maybe a daft question on alloy upgrade

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Focusy

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Hi all,

If you have a audi sport awith 17 inch and want to upgrade alloys to genuine 18/19 inch alloys. do you need to do anything to the suspension to make it sit right or would the look ok standard.

im not looking to lower the vehicle just get the alloys to sit right in wheel arch,

next question which is best with black Sportback

thanks

focusy
 
wow must of been a daft question 32 views, and no feedback :readit: nm nite all
 
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Nothing needed mate, just bolt um on. As the wheels get bigger, the tyre profile gets smaller so you end up with a similar over all size. Use Willtheyfit.com to check size differences..
 
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They will fit and nothing will have to be done to the suspension, but your taking away some of your driving comfort and you will consume more fuel over time + tyres are pretty expensive ones you go over 17" so if i were you, i would just stick to the 17" wheels. and i think the RS3 8V rotor black alloy wheels would look awesome on a black sportback
 
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I would be wary of 19" without mag ride, as it would be too harsh for my comfort. Your tyre choice will also affect the comfort/performance level. Be careful on your choice of genuine Audi alloy wheel in regards to the ET. Any Audi OEM installed alloy on the A3/S3 8V series will fit with no ET issues, be careful with others.
 
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Morning all ,thank you for taking the time and replying to my post appreciate it, good to hear they just bolt on ,i was looking at the twin star alloys to replace the standard 17 on the black car or may be the 19 s3.

Is the ride much harder / unforgiving on the 18s. You know British roads are getting worse
 
Indeed the roads are getting much worse. Potholes everywhere. If you stick with your current size wheels you have a taller profile tyre which helps to cushion the ride. Before you switch check the prices of your current tyres vs the ones you will need on a bigger wheel. My experience of lower profile tyres is they seem very prone to punctures but perhaps that's just bad luck on my part.
 
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19s will be absolutely fine on your car mate and the ride won't be too bad at all. Your car will most likely have an increased wheel arch though, so you may want lowering springs too.
 
Focusy said:
Hi all,

If you have a audi sport awith 17 inch and want to upgrade alloys to genuine 18/19 inch alloys. do you need to do anything to the suspension to make it sit right or would the look ok standard.

im not looking to lower the vehicle just get the alloys to sit right in wheel arch,

next question which is best with black Sportback

thanks

focusy
Click to expand...
Best go for 18"s mate as this size gives you the best compromise between comfort and aesthetics, also 18"s will be easier/cheaper to get "ebay" and besides 19"s are too severe without magnetic dampers, l have had 2 cars one with 18s/normal suspension and 19"s with magnetic dampers even in comfort mode its a very firm ride indeed
 
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Jassyo06. Just so I get it right the 18 on normal was still a firm ride?
 
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Does your car have the sport suspension deleted? if you do then it will look pretty high with 18s or 19s. just go on eBay or auto trader and check some cars out so you can see the difference. some look ridiculous even with the normal Audi 18's.

For example, this one is running 17's but has obviously got the standard suspension eventhougt its a Sport model. Looks super high in my opinion and 18's on it would look terrible.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-64-...225688?hash=item1a44407918:g:8BoAAOSw0BNakLkR

This one seems to be running 18's on normal suspension. seems high too. might be wrong though!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-64-...923289?hash=item2a945fa7d9:g:~MIAAOSwsCFZpIUV
 
Focusy said:
Jassyo06. Just so I get it right the 18 on normal was still a firm ride?
Click to expand...

Firmish....??? if that's a word which it's not....lol but its a nice compromise tyre's are around £100 a corner fitted for 18"s 225/40/18, my S3 on 18"s was also quieter, 19"s carry a lot more road noise mate and are less effective driving in the snow
 
Ormesome said:
Does your car have the sport suspension deleted? if you do then it will look pretty high with 18s or 19s. just go on eBay or auto trader and check some cars out so you can see the difference. some look ridiculous even with the normal Audi 18's.

For example, this one is running 17's but has obviously got the standard suspension eventhougt its a Sport model. Looks super high in my opinion and 18's on it would look terrible.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-64-...225688?hash=item1a44407918:g:8BoAAOSw0BNakLkR

This one seems to be running 18's on normal suspension. seems high too. might be wrong though!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2014-64-...923289?hash=item2a945fa7d9:g:~MIAAOSwsCFZpIUV
Click to expand...

Radius will be same so will be no higher or lower with 17/18/19 - only difference will be the percentage of the radius that is metal vs. Rubber


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my car was second hand, how do I know if its sport suspension deleted?
 
Philip Davies said:
Radius will be same so will be no higher or lower with 17/18/19 - only difference will be the percentage of the radius that is metal vs. Rubber

I think your wrong on the radius equation 18/s and especially 19"s really fill the wheel arches far more than a 16/17 wheel with a taller/ fatter tyre profile

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Click to expand...
 

No, sorry you’re wrong, profile changes (gets lower) as wheel widens - radius (wheel plus tyre wall) has to stay same (within a small tolerance) otherwise odometer and speedometer would be wrong


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Philip Davies said:
No, sorry you’re wrong, profile changes (gets lower) as wheel widens - radius (wheel plus tyre wall) has to stay same (within a small tolerance) otherwise odometer and speedometer would be wrong


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Click to expand...

