Pulling the trigger on some wheels

[AshRS3sportback]

I’m after a recommendation from some fellow owners.

I’m going to get some oz Ultraleggera wheels. Should I go;

8j all round et 41
8.5j all round et 47
8.5j front and 8j rear staggered setup (which I currently have with the oem rotors)

Regards

 

[Phil3]

I’ve got some OZ Formula HLT’s and went 8.5’s all round with no problem mate

(p.s. I had the staggered setup to start with)

 

[Gnasher]

Depends what size tyres you want to put on them really. If you want to keep the tyres staggered, go for staggered wheels, if you want to go for a square setup with the tyres, go square on the wheels (you know what I mean, not square wheels lol).

Personally I'd go for the 8.5" option (assuming they'll fit the rear where it seems a bit tighter on the SB) as this is the width of rim a lot of the tyre industry recommend for a 235 tyre.

 

[Hal Adams]

8.5J with an ET47 will be fine on the rear.

Co-incidentally if you change to either the 8J or 8.5J option, the spacing per wheel, will increase by 6mm on the front and 8mm on the rear on what you have currently. Theoretically this increases understeer.

 

[AshRS3sportback]

8.5J with an ET47 will be fine on the rear.

Co-incidentally if you change to either the 8J or 8.5J option, the spacing per wheel, will increase by 6mm on the front and 8mm on the rear on what you have currently. Theoretically this increases understeer.

Is that because the oz wheels on the front, even with keeping the 8.5j are a lower offset than the oem rotors? Basically the Ultraleggera will stick further out, would I be correct in assuming that the lighter unsprung weight would counter understeer a little?

 

[Hal Adams]

No - it was a flippant remark only so do not worry about it!

Generally if a car has understeer, one of the counteractions is to reduce the rear tack. In your case you might have a wider rear track by 2mm. Do not worry about it, 2mm is hardly going to see you going into the bushes around corners!

Yes, in theory the lighter wheel will reduce unsprung weight and a lighter car is better, but again - taking everything else into account - you will probably not notice it! Leggera is a great looking wheel (HLT in gloss black for me...)- go for it, either 8 or 8.5, you will enjoy!

One important thing here - apologies if you know this already - check with OZ what seats the particular wheel you go for have. Being in the 'better wheel supplier' bracket, OZ use radius ball seats in their high end wheels BUT, in the back of my mind they use a different radius to the Audi oem radius. If this is the case, you must get a set of lugs that conform, and here I would advise spending the extra and buy the wobble lugs.

 

[Phil3]

OZ usually supply the needed bolts with their wheels to fit the specific car you order them for... or at least they did with mine

Just curious... I’m guessing the supplier of the wheels has said you can buy 2x 8’s and 2x 8.5’s as a set no problem? That said I’d personally just stick with 8.5’s all round mate, that’s what I’m running and I’m happy with it

 

[Oli.]

Ive got 8.5 x 19 OZ Leggara HLT all round on my 66 Plate PFL ET38, with the staggered tyre setup, lowered approx 20mm - Perfect stance and look

 

[jaysrs4]

Shameless excuse to post recent pic - 20x8.5 ET43. Tyres are 235/30/20’s. I think they’ll take a bit of spacing too (5mm I reckon). One thing to bear in mind is you’ll need longer wheel bolts even if you you standard as OEM bolts aren’t long enough.

For me 19’s just look lost on RS3’s and lowering on 19’s is asking for speedbump issues. The ride is just a tad harder and a little more road noise but nothing horrific - PCW exhaust drowns it out anyway! Lol

 

[Hal Adams]

lowering on 19’s is asking for speedbump issues. Lol

Why? The 20" tyre diameter is 650mm against 648mm for the 19". Will a 1mm drop make any difference?

 

[jaysrs4]

If your calculations are correct, I assumed wrong then.

 

[WilsonRS]

If you are interesting in selling / swapping your black staggered set up for the anthracite let me know.. picking up my car on Friday. Wanted the black wheels, but with the way the market is you have to make some compromises.

 

[Hal Adams]

If your calculations are correct, I assumed wrong then.

Keeping within manufacturer and tyre supplier recommendations, diameters do not change much more than 2% on a specific car model.

 

[savo]

Ive got 8.5 x 19 OZ Leggara HLT all round on my 66 Plate PFL ET38, with the staggered tyre setup, lowered approx 20mm - Perfect stance and look

Hi oli,
Are you running any spacer ? Do you think running 245 on the rear will cause any rubbing