Wheel re ferb

[tom1]

I want to get my my cups referbd...does anyone know the correct silver paint code please

Cheers
Tom

[rs2315]

Tom, should be on sticker where spare wheel is kept.
rs2315.

[tom1]

Thanks for that, i will look the morning:)

[tom1]

I have had them done...bloody great job,now porsche centre caps or not?

[rs2315]

I have had them done...bloody great job,now porsche centre caps or not?

No to porsche.
Audi Audi Audi
rs2315.

[DickyC]

One of the cars I looked at before buying mine had Porsche centres.

It reminded me of a Marcos I saw in the Sixties that had Ford side stripes.

What tyres did you go for? Mine had 245s that matched the original spec but clearly weren't the same. They rubbed the suspension in places and you could hear them doing it in cornering. I've gone for 225 P-Zeros. They've transformed the car.

[tom1]

Mine have 245s on there but they dont rub at all, i will replace them for 225s when they wear out but the tyres were only 2 weeks old when i bought the car.

[rs2315]

Mine have 245s on there but they dont rub at all, i will replace them for 225s when they wear out but the tyres were only 2 weeks old when i bought the car.

Got a feeling scillyisles will be along in a mo
rs2315.

[scillyisles]

Mine have 245s on there but they dont rub at all, i will replace them for 225s when they wear out but the tyres were only 2 weeks old when i bought the car.

Got a feeling scillyisles will be along in a mo
rs2315.

Right on cue

The issues with running 245 tyres on the OEM RS2 wheels are well documented on several forums - I would suggest that tom1 does a search on this forum about these issues and then decides whether he wishes to wait for them to wear out (or more likely prematurely fail on the inner sidewall) before replacing them with tyres that are safe to run on the OEM wheels.

[tom1]

I know, i know.

I have read all the posts concerned and when i do replace the tyres it will be for 225s but what i don't understand is that the car has always had 245s fitted according to its history, now i know that the size changed at some point but when ?, and has there actually been any documented reports of tyre failure on these cars with the later 245s fitted?

[DickyC]

As I understand it, the original 245s were developed by Dunlop specifically for the RS2 (P8000 was it?). With so few cars this level of production was unsustainable for a big manufacturer. My spare is original and it clearly says 245, but the side walls sit very square to the tread and do not extend far past the rim of the wheel whereas the 245s that were on the car when I bought are not square, they belly out. Or did until I replaced them.
In obsessive mode, I did consider offering to trade new for old to collect four other decent original spec Dunlop 245s sitting unused in spare wheel wells just to see how the car feels with them. But I didn't. The Pirelli 225s are a revelation compared to the wallowy old ones that rubbed.
And the car looks good on them too.
Another test, I suppose, would be to see if the spare wheel cover sits flush with the floor of the boot with a non-standard 245. With the original 245 it sits nicely flat.

[scillyisles]

I know, i know.

I have read all the posts concerned and when i do replace the tyres it will be for 225s but what i don't understand is that the car has always had 245s fitted according to its history, now i know that the size changed at some point but when ?, and has there actually been any documented reports of tyre failure on these cars with the later 245s fitted?

The RS2 was supplied from the factory on one tyre only - this was the Dunlop SP8000 in 245/40ZR17 size. The tyre was specially developed by Dunlop for the RS2 and the car was only homogolated on this tyre.
The tyre had a number of special characteristics :
- it was an undersize tyre i.e. the section width was actually more or less 225 in width rather than 245. (see DickyC observations which confirm this)
- it had (for it's time) specially strengthened sidewalls which allowed it to carry the RS2 weight at speed.
- it was produced in special tyre moulds which did not require significant overstretching to remove the tyre when produced.
As this SP8000 was only ever fitted to the RS2, Dunlop ceased production several years ago and unfortunately lots of owners, Audi dealers, garages and tyre outlets assumed that a modern 245/40ZR17 tyre was ok to fit on the 7" rims which the RS2 has.
This is incorrect - there are NO 245/40ZR17 tyres that are approved by the tyre manufacturer to fit on a 7" rim. I have spoken to Dunlop technical support, Pirelli technical support and Michelin technical support about this indepth and there are emails on the old Yahoo lists RS2 group from tyre manufacturers confirming this and all said that their 245/40ZR17 tyres were not safe (approved) for fitment on such a rim size due to the pronounced bulging that occurs on the sidewall and the modern production process moulds which stretch a 245/40ZR17 tyre to 8.5 or even 9 inches in production. These two factors mean that a 245/40ZR17 tyre fitted on a 7"rim is prone to the following:
- sidewall rupture due to the pronounced bulging (several documented examples of this exist including a couple on RS246.com) Unfortunately the failure tends to occur on the inner sidewall which is not visible on casual observation.
- tyre coming off the rim at speed due to overheating say when tracking the car. AIRC there was one documented example of this on the old yahoo lists for the RS2.

