Thread: Wheel Spacers

Ive noticed that quite a few people have added spacers to the wheels of their S3s. How does this effect the handling and which are the best ones to buy. Im also looking at a set of wheels with the wrong offset and using spacers to correct this. Any help or advice greatfully received

i dont think spacers have any significant effect on handling - they make the car look better. the standard 7.5" wheels with et54 offset.

adding a spacer effectively reduces offset by making the wheels stick out more.

going to 8" wheels with the same 54 offset would be equivalent to adding spacers of 6.3mm (1/2 of the extra 1/2" width is outside, 1/2 inside) - most people go to 8" wheels with offset of 45 or so, which is equivalent to adding 15mm spacer and just about fits on a lowered car without catching the wings.

so, you could add between 10-15mm - you need hubcentric spacers (they hold themselves centrally whilst you put on the wheels) with longer bolts and longer locking bolts. lots of people seem to like the h&r ones but theres plenty of choice.

alternatively buy some 18x8 wheels with an offset of 45 or slightly more if you can find them. some rs4 and rs6 reps are around with offsets of 45, 46 and 48

dont buy any wheels with a lower offset than 42 - even those may catch the arches and you would need to get the wheels machined to fit or the arches rolled - neither probably desirable.

Thanks Dunk....my S3 is a 2001 which has an offset of et35. Im going to try and fit some wheels with an et45 offset using some 15m spacers (wheels are from my subaru and are 18 x 7.5, 5 x 100 pcd) which hopefully will correct the offset and make the wheels stick out a little further for appearance

You'll also need to make sure the centre bore of the wheels is correct to make sure they'll fit. 15mm all round would give you an ET of 30 which will be slightly further out then standard but if you really want the wider look then it may be worth while thinking about 25mm rear and 20mm front! H&R are the ones to go for, give me a shout if you want a price.

Damian @ DPM

sorry i missed the fact you have an 8L!

oem rstt 18x8" wheels for the tt/s3 is 33

i put 10mm spacers all round on my 8L S3 without any rubbing with oem 18" wheels so a total offset of 23 effectively - lots of people used 15mm spacers at the rear.

the s3 hubs have a 57.1mm lip that sits in a hole, and hubcentric spacers have a similar lip to sit in the wheel, so you may have to use non-hubcentric spacers or get the outer lip machined off if your scooby wheels have a smaller centre hole than the 57.1mm

Im running 18x8.5s on my 8L S3 with 'Forge' 13mm Spacers all round, they were fitted by the previous owner and come with the blots, quite expensive I think but very well made

Originally Posted by DPM

You'll also need to make sure the centre bore of the wheels is correct to make sure they'll fit. 15mm all round would give you an ET of 30 which will be slightly further out then standard but if you really want the wider look then it may be worth while thinking about 25mm rear and 20mm front! H&R are the ones to go for, give me a shout if you want a price.

Damian @ DPM

Damian @ hijacker.com

Originally Posted by Ballcrusher

Damian @ hijacker.com