Alloy wheels: What OEM wheels will fit / seeking OEM items.

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DavieMac

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Apologies if it's been asked elsewhere, but an hour of internet searching has again left me slightly confused here (there's a pattern emerging I suspect!) so some help would be good!

The car is a 2003 Audi A4 2.5TDi and from what I can tell, it has these wheels as standard:

1fc1c1c2db5852e08ffc380475e2633631f7df77fc4f8834579f4c9689b281a3.jpg


...or at least, that's what the current spare wheel looks like.

The car has aftermarket 18" wheels fitted, the lovely Mrs DavieMac has since burst a tyre and after lecturing her about potholes I subsequently launched into into what could be best described as a quarry and ******** another tyre along with a wheel.

I'm now desperately searching for a set of OEM 16" alloys (plus tyres) for it so I can do away with the 18's but the usual places have drawn a blank (I've popped up a wanted ad) so I'm now looking at my other options but I'm unclear as to what wheels will fit the car, or is it a case of any 16" VAG wheel and 205/55/16 tyre combo will suffice... or do for instance VW, Skodas and otehr Audi models have different PCD's and offsets.

Any help would be much appreciated, the MOT is due in a couple of weeks so I'm a bit stuck as it won't pass with an odd sized spare as fitted to it at the moment... or if some kind hearted soul in Scotland has a set of a suitable set wheels sat doing nowt that they'd be willing to part with or even "hire" out temporarily untill I either buy new ones, or source another 18" I'd be very gratefull.

Best regards

Dave
 
silversurfer said:
PCD is 5x112, some aftermarket replica alloys have 5x112 and 5x100 PCD so they fit all VAG cars. Off set is usually aboy 42 for the A4's (but I might be wrong on that)

Have you tried Ebay.. Audi 16 inch Alloy wheels with tyres on eBay (end time 05-Jan-11 15:02:36 GMT)

VW GOLF AUDI A3 A4 A6 A8 16 inch ALLOY WHEELS & TYRES on eBay (end time 05-Jan-11 20:34:27 GMT)
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I need, E.Bay was going to be my next step although auctions aren't my preferred buying method as it can drag on a bit and I coudl really do with a set sooner rather than later!

Shall keep an eye on those and many thanks for clarifying the car's original PCD / offset.
 
DavieMac said:
Incidentally, I found these locally but again unsure what the story is with PCD / offset between models?

audi rs4 8x18 genuine alloys Wheel Rims & Tyres for Sale gorebridge Edinburgh
Click to expand...

They're pretty cheap for oem 18" wheels. They'll fit yours ok.

Most VW/Audi wheels will fit 5 x 112 PCD as mentioned, just need to keep an eye on the offset as thats what varies normally.

DavieMac said:
So perhaps these, from a later model A4 unless I'm mistaken?

audi a4 alloys and tyres x 4 Wheel Rims & Tyres for Sale bonnyrigg Edinburgh

Regards
Click to expand...

They're called Trapez and are fitted to the majority of A4's which left with 16" wheels. If you want 16" wheels again they'll do you well. You shouldn't have too much trouble finding a set of those, as most people who upgrade have the old ones still! Mine are in my shed (but not for sale sorry).
 
To be honest chaps, I've sort of given up on the OEM wheels idea. The majority I've found have all got tyres that will be borderline legal so time I actually buy the wheels, get them delivered and the replace the tyres in the not too distant future... the costs begin to spiral. I'll keep searching but it seems like it's going to be too much faffing around!

Unfortunately, some **** in their wisdom decided to fit 225/40/18's to the front and 235/40/18's on the rear of the car (God knows why!) and typically, it's one of each that has been damaged so I either buy direct replacements or buy three 235/40/18 tyres and retain the fourth one which is in good shape and is currently on the car.

Shopping around, I'm budgetting around £180 for three fitted using rubber dog **** branded items... at the end of the day, I'd rather it was on new, budget tyres than bordeline legal decent tyres!

The hunt continues... and I can see her getting a Ford Ka at this rate soon!
 
I'm pretty sure that the OEM 16" wheels are on ET54 offset (for my 16" Trapeze "Sport" alloys) and the 18" are on ET45 (for the my S4 AvussIII's).

235/40/18 is the correct rubber for the car: 225 is cheaper, but will give you a smaller rolling radius, so speedo, gearing, etc will be around 3% out (as a guess).

I think the older A3's have the wrong PCD (100x5?), otherwise, just get a set of 7J-8J 16" 112x5 VAG wheels off eBay that have roughly the right offset (ET54-ET35)... ideally, I think they should be about 7.5J and ET54-ET45 to be OEM...

