Are wheel spacers going to pass MOT?

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MOA4B9

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My car is going for it's first MOT and I was wondering if the 10mm front and rear wheel spacers will be a problem. Should I take them off just in case? The MOT is being done by Audi so not sure if they will be more strict. Has anyone gone for MOT with spacers and what was the outcome?
I will be putting my winter wheels soon for a trip to Switzerland so maybe I should put my original Audi a4 b8 winter wheels on which have different offset but the spacers will bring them closer to original b9 offset.
 
MOA4B9 said:
My car is going for it's first MOT and I was wondering if the 10mm front and rear wheel spacers will be a problem. Should I take them off just in case? The MOT is being done by Audi so not sure if they will be more strict. Has anyone gone for MOT with spacers and what was the outcome?
I will be putting my winter wheels soon for a trip to Switzerland so maybe I should put my original Audi a4 b8 winter wheels on which have different offset but the spacers will bring them closer to original b9 offset.
Click to expand...

You'll be fine mate - no need to panic . It will fail only of there is massive rubbing or touch the chassis etc.

Ideally, you should declare them to your insurer as it is modification to the original spec - some people might disagree on that as well though
 
:wtf:Spacers are just SO wrong and you should remove them anyway.

10mm doesn't sound like a lot and indeed on the rears isn't too bad other than putting a small strain on the bearings and carriers. However, on the front you can totally screw up the geometry. Audi's are designed with negative offset scrub. Only a small amount of scrub, so 10mm spacers can mean over 100% change in design scrub, from negative to positive. It will affect steering feel, safety if you get a puncture, put a strain on all components and will affect tyre wear. Furthermore it could mean you get more stone-chips. Your insurance company must be informed.

They look bling too! :rolleyes new: But that's my opinion, the above is fact.
 
All that said, I ran 15mm spacers on my S4 the whole time I owned it and with 17k miles on the clock it still had 5mm of tread on the original Hankooks when I sold it. So if the tyre wear is negatively affected I’d love to see what the tyres could do without spacers fitted!

Also, I had no handling issues personally. Still felt perfectly planted and on back roads could keep up with whatever I needed to if on a fun run.

Yes, the geometry will alter, but I don’t think is anything like as bad as being described above in my experience.

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Aldi-Sport Chap said:
:wtf:Spacers are just SO wrong and you should remove them anyway.

10mm doesn't sound like a lot and indeed on the rears isn't too bad other than putting a small strain on the bearings and carriers. However, on the front you can totally screw up the geometry. Audi's are designed with negative offset scrub. Only a small amount of scrub, so 10mm spacers can mean over 100% change in design scrub, from negative to positive. It will affect steering feel, safety if you get a puncture, put a strain on all components and will affect tyre wear. Furthermore it could mean you get more stone-chips. Your insurance company must be informed.

They look bling too! :rolleyes new: But that's my opinion, the above is fact.
Click to expand...

Alarmist nonsense. A 20mm overall increase in track width won’t make his car spontaneously combust. You know nothing about his tyre, wheel, suspension configuration or how his geometry has been set up.

The effects you describe are negligible in real world driving conditions.
 
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Evil Derboy said:
Alarmist nonsense. A 20mm overall increase in track width won’t make his car spontaneously combust. You know nothing about his tyre, wheel, suspension configuration or how his geometry has been set up.

The effects you describe are negligible in real world driving conditions.
Click to expand...

Don’t hold back!


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Evil Derboy said:
Alarmist nonsense. A 20mm overall increase in track width won’t make his car spontaneously combust. You know nothing about his tyre, wheel, suspension configuration or how his geometry has been set up.

The effects you describe are negligible in real world driving conditions.
Click to expand...

20 mm of track in 1565mm, 1.3%, nothing. Yes. But changing the scrub radius by 10mm is massive. I believe the A4 scrub radius is -8mm. So a 10 mm spacer will change it from -8 to +2mm. A 125% change. Massive and will absolutely affect the feel. Dangerous? Possibly not but the forces when you get a puncture or differential braking through varying road surfaces or brake wear could come a a shock and more importantly haven't been tested/approved.

Seriously, if you can't feel the difference then you really shouldn't need to waste your money on a prestige car. Just buy a Korean one that will spontaneously combust at the flash of your wand:wink:
 
Absolute nonsense. Your making broad assumptions purely on the argument of scrub radius.

My car is running 10mm spacers and wider wheels. It’s been lowered on KW Variant 3 coilovers and has been set up by a suspension specialist that well respected in the motorsport sector, setting up track cars on a regular basis.

My car has been transformed by this and handles better than any car I’ve ever owned before (standard or not).
 
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Aldi-Sport Chap said:
20 mm of track in 1565mm, 1.3%, nothing. Yes. But changing the scrub radius by 10mm is massive. I believe the A4 scrub radius is -8mm. So a 10 mm spacer will change it from -8 to +2mm. A 125% change. Massive and will absolutely affect the feel. Dangerous? Possibly not but the forces when you get a puncture or differential braking through varying road surfaces or brake wear could come a a shock and more importantly haven't been tested/approved.

