So, I am still waiting for my Audi to come in, but in the meantime I have been hard at work (ok, more like day dreaming) about what wheels I plan to put on it for the summer.

Generally with new cars what I do is stuff the stock tires onto a new set of rims, and then use the OEM rims for winter tires. My plan for this Audi is to find something that gives it more of a subtle sporty athletic feel with a set of white rims.

This is my top candidate for the moment:



Where I could use a little help is the fitment. As mentioned, I want to stick with 18's so I can use my OEM tires with them, and this is the size available:

Size: 18x8
Bolt: 5x112
Offset: +40
Bore: 66.6mm
Back Spacing: 154mm

My understanding is that the OEM wheel is nearly identical to this, although what has me stumped is I know TireRack carries this line, but only shows working fitments for the 20" wheel when you use their application guide.

Is there something I am missing, any reason these wheels may not work?

Thanks!
-SP

 

From the sounds of it, you're being "frugal" by not up-sizing...

My recommendation, since you're method involves removing the stock "all-seasons" from the factory wheels, is to sell the original tires.

Use the $$$ from them to off-set the cost of the new set...

Then put winter tires on the factory wheels as you originally intended, but buy 20" wheels for the summer.

I'd even go as far as to up-size (+1) the tires also. This will fill out the wheel-wells better.

Your factory rim specs are 18x8 / ET39... I'd go up to a 20x9 with an ET29 to ET35 offset.

*note how you can still see the suspension a little, even with 20" Hartmann "peeler reps" & stock-size tires.




** even 19" RS4-reps looks small...



*** they would look better in 20", but these 19" factory reps are my favorite.

 

Thanks for the input John, much appreciated!

To some extent it is being frugal, it does save me the cost of a new set of tires and also some cost on replacement down the line. Although really when it comes to buying tires I am pretty much anything but frugal, haha. My primary reason to stay with 18's is more about practicality.

When I was younger I used to be all about up sizing the rims. I still think it looks great, but I see you are from Calgary too so you probably know the situation with the roads out here. Big rims with low profile tires are great until you nail a pot hole. I've bent up rims before, and actually one of my coworkers just bent up a rim pretty good last week.

The other thing I've noticed over the years is that using a low profile tire with larger diameter rims contributes to more road noise and a tendency to wander on the highway. I do a lot of driving between here and Vancouver, so getting tires with more sidewall is important to me.

For those reasons specifically, I want to my DD to have something with a little more meat on the rims.


I have been having trouble to find something in an 18" size with a white finish that I like.

 

We just took delivery of ours yesterday from Glenmore Audi. Took about 10 weeks to get the unit with the options and color we wanted but I have to say it was worth the wait. Ibis white 3.0T loaded. Ended up going with the upgraded S-line 20's on summer rubber.

The handling is amazing on this ride IMO. I have a 2010 SRT8 Jeep and I think the Q5 s-line on these wheels handles about par - says a lot about Audi to be able to compete with a domestic performance vehicle with their luxury cruiser.

Anyways – congrats on the new unit as well (good color choice) and I hope you get her soon. I like the wheels you have picked but I also think they should be 20’s for the summer (even in this city).

 

Congrats on the new ride, must be exciting after 10 weeks of waiting haha!

 

BUMP!

So I finally ordered some rims.

Unfortunate I had very little luck finding a white 18" rim that would pair well with my Q5. So what I ended up doing was ordering a set of rims I liked, and when they arrive I will take them in to be sand blasted and powder coated to match the car colour.

So anyway, I don't want to spoil the surprise. I will post a photo of how they look when they come in and then one after I get them powder coated!

 

i find it a little odd to spend money purely for looks but keeping 18s

I mean will it really look better? I'd keep the money or spend on something else...

I find my stock s-line 19's way too small (diameter and width) and will be switching to 20's next summer

 

I've got a very specific look in mind, I think it is going to look great when it all comes together.

 

Some new arrivals today

Going to send them in for paint hopefully this week!

 

Sent them off for powder coating today, should get them back in about 2 weeks time!