer phoned me today to confirm they would replace my 3 buckled wheels with 4 new hard alloys. They said Audi UK were no longer offering soft alloys, they say it was a "good will" gesture though (For who!!)
Insist they replace all your wheels based on safety of mixing compound wheels on a car which is clearly sensitive to this.
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SimonC
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Post by SimonC » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:32 am

The whole point in these soft wheels is, according to the manufacturer, to protect the structure of the car. The lifetime guarantee merely offsets the inconvenience caused by this design flaw. If Audi want to force a set of hard wheels on you (ie remove this structural protection) then I trust the lifetime guarantee now applies to the car itself?

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TopBear
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Post by TopBear » Sun Jan 06, 2008 1:28 pm

SimonC wrote:The whole point in these soft wheels is, according to the manufacturer, to protect the structure of the car. The lifetime guarantee merely offsets the inconvenience caused by this design flaw. If Audi want to force a set of hard wheels on you (ie remove this structural protection) then I trust the lifetime guarantee now applies to the car itself?
That's certainly one way of looking at it, however I'd bet that Audi CS would counter that one by insisting that the original soft wheel design is 'too soft' and not designed to bend as easy as they do, and the newer 'harder' design wheels provides the optimal balance of wheel deformation and vehicle structure protection.
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bneaves
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Post by bneaves » Sun Jan 06, 2008 5:49 pm

As far as i understand from the original Audi UK conferance day (video in download section) as well as Audi. The wheels were only there to prevent tyre damage and not chassis. In its time it was one of the first cars to run such low profile tyres in "mainstream" production. The idea of the wheels as the fact it would bear the brunt of an impact and buckle, rather than the tyre. The reason being a buckled wheel is still safe to drive you home (and in my case many hundreds of miles!) rather than a tyre which will deflate and strand you, also with no spare.

The impression i got from Audi was the fact many of their cars now run these low profile tyres and are not having a problem, so they think they were just overly cautious. Hence they would rather you fitted hard compund tyres to your car and save them some money......

TopBear,
in reply to your original post, they are replacing all 4 wheels with hard cmpound, it is just 3 that seem to be buckled.

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