Seriously, if you can't feel the difference then you really shouldn't need to waste your money on a prestige car. Just buy a Korean one that will spontaneously combust at the flash of your wand:wink:
Click to expand...

There are plenty that have been TUV approved, which for me would show that they’re not inherently dangerous.

Example:
https://www.wheelspacers.uk.com/ind...tml&bezeichnung=A4, S4 (B9)&typ=B9 - (8W, F4)

Your 125% change argument is pretty terrible though. If my stock camber is +0.1° and I change it to -0.1° then it’s a 200% change but in the scheme of things it ain’t much when you think about what the total ‘normal’ range is.


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Daggerit said:
Your 125% change argument is pretty terrible though. If my stock camber is +0.1° and I change it to -0.1° then it’s a 200% change but in the scheme of things it ain’t much when you think about what the total ‘normal’ range is.
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Apples and oranges. Having a +0.1 camber on one side and -0.1 on the other would likely be undetectable on a road car designed to have zero camber. However, if I put a 17" wheel on instead of an 18" thats only 6%, even less if you change the tyre profile, but you'd be able to tell, no?

Steering geometry comparisons ain't that linear. Just because camber at or near zero doesn't really matter when you move it by 0.1 degrees, doesn't mean scrub has the same negligable effect when it's moved from negative to positive. Try putting spacers on just one side and see how easy it is to drive straight! Conversely, had the scrub been 100mm positive and now 110mm positive it might not have changed the feel so much. But this is an Audi and it's 8mm negative.

Spacers aren't dangerous, they can be really useful to RETURN the car to it's design offset with aftermarket wheels, hence the TUV approval but to just bling up a car I don't believe TUV can really check every application.

:sign hijacked:Sorry!
 
I will be scared more of the coronavirus than the spacers damaging my car. Thanks all for the input. I will leave them on unless I swap to winter wheels before the MOT.
 
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Evil Derboy said:
Absolute nonsense. Your making broad assumptions purely on the argument of scrub radius.

My car is running 10mm spacers and wider wheels. It’s been lowered on KW Variant 3 coilovers and has been set up by a suspension specialist that well respected in the motorsport sector, setting up track cars on a regular basis.

My car has been transformed by this and handles better than any car I’ve ever owned before (standard or not).
Click to expand...
Nonsense? Absolutely. If what you say is correct I totally see why the handling has been transformed. It's been set up ***. You haven't bought some discs and longer bolts off ebay and just changed the look.

BTW I have not once tried to alarm anyone about spontaneous combustion, crashing or coronavirus! You are a paranoid lot. I said it will feel different, could wear bits out (minor concern) and affect safety (pull to one side) in the event of differential drag, the main reason why Audi give you a negative scrub in the first place.
 
Aldi-Sport Chap said:
Nonsense? Absolutely. If what you say is correct I totally see why the handling has been transformed. It's been set up ***. You haven't bought some discs and longer bolts off ebay and just changed the look.

BTW I have not once tried to alarm anyone about spontaneous combustion, crashing or coronavirus! You are a paranoid lot. I said it will feel different, could wear bits out (minor concern) and affect safety (pull to one side) in the event of differential drag, the main reason why Audi give you a negative scrub in the first place.
Click to expand...

You're back-peddling now: "Spacers are just SO wrong and you should remove them anyway."

That was your over-arching statement followed by alamrist comments about punctures etc. How do you know his car hasn't been set up as well?
 
Granted mine had an alignment done after I fit the spacers, but that being said, with standard suspension geometry the scrub angle would be fixed at that point so ‘setting up’ wouldn’t make any difference.

As for the statement that they ‘will affect tyre wear’, if that’s true then I can definitely recommend the Hankooks that were standard fit because as I said before, mine did 17k miles with spacers on and still had 5mm tread when I sold the car. Handled good too.

My commute when I owned it had good sections of twisty roads (I’m up in Scotland so it comes with the territory sometimes) so not like I was only driving straight all the time when the scrub angle wouldn’t have as much effect on tyre wear.


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Aldi-Sport Chap said:
:wtf:Spacers are just SO wrong and you should remove them anyway.

10mm doesn't sound like a lot and indeed on the rears isn't too bad other than putting a small strain on the bearings and carriers. However, on the front you can totally screw up the geometry. Audi's are designed with negative offset scrub. Only a small amount of scrub, so 10mm spacers can mean over 100% change in design scrub, from negative to positive. It will affect steering feel, safety if you get a puncture, put a strain on all components and will affect tyre wear. Furthermore it could mean you get more stone-chips. Your insurance company must be informed.

They look bling too! :rolleyes new: But that's my opinion, the above is fact.
Click to expand...
What nonsense I had 20mm hub centric spaces on my s2 all round .. if anything it improved the already excellent handling ... so much so they are on the A4 also ... the only way they can throw out the gynometry is if you fit hell'frauds non hub cemetrical spacers .
But then that would be a balancing issue .
 