My Audi dealer fitted Dunlop SP9000 tyres on mine and was equally unaware of the problem. I experienced the pronounced bulging and the inner sidewalls of the tyre began to crack. Luckily I spotted it and the Audi dealer replaced all my tyres free of charge for the correct 225/45 fitment.

Another point worth noting is that not all 225/45ZR17 tyres are safe on the 7" rim - I currently run 225/45ZR17 Pirelli Neros which are approved by Pirelli on a 7" rim and these tyres have transformed the car.

[tom1]

I know, i know.

I have read all the posts concerned and when i do replace the tyres it will be for 225s but what i don't understand is that the car has always had 245s fitted according to its history, now i know that the size changed at some point but when ?, and has there actually been any documented reports of tyre failure on these cars with the later 245s fitted?

The RS2 was supplied from the factory on one tyre only - this was the Dunlop SP8000 in 245/40ZR17 size. The tyre was specially developed by Dunlop for the RS2 and the car was only homogolated on this tyre.
The tyre had a number of special characteristics :
- it was an undersize tyre i.e. the section width was actually more or less 225 in width rather than 245. (see DickyC observations which confirm this)
- it had (for it's time) specially strengthened sidewalls which allowed it to carry the RS2 weight at speed.
- it was produced in special tyre moulds which did not require significant overstretching to remove the tyre when produced.
As this SP8000 was only ever fitted to the RS2, Dunlop ceased production several years ago and unfortunately lots of owners, Audi dealers, garages and tyre outlets assumed that a modern 245/40ZR17 tyre was ok to fit on the 7" rims which the RS2 has.
This is incorrect - there are NO 245/40ZR17 tyres that are approved by the tyre manufacturer to fit on a 7" rim. I have spoken to Dunlop technical support, Pirelli technical support and Michelin technical support about this indepth and there are emails on the old Yahoo lists RS2 group from tyre manufacturers confirming this and all said that their 245/40ZR17 tyres were not safe (approved) for fitment on such a rim size due to the pronounced bulging that occurs on the sidewall and the modern production process moulds which stretch a 245/40ZR17 tyre to 8.5 or even 9 inches in production. These two factors mean that a 245/40ZR17 tyre fitted on a 7"rim is prone to the following:
- sidewall rupture due to the pronounced bulging (several documented examples of this exist including a couple on RS246.com) Unfortunately the failure tends to occur on the inner sidewall which is not visible on casual observation.
- tyre coming off the rim at speed due to overheating say when tracking the car. AIRC there was one documented example of this on the old yahoo lists for the RS2.

My Audi dealer fitted Dunlop SP9000 tyres on mine and was equally unaware of the problem. I experienced the pronounced bulging and the inner sidewalls of the tyre began to crack. Luckily I spotted it and the Audi dealer replaced all my tyres free of charge for the correct 225/45 fitment.

Another point worth noting is that not all 225/45ZR17 tyres are safe on the 7" rim - I currently run 225/45ZR17 Pirelli Neros which are approved by Pirelli on a 7" rim and these tyres have transformed the car.

Thank you for taking the time to reply with such indepth information, i am in the process of getting new tyres today but because of the unexpected cost i was going to go for Falken FK452 94Y any thoughts on these tyres?

[scillyisles]

The load speed rating index of the Falkens (I assume we are talking size 225/45ZR17) is good at 94Y but you need to check with Falken technical support (or their website if it contains such info) that this tyre is suitable for fitment on a 7" rim. I have no personal experience of running Falkens on any of my cars so cannot comment on their performance. As mentioned in my previous post not all 225/45 Zr17 tyres are ok on a 7" rim. I had some 225/45 Bridgestone RE040 Potenzas on my RS2 where the front passenger side tyre internally delaminated which was most probably due to these issues.

[tom1]

I have contacted Falken and await there reply.