Now we're nearly into summer and it's colder and wetter than it was in November I've been thinking about picking up a spare set of wheels a size down for next winter. It's much cheaper and easier to swap the entire wheel over twice a year than pop the tyres off the rims (as long as you have somewhere to store them). I've thrashed t'interet for offset and compatibility info and saw a few promising links to official Audi wheel compatibility charts from 2010 but they're already dead. I searched here but didn't find what I was looking for exactly. I have some stooped questions that I hope someone can help me with.
I have stock 17 x 8J with 245/45 R17
Thinking about stock 16 x 7.5J 225/55 R16 for winter use (or given the shocking state of the roads after all the winter/spring flooding I might even put them on now till the pot holes get some attention).
Questions:
1. Does anyone do this?
2. Does general handling change much? AFAIK the ride will be a tad softer and traction should be better on ice or slick wet with lower RR and slightly higher PSI contact but I'm in two minds if the benefit is worthwhile in our climate which is mostly mild.
3. I looked at the 2009/2010 brochure and noticed that the smallest wheel option on the A4 for MY2010 was R17 but the tyre pressure door plaque clearly states pressures for a range of 16" wheels/tyres.
4. Does anyone know if there is much of an offset difference between 8J and 7.5J wheels or anything else that should be taken into account like brake clearance? My guess is a couple of mm at most?
5. Why are Audi crap at publishing useful stuff like compatibility charts??
6. And Finally, is any of this worth the bleeding' effort?
If you got this far - thanks for reading!
I have stock 17 x 8J with 245/45 R17
Thinking about stock 16 x 7.5J 225/55 R16 for winter use (or given the shocking state of the roads after all the winter/spring flooding I might even put them on now till the pot holes get some attention).
Questions:
1. Does anyone do this?
2. Does general handling change much? AFAIK the ride will be a tad softer and traction should be better on ice or slick wet with lower RR and slightly higher PSI contact but I'm in two minds if the benefit is worthwhile in our climate which is mostly mild.
3. I looked at the 2009/2010 brochure and noticed that the smallest wheel option on the A4 for MY2010 was R17 but the tyre pressure door plaque clearly states pressures for a range of 16" wheels/tyres.
4. Does anyone know if there is much of an offset difference between 8J and 7.5J wheels or anything else that should be taken into account like brake clearance? My guess is a couple of mm at most?
5. Why are Audi crap at publishing useful stuff like compatibility charts??
6. And Finally, is any of this worth the bleeding' effort?
If you got this far - thanks for reading!
