19" or 20" alloys?

jojo

jojo

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I know, I know, these questions are subjective, and everyone has their own opinion etc.

So basically, my biturbo comes with 19" rims as standard, and I'd like to keep it oem looking, so exploring my options. The current wheels I have on are an optional extra(RS4 twin spoke type alloys), and I'm not a fan of them, and I'm leaning towards a set of 5 spoke rotors. I already know the black edition ones are 20", but it's my intention to stick with 19" for the ride comfort.

Do you think I'm selling myself short for not going with the 20" option? The A6 is a BIG car, and even 19s look small on it. and at some point in the future, my other half will kerb these alloys.

Does anyone have an Avant with 19" rotors fitted? Genuine or Replicas, I'm not fussed. Show me some pics!
 
20'' all day jo!
Fill the hole!
There is an A6 S line at work in grey and looks perfect on rotors, I will try get a pic next time I see it.
BTW apart from my rubbish tyres on my 5 on 20's the ride is no different.
it is all down to tyre choice, just go for a 35 profile and decent rubber as you know
 
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CHEZ said:
20'' all day jo!
Fill the hole!
There is an A6 S line at work in grey and looks perfect on rotors, I will try get a pic next time I see it.
BTW apart from my rubbish tyres on my 5 on 20's the ride is no different.
it is all down to tyre choice, just go for a 35 profile and decent rubber as you know
Click to expand...
Alright Chez! I was just googling images of A6 Avants, and I think you're right, the 20s just look so much better! Just need to convince the other half! :laugh:
 
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Lol, just watch them kerbs, or rather get the Mrs to....
You could even go 21'' but that's taking the hit and miss a bit
Imo, rotors just look correct without being in your face.
Good luck
 
jojo said:
I would be after ones with the darker centres bud! :(
Click to expand...

Ah OK. Well I'm happy to take £1000 for them to give you money to repaint them? Cost me £400 to get them done in Silver, but that was towards the expensive side of the quotes. Even at £1,400 I think they are a bargain! Mostly go for £1500 on eBay with tyres, but damaged, or £1,500 without tyres mint.

My plan if I kept them was to run them for a while in silver, and then when I needed to refurb them later on down the line (sometimes curbing is inevitable...especially on 20" monsters!), change the colour to the titanium grey. They've never been diamond cut since factory so have plenty of options with getting them the style you want :)

Anyway, hit me a PM if you are interested and I'll stop pestering you now :p
 
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I don't know how you guys do it, I've dinged my 18" wheels once already when I hit a fairly small pot-hole.... and that was on winter tyres! And I've lost one summer tyre too... and that's in deepest darkest Surrey.... unless you're keeeping the car in the city centre the whole time, I wouldn't risk <45 profile.

I was going to get a set of 17's for my winter tyres from a brand new A6 2.0TDI, who was upgrading... until I realised that 18" was the smallest the brake calipers would allow...
 
BahnStormer77 said:
I don't know how you guys do it, I've dinged my 18" wheels once already when I hit a fairly small pot-hole.... and that was on winter tyres! And I've lost one summer tyre too... and that's in deepest darkest Surrey.... unless you're keeeping the car in the city centre the whole time, I wouldn't risk <45 profile.

I was going to get a set of 17's for my winter tyres from a brand new A6 2.0TDI, who was upgrading... until I realised that 18" was the smallest the brake calipers would allow...
Click to expand...
I've alway ran big alloys on my car, went through 8 different sets of alloys on my Passat over 14 years and 150k miles.
Of course the roads have deteriorated over time, and running large alloys with low profiles is a risk today compared to 15 years ago!
 
Had my 20'' rotors (albeit reps) for over a year and a bit now, and still good as new, no curbing, no damage from the elements and no buckles! as I said still good as new! I seal them with poor boys annually
It is driver dependant I feel!
Learn to fear curbs and you should be good, also avoid pot holes and use your head with speed bumps.
Common sense prevails
 
Personally I wouldn't have any wheels on a car again that have diamond cut faces, They are just a liability, it makes no difference whether you scratch them or not over a period of time water finds it's way in and you are into expense to get them recut and re lacquered. Also original rotors are expensive for a reason because they are cast with hollow spokes and some attempt is made to make them lighter.
Aftermarket items aren't the same they are a good bit heavier.
These would like nice on your motor I think. Lightweight quality wheels.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/alloy-wheels/oz/superturismo-dakar-1347/8.5x20-et45-5x112-79-260597

JOJO 20


Quite surprised you can get quality tyres for just over £100 in a 20 inch size . 255 / 35 /20

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/uniroyal/rainsport-3/255-35-r20-97y-187789
 
desertstorm said:
Personally I wouldn't have any wheels on a car again that have diamond cut faces, They are just a liability, it makes no difference whether you scratch them or not over a period of time water finds it's way in and you are into expense to get them recut and re lacquered. Also original rotors are expensive for a reason because they are cast with hollow spokes and some attempt is made to make them lighter.
Aftermarket items aren't the same they are a good bit heavier.
These would like nice on your motor I think. Lightweight quality wheels.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/alloy-wheels/oz/superturismo-dakar-1347/8.5x20-et45-5x112-79-260597

View attachment 72596

Quite surprised you can get quality tyres for just over £100 in a 20 inch size . 255 / 35 /20

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/uniroyal/rainsport-3/255-35-r20-97y-187789
Click to expand...

That was the major factor for getting the finish I did on my 20s. I originally wanted the grey with diamond cut edge, but the refurb company put me off the diamond cut finish, and this way I get the silver polished edge look while having an extremely robust lacquered finish (better than OEM it could be argued).