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Spacers do not !!!!!! Effect the car axis . Camber or toe or castor effect or the ackermen if fitted and torqued correctly ... Nor scuff for that matter !!!!!! If so motorsport would not use them to extend the axles when flaring arches to improve aero..
...more damage is caused by incorrect psi to a tyre wall. Yet tyre pressures are not tested to a micron when inflating or under inflating I'm guessing your the guy that's always in front at the pumps holding up the queue asking the cashier when was the airline last calibrated . Then let a little air escape as you fit your unserviced dust cap...
 
Had my S4 in for its first MOT the other week, with 12mm spacers on the front (to allow my winter wheels to clear the calipers). Not a problem.
 
ub7rm said:
Had my S4 in for its first MOT the other week, with 12mm spacers on the front (to allow my winter wheels to clear the calipers). Not a problem.
Click to expand...
I've never had any problems with mot with mine .. & would ask them where in my EMI paperwork or my hilliers does it state otherwise..
 
Evil Derboy said:
You're back-peddling now: "Spacers are just SO wrong and you should remove them anyway."

That was your over-arching statement followed by alamrist comments about punctures etc. How do you know his car hasn't been set up as well?
Click to expand...
They are wrong! I still maintain that, but that is my opinion. But alarmist? Not really unless you are paranoid. I said they could affect the safety if you had a puncture. They could and they will remove the negative scrub radius safety feature built into Audis since the 1970s. Hardly alarmist, just fact.
 
k.lockU2 said:
Spacers do not !!!!!! Effect the car axis . Camber or toe or castor effect or the ackermen if fitted and torqued correctly ... Nor scuff for that matter !!!!!! If so motorsport would not use them to extend the axles when flaring arches to improve aero..
...more damage is caused by incorrect psi to a tyre wall. Yet tyre pressures are not tested to a micron when inflating or under inflating I'm guessing your the guy that's always in front at the pumps holding up the queue asking the cashier when was the airline last calibrated . Then let a little air escape as you fit your unserviced dust cap...
Click to expand...
Please can you explain your explanation in English!!!!!!! [sic] What is the car axis? Scuff? Castor effect.
I have to say they would not affect the toe, castor, ackerman.
Any decent motorsport guru would use the correct offset wheels rather than adding weight and stress of a spacer. But hey that would be too simple.
 
Aldi-Sport Chap said:
Please can you explain your explanation in English!!!!!!! [sic] What is the car axis? Scuff? Castor effect.
I have to say they would not affect the toe, castor, ackerman.
Any decent motorsport guru would use the correct offset wheels rather than adding weight and stress of a spacer. But hey that would be too simple.
Click to expand...

lol! There’s no difference between adding a spacer or the wheel having extra material to produce a more aggressive offset. The stress produced by increasing the track width from the hub is the same.
 
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Evil Derboy said:
lol! There’s no difference between adding a spacer or the wheel having extra material to produce a more aggressive offset. The stress produced by increasing the track width from the hub is the same.
Click to expand...

That’s what I was going to point out too. Unless you increase the width of the wheel and tyre at the same time to keep the centre of the contact patch in the same position relative to the hub face then there’s no difference between adding a spacer or using wheels with a different offset...


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Aldi-Sport Chap said:
Please can you explain your explanation in English!!!!!!! [sic] What is the car axis? Scuff? Castor effect.
I have to say they would not affect the toe, castor, ackerman.
Any decent motorsport guru would use the correct offset wheels rather than adding weight and stress of a spacer. But hey that would be too The video will explain in English. It's easier than too write. I would also like to add that, by adding spacers you are less likely to roll the vehicle over as you are increasing a wider square area .ie
(feet together feet apart pushed from the side ) . Motorsports dont tend to extend axles as these are heavy steel, spacers are commonly alloy so no real weight is gained whilst increasing stability .
Click to expand...
 


Hope this helps to explain ..
I am a Electrical mechanical marine engineer ... however I also have EMI level 3.... motor mechanics ... axis is the roll pitch & yaw..... that's not missing a N its yaw not yawn ... haha...
TBH .... spacers always create a lot of controversy.. as long as they are hub centric and torqued correctly. They will improve handling & stability... and not fail a MOT...
As for scuff sorry I meant to say scrub angle. If they were fitted only on one side of the car then " yes " your argument would stand up only under cornering . As the turning axis would be greater or smaller than the leading axle edge . However this could also be overcome by fine tuning .
 
Last edited:
audi upgrades
I don't know if this has been added on this post but I would only fit hub centric with the extended bolts to match the spacer width.This is the most important safety aspect when it comes to an MOT.
 
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Alva78 said:
I don't know if this has been added on this post but I would only fit hub centric with the extended bolts to match the spacer width.This is the most important safety aspect when it comes to an MOT.
Click to expand...

I think it was raised a couple times but worth saying in it’s own post.


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