There used to be LOADS on eBay, but as the roads get bumpier and winter tyres more popular, they seem to have dried up; I held onto my 16's 'cos I was only going to get about £100-£150 for a set of 5 on eBay 2yrs ago, but I'm glad I kept them as they were IDEAL for my Wintrac's when I bought 'em :D
 
Still currently watching a set of OEM 16" alloys (PCD 5x112 and ET42) on E.Bay (after spending 3hrs trying to register/log in!) which I feel would be the better/cheaper option long term rather than fitting new tyres to the 18" wheels. Granted, the tyres aren't brilliant on said OEM wheels but for £100 (ish) notes it's worth a shot. Plus I've since discovered her indoors has a fifth 18" wheel that's brand new... so I suspect we could sell the 18" ones and recoup some cash. Only downside it getting the wheels halfway up the country!

Ahhh, pressure!
 
Missed out on the OEM wheels on e.bay, plus they rocketed up to £141 in the last few seconds so add that to the courier costs and the fact they would need four tyres within a month or two, have decided it's false economy and instead will be keeping the 18" alloys for now and sourcing tyres for them.

Aka... she had a bit of a strop, pointed out the OEM ones weren't very "bling" and pulled that classic female "It don't mind" trick where you know that it basically means "You take my bling wheels from me and I'll be having headaches for the forseeable future"

Awwww, she's a wee sweetie so she is...

:noway:
 
I'd be careful running 225/235 tyres on the front/rear of the car. There was a guy on here with a 1.8T 190 (I think...) recently that had diff problems as a result of this.
 
It's ok, it's just a lowly Poundstretcher spec 2wd one... doesn't even have cruise control. I've been in better equipped ox carts.

Regards
 
Just to update this...

The hunt for OEM wheels keeps falling on it's **** however I can get 4 x 245/40/R18 tyres (of a mate's mate's mate...) for a very very reasonable price however given the current tyres are 235/40/R18's, can anybody advise if the slightly wider 245 tyres will go on the A4 saloon without issues?

Appreciate things like wheel offset come into it too, and unfortunately I'm unsure of the offset of the aftermarket wheel it wears at present... so that said and done, guess I've just talked myself into the answer which is "they may or they may not"

But as a general question, 245/40/18's on a 2003 A4 saloon?

Thanks in advance
 
Edit: Just to update the info in the last post if it helps...

The wheels are 8j x 18 and have an offset of ET35 and it currently runs 235/40/R18 tyres.

The question is, would 245/40/R18 tyres create any significant issues aside for chucking the speedo out a bit!

Incidentally, now in the dog house as Mrs DavieMac was forced to haul the burst 18" wheel and tyre out the boot, clean the **** off the back then text me the information... one dirty mark on the jeans and two broken fake nails.

These are turning into really dear tyres!

:ohmy:
 
Last edited:
The speedo isn't effected by width of tyre, it's the profile that effects it, that's what alters the rolling radius. If you run 225/45/18's for instance when they should be 225/40/18's then the 45 profile has a 5mm difference in side wall height, therefore making the overall tyre size bigger.
 
Thats not quite correct.

The profile is the aspect ratio of the tyre and expressed as a percentage of the tyres width.

Thus 235/40 x 18 the aspect ratio is 40% of 235mm
And 245/45 x 18 is 45% of 245mm etc.

So the '40' part of a tyre's size isn''t 40mm, so the profile of a tyre will affect the speedo's accuracy. The best way to check the tyre's will be suitable is via a tyre calculator.

Between 235/40 and 245/45 tyres there is a 102mm difference in circumference, or 5%

Tyre Calculator - Alloy Wheels - Specialist supplier of alloy wheels and tyres packages, Fast Delivery, Buy Online.
 
Last edited:
My bad, I stand corrected! ;)

Thanks for clearing that up, not only for the person who originally posted the thread, but for myself too.
 
Thanks for clearing that up James - I was about to wade in with a lecture of my own.

It'll only be a couple of percent, but it will affect it (but yes, they should be able to fit without rubbing) - if they're a good brand and decently priced, I reckon it's worth trying!
 
as per my previous, my OEM 16" are ET54 and my OEM S4's are ET45, so althoguh you will find some VAG 16" at ET42, most will be higher if they're A4 wheels.
 
