On the credit agencies thing - I know what you mean - you could always try my latest tactic though: "I'm terribly sorry that neither myself nor my PA have been able to respond to any of your kind letters or telephone calls over the last three weeks - unfortunately we've both been out of the country during ongoing efforts to close a multi-million pound business deal. So, your cheque's in the post. Also, can I have a limit-increase?" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif
Drive-By-Wire is a term sort of borrowed from Aviation... Fly-By-Wire are the generation of aircraft whose engines (and other components) are controlled by remote electronics as opposed to the old cables & hydraulics methods. It's essentially the same thing with cars; a DBW engine is one which has a system of electronics between the go-pedal and the throttle; and a non-DBW engine has a cable attached to the pedal which ultimately tugs on the throttle-body when you push...
So, to answer you actual question... Yes, DBW engines were fitted to later models - what year is yours? The easiest way to find out for certain if yours is DBW (without having a look under the bonnet for a cable pulling at the throttle as you push the pedal) is to have a look for your three letter engine-code and post it on the forum (found on your Vehicle Data Sticker - there's one on the indside cover of your service record and one in the spare-wheel well).
On the replica wheel front - the key difference (after price) between replicas and OEM is weight. I couldn't say for certain whether any particular replica is considerably different in weight either way compared to OEM - but if you're looking for the last ounce of performance, it's a consideration. Aside from that the finishes can be slightly different colours, or the detailing not quite identical - the main difference is that the centres on replicas are often pretty easy to spot, but on the majority they can be replaced for Audi OEM centres. All the cosmetic differences are the kind of thing that a blind man on a galloping horse would never spot though...
Regards,
Rob.