Optically the 18/19 will look much bigger because the eye notices the wheel rather than the black tyre but overall the ride height won’t change other than the tolerance (few mm)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
You'd be surprised at the actual difference as tyre manufacturers build in extra height to low profile sidewalls for comfort and that goes for width too as a 225 tyre could measure 215-235 !

Plus sizing = plus rising .

Going from 16 to an acceptable 17 the math was 12mm but reality was in excess of 22mm .

They fill the arch but raise the chassis from the ground thus raising the center of gravity and that's where lowered springs come into play .
 
Gazwould said:
You'd be surprised at the actual difference as tyre manufacturers build in extra height to low profile sidewalls for comfort and that goes for width too as a 225 tyre could measure 215-235 !

Plus sizing = plus rising .

Going from 16 to an acceptable 17 the math was 12mm but reality was in excess of 22mm .

They fill the arch but raise the chassis from the ground thus raising the center of gravity and that's where lowered springs come into play .
Click to expand...

205/55 R16 is 632mm
225/45 R17 is 634mm

See www.wheel-size.com

Difference (2mm) is 0.3% different (or 99.7% the same)


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This is it , that's the math and I've done exactly those sizes on another car and noticed a 10mm rise .

Tyre manufacturers do not keep to precise widths or aspect ratio sidewall profiles !
 
In a perfect world yes , however VAG have listed a 205 55 16 and 235 45 17 and in practical that was in excess of 22mm and not the 12mm math .

Tested against two different GPS apps the 235 45 17 was bang on due to the 205 55 16 under read in this particular application .
 
Gazwould said:
In a perfect world yes , however VAG have listed a 205 55 16 and 235 45 17 and in practical that was in excess of 22mm and not the 12mm math .

Tested against two different GPS apps the 235 45 17 was bang on due to the 205 55 16 under read in this particular application .
Click to expand...

According to Audi (Configurator) the 17” wheels are 225 not 235 so difference is 2mm


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I'm talking about a different VAG application that quoted 205 55 16 and 235 45 17 that I personally examined the real world difference after many years of suspicion.

Accept tyre manufacturers do not keep to the sizes and it will make perfect sense .
 
Philip Davies said:
According to Audi (Configurator) the 17” wheels are 225 not 235 so difference is 2mm


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Click to expand...
Yes. My Sport came with 225/45R17, so if someone has fitted 235/45R17 then I would expect them to be too big.
 
Gazwould said:
Then 235 45 17 is viable as math of diameter is 12mm , however it isn't...
Click to expand...

Exactly - the irony is that the ride height of the 17 is actually higher than the 16 (similarly 18 higher than 17) but only by a few mms. My conclusion is go for the bigger wheel if you like its looks or better handling but not for the ride height unless you want the ride height slightly higher!


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Correct but it's not those few mm's.
2016-07-08-23-30-45-jpg.106916


205 55 16 Vs 235 45 17 .

The math is 12mm , but the wood is 22mm !

Both tyres on wear bars.
 
Focusy said:
my car was second hand, how do I know if its sport suspension deleted?
Click to expand...

It will be listed under the spec section of the myaudi website. Have you registered there? failing that, post a photo here. Easy to tell the difference. :icon thumright:
 
Ormesome said:
SO I was right?
Click to expand...

Without starting a p***ing contest I agree you have shown one example of a manufacturer producing a tyre outside of what would appear to be its spec for size. Does that mean all tyres of a particular size are out of spec? I can’t see how you could deduce that from 1 example. Is there any evidence of systematic bias across all tyres of a certain size? I don’t know. Do you?


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Yes , the guy who had 235 45 17 and renewed and they rubbed on a Passat so he dropped down to 225 45 17 .

The guy who measured 14mm difference in width between two 225 45 17 tyres with wheels .

A mates Skyline R34 GTT when he went to 18 " looked like a 4x4 .

My experience on non VAG of chassis rising beyond the math and this , two 235 45 17 tyres...

IMG_2741_zps7f5c9c25.jpg
 
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Philip Davies said:
Without starting a p***ing contest I agree you have shown one example of a manufacturer producing a tyre outside of what would appear to be its spec for size. Does that mean all tyres of a particular size are out of spec? I can’t see how you could deduce that from 1 example. Is there any evidence of systematic bias across all tyres of a certain size? I don’t know. Do you?


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Click to expand...

Nope! don't really know much about it!! just going off the fact that most cars, when running stock suspension, look ridiculously high when the wheel size is upped and the suspension isn't tweaked. No science to it. Just the simple fact that if you google pics for an Audi A3 8V SE (SE version has the normal suspension, ie not lowered) then you will see lots of mods to wheels such as this one below which obviously has the SE suspension and 18 alloy wheel upgrade. Notice the height of the front end and the gap in the wheel arch. Now with the standard 17'sit would still be higher, but those 18's push it even higher than normal.

http://www.vwgolf.net.au/showthread...51-wheels-Similar-to-MK7-GTi-Wheels.-Near-new
 
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