Morning gents

Yes, I'm aware of the changes in overall rolling radius due to the aspect ratio and the difference over standard:

205/55/R16 - Diamter = 632mm

225/40/R18 - Diameter = 637mm (+0.79%)

235/40/R18 - Diameter = 645mm (+2.06%)

245/40/R18 - Diameter = 653mm (+3.32%)

But I also appreciate there are variables like the tread design and actual tyre construction so these aren't exact figures. I know the car had 205/55/R16 as standard and was upgraded to 18" wheels with 235/40/R18 tyres (although 225/40/R18 would have been nearer the OEM stats) and I know going up to a 245/40/R18 will push things even further out speedo wise... however, I'm not hugely concerned as speedo's under-read slightly anways (ie, 70mph on Sat Nav = 67/68mph indicated) so if anything the bigger rolling radius tyres will bring it more in line.

The main concern is whether upping it to the 245's on an ET35 18" rim will:

a) Rub on the outer rear arch lips when fully loaded with sprogs, bikes and her makeup.
b) Rub the inner chassis legs/rails/splashgaurds on the front on full lock (an MOT failure point)
c) Make it drive and tramline like a complete bitch!

That all said and done, in the "Show us you 19's' thread it would appear guys are running 245's and lowered without concerns so it should be ok although the offset of my wheels (ET35) is a concern as this will push the wheels out and thus, with a wider 245 tyre I'm concerned it scuffs the rear arches under compression. Ie after bouning over a speedhump or landing after some unplanned airtime over a hump back bridge.

Appreciate the input as usual gents, frustrating thing for me is this car always develops issues the second I leave home to travel back south to work and so I'm left trying to solve the issues via teh phone and internet.

Regards
 
Unless you tell me otherwise, I 'think' they came with 215/55 x 16 tyres as standard, but people fitted 205's to save money. The 215's will be nearer the same rolling radius as the 235/40 x 18's which is the natural upgrade size.
 
Ahhh! This gets more complicated as it goes on... so not only has the car been upgraded to 18" wheels with 235/40/18's but somebody has then subsequently fitted 225/40/18's to the front (just to give me a headache no doubt) but on the basis of that info, the 'spare' 16" wheel that's currently on it is shod with a 205/55/16... so maybe somebody has changed that at some stage too.

Honestly, the arguement for walking into Glasgow Audi and saying "that one please" gets stronger by the day... but we'll get there in the end!

Regards
 
EDIT

Apologies I should have been more clear, the 16" Trapez style wheels came with 215 section tyres, but the wheels yours has in the original thread may NOT be that size, I'm not sure on that one.

You also mentioned in your first post that it would fail an Mot with an odd sized spare, is that true? If so I've been lucky the last three years as I've got a 16" spare with 18" wheels!
 
audi upgrades
quattrojames said:
EDIT

Apologies I should have been more clear, the 16" Trapez style wheels came with 215 section tyres, but the wheels yours has in the original thread may NOT be that size, I'm not sure on that one.

You also mentioned in your first post that it would fail an Mot with an odd sized spare, is that true? If so I've been lucky the last three years as I've got a 16" spare with 18" wheels!
Click to expand...

Ahhh right, understood.

And yes, it's a fail if the tyres on one given axle do not match: MOT Testers Manual - tyres

Although it's a little unclear as to whether you can have mismatched tyres IF the rolling radius is the same however the way I've been "educated" is that the axle must have the same size and construction tyres on both side, however mismatched tread depth, brand and design isn't an issue.

So yes, the Audi will fail as it's currently tramping about with it's 16" spare on...
 
Ah right, I see now it will fail with the spare ON rather than in the boot - makes sense ;)
 
Correct, the spare can be any size/construction but if it's in the boot and is flat, bald or whatever... it will also be failure point (I think) but if you remove said ropey spare wheel, there's no issue. You don't actually need a spare for the MOT, however if it's there it must be legal. I think.
 
a friend has a really ropey old banger of a dump-run car that never does more than a few miles in a trip... with an obviously toe-in bald spare... he failed his first MOT 'cos the spare was there... he's passed the retest and next 2 MOT's by removing the spare entirely.

As James said: 16" Trapeze (same on my Quattro Sport) should have 215/55/16's (I checked with Audi), but the previous owner had put 205/55/16's on (presumably to save money - they're the same size as a lot of mid-sized hatches, so lots of competition at that size). At that size, the speedo over-reads by around 8% compared using 4 different GPS systems, even with my 13mm deep winter tread... and it was a fair bit more of an over-read on the 205 width rubber!

With 235/40/18 rubber (OEM spec based on the S4) the speedo is accurate to within about 1% (accurate to half a mph up to about 80mph).

The rubber that my Audi A4 experience is based on:
205/55/16: Hankook Ventus V12
215/55/16: Vredestein Wintrac Ultra
235/40/18: Toyo Proxes T1-R

GPS systems used:
Snooper S4,
Syrius satnav,
Garmin satnav,
Snooper Lynx.
 
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