57 Plate 3 door A3 2.0 TDI Wheels

[RD18]

Hello,

I am after a bit of advice, what Audi wheels can I fit to my car without any problems? Its a 3 door car I have but these are the wheels I currently have:

What offsets can I fit/rim widths/diameter?

Will Audi A4 wheels fit?

Thanks
RD18

 

[Ironborn]

5x112 with CB: 57.1. 19inch IMO is perfect
If you after that concave dish look the limits for the 8p are
9.5J ET 40+
9J ET 41+
8.5J ET 35+
These are the most aggressive fitments I have seen without arch work. But they all need 215 tyres, lows and maybe a bit of camber. If you stay within that range you will be fine. For easy fitment go for ET 44+. I think the most popular fitment for the 8P is 19 8.5 ET 45 They shouldn't give you any problems and they sit pretty much flush.

 

[RD18]

Thanks for your reply, is the 57.1 CB not standard across Audi wheels?

I am after a factory look, nothing else.

I have been looking at these but I am not sure if they will fit, any ideas? They are off an Audi A4:

 

[craig205wrc]

Have a look here

 

[Ironborn]

No, but easily workable. I can't say without knowing the specs. But they should fit, A4s have similar fitment. The tyres are too big that's for sure.

 

[RD18]

Thanks for the reply, with regards to tyres, will these have to be very low profile? I dont want to have to stretch them... I have asked the seller if he can let me know the fitment I think this is written on the inside of the wheel?

Rd18

 

[RD18]

He says the fitment is:

8J x 17 ET47

So I guess:

Width 8 Inches
Diametier 17 Inches
ET47 - Wheel offset?

Is this suitable?

Thanks
RD18

 

[craig205wrc]

Yes, they'll fit no problem

 

[RD18]

Great! do you know what tyre sizes I will need or will they for straight on? also will this effect the speedo reading at all?

 

[Jembo]

I run a set of 17" 225 50 TT Dunlop winter tyres on my black edition A3 - sit further out but don't rub

However u may have some challenges with any of the 18" & above TT rims with the offset, so be careful

 

[RD18]

What wheels are those tyres on? I am still really confused to what range of offset,diameter widths etc I can run on my A3 with no problems, can anybody refer me to a list of fitments? I can only find a website that states a single accepted size for my year of A3?

 

[Ironborn]

I gave you maximum limits up top. As far as I know
ET: 42+ will fit easily
Width: 7.5J to 8.5J will fit easily
Diameter : 16inch to 18inch will fit easily. 19inch to 20inch need lows. Cars fitted with big brakes 3.2, S3, RS3 will need 17inch to 20inch
Tyres:
205 55 R16
225 45 R17
225 40 R18
225 35 R19
225 30 R 20

 

[RD18]

I gave you maximum limits up top. As far as I know
ET: 42+ will fit easily
Width: 7.5J to 8.5J will fit easily
Diameter : 16inch to 18inch will fit easily. 19inch to 20inch need lows. Cars fitted with big brakes 3.2, S3, RS3 will need 17inch to 20inch
Tyres:
205 55 R16
225 45 R17
225 40 R18
225 35 R19
225 30 R 20

Thanks for this, it has cleared up some confusion from my end! When you say 42+ Is there a top end limit?

RD18

 

[Ironborn]

Np that depends on the width of the alloys, I think around ET 55+ will start fouling the strut and will need spacers to reduce the offset.

 

[nrm1969]

This site is good at giving OEM wheel sizes

http://www.original-felgen.com/audi/a3/8p/

 

[RD18]

Thanks for the replies guys, I am reading it and taking it in. ^^that link is very useful!

Do you think I would be able to fit Kinetic wheels to my car? 7.5jx17 h2, ET56. Or will the offset foul on the car?

Thanks
Rd18

 

[nrm1969]

According to Elsawin for a 2006-08 2.0 TDI a 7.5Jx17 ET56 wheel will fit your car and recommends 225/45 R17 tyres.

I've got a 2011 1.8 TFSI and have done the opposite swap from 17" Kinnetics to the same wheel as your car in order to put 16" winter tyres on, role on the mild winter in history no doubt.

 

[RD18]

Interesting! It could well be a very mild one. Thanks for the replies guys,
RD18

 

[simon t]

I have 18"x8j with a et44 i had to do the grub screw mod the tyre was catching when fully loaded it was not rubbing at all before lowering car.also it depends if you are going to lower your car

 

[RD18]

Hello guys,

sorry to question again, I have still not got my head around this offset malarkey. Can I fit this combination:

Wheels are 5 V-Spoke (5-Stud) 5x112
8.5J x 17"
ET; 50

Running 245/45/17 tyres?

Thanks

 

[T8DPR]

Wheels are gonna be perfect as they are but tyres need to be 225 45 17, this is the standard a3 17" tyre size

 

[RD18]

Wheels are gonna be perfect as they are but tyres need to be 225 45 17, this is the standard a3 17" tyre size

Thanks for your reply! So the wheels are currently on 245/45/17, will 225 45 17 be a standard fitment as they I presume they are slightly narrower?