Bit of a hypocrite mind, as my new S5 is specced with 19" rotors with the diamond cut finish...! If the offset wasn't too high on those 20 for my S5 I would love to keep them....
 
desertstorm said:
Personally I wouldn't have any wheels on a car again that have diamond cut faces, They are just a liability, it makes no difference whether you scratch them or not over a period of time water finds it's way in and you are into expense to get them recut and re lacquered. Also original rotors are expensive for a reason because they are cast with hollow spokes and some attempt is made to make them lighter.
Aftermarket items aren't the same they are a good bit heavier.
These would like nice on your motor I think. Lightweight quality wheels.
https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/alloy-wheels/oz/superturismo-dakar-1347/8.5x20-et45-5x112-79-260597

View attachment 72596

Quite surprised you can get quality tyres for just over £100 in a 20 inch size . 255 / 35 /20

https://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/uniroyal/rainsport-3/255-35-r20-97y-187789
Click to expand...

Where's the info on the hollow spokes from Karl? The only hollow spoke alloys I remember reading up on are the 5 spoke alloys from the 'dynamik' edition A4's.
 
My bad I assumed all the Audi Rotor wheels had hollow spokes. It appears that maybe these are limited to some of the 19 inch wheels only and the 20 inch wheels are just normal cast wheels. Which is worse.
I have found this site that seems to give you the weight of OE wheels. I have tried a few that I know and they seem to pretty accurate.
So a 20 inch audi rotor wheel
4G0601025BP or 4G0601025AC is 14.5kG

http://www.online-teile.com/volkswagen-ersatzteile/4G0601025BP_Alloy-Rim.html

A 19* 8.5 inch Audi R8 wheel
420601025AC 9.5Kg
Look at the bottom of page 6 on this document
http://www.fuchsfelge.de/fileadmin/...nload/englisch/SpecialForgedWheelsForAudi.pdf

http://www.online-teile.com/volkswagen-ersatzteile/420601025AC_Alloy-Rim.html

Unfortunately R8 wheels have a 57.1mm centre I think where as the A6 is 66.6mm. But you can see how light a wheel can be. It's not just the static weight it's the flywheel effect of the extra weight.
If you want to maintain the performance and fuel economy the last thing you want to be doing is fitting bigger wheels and tyres .
Have a look how much your existing wheels weigh.

I clocked a picture of this a few weeks ago in a car magazine. Audi Q7 with some very impressive fuel economy figures. I always read the small print though includes the optional downgrade from 19 inch alloys to 18 inch wheels. I wonder how many people downgrade to 18 inch wheels on their Q7.
Audi will always fit the smallest wheel tyre combo on a car for these tests.
19 downgrade 18 Q7
 
That's some serious digging you done there Karl! Lol. This A6 is never going on the track or racing, so the alloy size isn't going to be such an issue I think? It's 19" as standard, so going up an increase probably has little effect driving around town, especially as the tyre width stays the same.

Sneaky Audi using a smaller wheel to achieve better figures. But it's this little detail that sells cars! My mate actually owns a post 2010 Q7 3.0 tdi, he said it's impossible to get those claimed figures! The same guy came to check the boot out of my A6 to see if it's as wide as his Q7, as he's ready to trade it in!
 
It's not just about track or racing. That Q7 was fitted with smaller wheels and tyres to improve it's fuel economy. As an aside from that you also get an improvement in performance. I am sure you have seen this before. What size wheels does your mate run on his Q7? .
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested

On any car there will be a sweet spot in the performance / mpg / looks / handling and VAG usually pitch there cars there. On your car it's probably 18-19 inch wheels. 20's may look better but they are worse in almost all other areas as regards mpg, performance, handling, ride quality with lower profile tyres.
 
Another consideration - Pete prepares to duck and cover - is your CO2 emission rating. If you're going for a Black Edition or a car with 20" Wheels, CO2 emissions may not be your first priority, but moving to the heavier wheels (info as expertly sourced by @desertstorm storm in earlier post on this thread) took me to the next CO2 emissions bracket. It's not a company car, but that could be a consideration for some... and I still have to pay more road tax now...
 
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20 inch wheels suit the A6 much better as it is such a large car.

The compromise is not comfort, but noise. The motorway noise from the tyres is significant.

Had an issue with a couple of pot holes - I claimed through the council as they were more like something you would find on Mars.

Avoid the temptation for 21inch - the cost of tyres is horrendous and most places won't even stock or fit them.
 
Just to highlight - there is so much comfort to dial in with the PSI.
 
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jojo said:
The same guy came to check the boot out of my A6 to see if it's as wide as his Q7, as he's ready to trade it in!
Click to expand...

Has he not heard of brochures?

A6 Avant C7: 1181 x 1050mm
Q7 (2015): 1179 x 1255mm

I've got the older shape Q7 brochure cached at home somewhere... I seem to remember that it's a little shorter and a lot narrower than the new Q7...
 
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PeteBSK said:
Another consideration - Pete prepares to duck and cover - is your CO2 emission rating. If you're going for a Black Edition or a car with 20" Wheels, CO2 emissions may not be your first priority, but moving to the heavier wheels (info as expertly sourced by @desertstorm storm in earlier post on this thread) took me to the next CO2 emissions bracket. It's not a company car, but that could be a consideration for some... and I still have to pay more road tax now...
Click to expand...
Lol Pete, the CO2 is fixed on mine, as I purchased it used! :)
 
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BahnStormer77 said:
Has he not heard of brochures?

A6 Avant C7: 1181 x 1050mm
Q7 (2015): 1179 x 1255mm

I've got the older shape Q7 brochure cached at home somewhere... I seem to remember that it's a little shorter and a lot narrower than the new Q7...
Click to expand...
Yes, of course there's brochures, but he's old school, like in his 50s, so he needs to see it for himself!
 
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