Snow Tyres

[tweek]

Hi,

I have a spare set of 17" alloys from a B5 A4 and am considering a set of winter tyres. What I would like to know is will these fit onto my B7 S4 avant that currently has 18" rims on.

Thanks

Pete

[HoppyUK]

I have a spare set of 17" alloys from a B5 A4 and am considering a set of winter tyres.

What I would like to know is will these fit onto my B7 S4 avant that currently has 18" rims on.

Will they clear the front brakes? If they do, it'll be tight and the only way to be sure is to jack the car up and try one for size. And then...

What width are they, and off-set? Standard S4 B7 rims are 18x8in with 43mm off-set. If your old wheels have the same off-set (stamped on the back of the spokes) then I don't see why not. Check that the bolt holes are the same of course - should be.

Then you need tyres that have a high aspect ratio to get the same circumference. Use a calculator like this link to work it out. You need to get within 2-3% to avoid problems with rubbing arches/struts and speedo errors.
http://www.powerdog.com/tiresize.cgi

Having said all that, while I've watched all sorts of 2WD cars stuggle in the snow (especially BMWs ) both my S4 and wife's TT Quattro have been peerless.

[theop]

R18 snow tyres are v expensive because few people buy any in the UK among other things. R17 wheels fit standard S4s and would be the regular fitment in places like Switzerland. A set of snow contis in R17 I had in an R32 Golf a few years ago cost me close to CHF 2k, ie over 1k gbp at the rates today..