BiTDI and 18" wheels

[Wifeb4Life]

Right I'm quite close to picking up a BiTDI A7 but I'm really not happy with 21" wheels it comes with, I want more comfort and because this ain't gonna have the adaptive air suspension that I wanted (because I can't find a BiTDI that has it spec'd at all) the smaller wheels will have to sort out the ride.

Can the S-Line/Blackline BiTDI take 18" wheels? no problems with brake clearance?

Cheers

 

[rassi]

You can even get away with 17", mine came with that. It was the most comfortable ride but changed to 18" winter and 19" summer setup, which is still comfortable. Could well imagine 21" would be uncomfortable on S Line suspension.

 

[Wifeb4Life]

Thanks for that rassi you're a star, is there a noticable difference btween the 18's & 19's? Yeah I really want this to mostly be about comfort this time (as well as liking the styling that comes with the sline/blackline and that great mix of speed and economy of the BiTDI which I now know I need).

I've now tested a BiTDI SE with air suspension on 18's which was amazing in comfort but was a cat D and whether it was the right or wrong decisions (as I haven't seen a second hand one since, decided to wait against it.

I've tested a 268bhp S-Line on standard S-Line suspension on 20's which is at the very limit of being uncomfortable and although wasn't a slow car just didn't feel special and a big gap between it and the BiTDI.

Then tested an S7 on 21's and although the V8 sounds amazing and I could feel the smoother delivery and had amples of power at all times, it just didn't feel masses more powerful over the BiTDI and I couldn't on the 20 min test drive find enough safe road to really floor it to ride the high revs that would push it ahead of the BiTDI, which really made me realise I'm never going to really unleash that power on daily drives and I didn't need it. Also the ride was not something I could live with.

Finally tested another BiTDI blackline on 21's and the engine is the sweetspot I think, so easy to drive and you feel like you have plenty of power if you need it, shame about the ride again.

 

[desertstorm]

Looking at http://www.wheel-size.com/
21 - 275/30ZR21
20 - 265/35ZR20
19 - 255/40ZR19
18 - 255/45ZR18

With only a 30 profile tyre on the 21 inch wheel that isn't going to help comfort at all, combined with stiffer suspension found on more sporty models it's not going to be a magic carpet ride.. An SE without air will likely have softer suspension than the more sporty models blackline models. I wouldn't have thought there would be much difference in ride between an 18 and 19 inch rim. TBH I would have thought 18's would have looked a little small on an A7.

 

[rassi]

Difficult to compare my 18" and 19" as the 18" are with the winter tyres in 225/50/18 and the 19" summer tyres in 255/40/19.

The difference is more with road noise and consumption, as the wider summer tyres actually generate more road noise than the winter tyres.

Comfort wise there is not a huge difference, though mine is on SE suspension. The best compromise would probably be 19" with air suspension, which is rare in an A6 other than the Allroad where it is standard. Maybe that would be an option, as that also benefit from the lowest depreciation of the bigger engined A6 models.

 

[Wifeb4Life]

Thanks Desertstorm (Edit and rassi again), I can confirm for me anyway, 21 inch wheels were not comfortable enough to drive for the 40 mins I tested the Sline & Blackline versions never mind to live with permanently, I know some people will disagree.

Also I think the A7's looks with the SLine/BlackLine kits would more than make up for the look of some smaller wheels with thicker rubber. I may go for the 19's though as they seem like they may be a good compromise but I wouldn't be embarrassed having 18's on.

God I wish more people tried the air suspension option before buying, I can guarantee more people would have it, comfort when you want it and even lower sporty suspension when you want it more.

 

[Wifeb4Life]

Also forgot to add that the seats are amazing in the S7, would definitely swap them out if I could.

Yes I know I could get all this if I bought new but I really like to own my cars and it's just too much new.