Any other reason these wheels may not fit, I think they were originally from an Audi TT

Cheers!

 

[RD18]

Also could changing the wheels to this effect the speedo or rub in anyway?

Thanks

 

[RD18]

Also this is the wheel if that helps you understand where I am coming from...

 

[Bedders]

Main problems are usually width so check the top end model say the S3 & see what max width these run. If they are 225 or 235 I think you'll find the 245 might be too wide & rub on the inner wings on lock to lock at front, also foul as the suspension travels on the rear.

The other issue is total combined tyre & wheel diameter. Stand an existing one next to a proposed new one & if they don't stand pretty much the same size side-by-side the rolling diameter will be different. This causes speedo inaccuracy & a potential haemorrhage to the wallet in speeding fines!!!!

When you start getting into offsets things can get tricky.

I'm by no means any expert just saying the issues I've encountered changing wheels on previous cars.

 

[RD18]

Main problems are usually width so check the top end model say the S3 & see what max width these run. If they are 225 or 235 I think you'll find the 245 might be too wide & rub on the inner wings on lock to lock at front, also foul as the suspension travels on the rear.

The other issue is total combined tyre & wheel diameter. Stand an existing one next to a proposed new one & if they don't stand pretty much the same size side-by-side the rolling diameter will be different. This causes speedo inaccuracy & a potential haemorrhage to the wallet in speeding fines!!!!

When you start getting into offsets things can get tricky.

I'm by no means any expert just saying the issues I've encountered changing wheels on previous cars.

Thanks for your input, taken on board!

Cheers
RD18

 

[T8DPR]

one thing I noticed, they might have to be spaced out a little bit if they're 17x8.5

a3 standards tend to be 17x7.5

 

[RD18]

So I have finally purchased some Audi A3 alloys, thanks for your help guys

Audi Kinetic model the same as these: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/Mzc1WDUwMA==/z/-~cAAOSwuMFUd2p4/$_86.JPG

Was assuming 225/45/17 is the best size to use on the A3.

I understand my originals are ET50 and these are ET56 the following is on the inside of the wheel:

7.5J x17H2 ET56

Any idea if I will encounter any problems fitting these to my car?

Cheers
RD18

 

[Sayam]

Should be fine.

You may want to speak to @DPM regarding spacers to push the wheels out a little. This will improve the look and handling of the car.

 

[RD18]

Should be fine.

You may want to speak to @DPM regarding spacers to push the wheels out a little. This will improve the look and handling of the car.

Thanks for the reply, will these be necessary for clearance or just to help look and handling?

Thanks
Rd18

 

[Sayam]

Thanks for the reply, will these be necessary for clearance or just to help look and handling?

Thanks
Rd18

Clearance isn't an issue. The reason I said that is generally speaking when you change the wheels you would buy wheels that are wider than the original ones or have a lower offset (and therefore 'stick out' more) or a combination of the two.

Since the wheels you have bought are the same width as the original ones, and the offset is higher they will be tucked further into the wheel arch.

There isn't anything wrong with that, it's just that it won't look as good a fitment as the original wheels. That's why I suggested spacers to 'push' the wheel out into the arch which means they will fill the arch much more and look right.

I'm struggling to explain in words so here is a picture

Can you see how the car with spacers has a more aggressive stance and looks 'beefier' than without?

And as I said earlier, the spacers will widen the track of your car and improve handling a little too.

Hope this helps.

 

[RD18]

Brilliant explanation, so where is the offset measured from? I presume this is in MM and will relate to the spacing that is needed? Also where is the best place to buy spacers from and what material do they need to be?

Thanks
RD18

 

[irowpod]

Hello guys,

sorry to question again, I have still not got my head around this offset malarkey. Can I fit this combination:

Wheels are 5 V-Spoke (5-Stud) 5x112
8.5J x 17"
ET; 50

Running 245/45/17 tyres?

Thanks

Yes, tyres may look a little butch

 

[Sayam]

Brilliant explanation, so where is the offset measured from? I presume this is in MM and will relate to the spacing that is needed? Also where is the best place to buy spacers from and what material do they need to be?

Thanks
RD18

http://cocomponents.com/dealer/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ATV-Wheel-Offset-Explaination.jpg

That illustrates how offset is calculated, it's a large picture so I didn't post it but if you copy and paste the link into your browser it should work.

Yes the offset is measured in mm and written as 'ETxx' where ET is the German for insertion.

Best place to buy spacers is from @DPM Damian is very knowledgeable and service is top notch too. Ask for hub centric spacers which are the best quality ones and make sure they don't add their own wobbles etc into the drive of your car.

 

[RD18]

Thanks for all of your help on this, the car is now looking much better (in my opinion)