S3 8P new wheels fitted.......Opinions?

[-Ju-]

I've had the S3 since august now and it was always my intention to change the rims. The original S3 rims did however grow on me to the point were I actually quite like them. It was my intention to go 19's after having the CK's on my old car but I took the plunge with some brand new 18" BBS Calito's. I did have some previously on an A3 sport back lowered with H&R's and loved them.
I fitted them just before Christmas and i'm still sat on the fence tbh as to whether they suit the S3 or not, don't get me wrong they are a stunning wheel imo and look better in the flesh, but I can't help but think the S3 wheel is better suited to the car.
Maybe if I fitted some more H&R's then that would make all the difference as I think the Calito's look smaller with the polished lip.
Anyway before I do anything drastic I would appreciate some views on what to do?

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[Ads]

I like the wheels but they do look too small on your car. Also the rear wheels, even from the side, look like they are crying out for spacers. And you've got some decent reverse rake going on there too.
Other than that it looks fine.

Seriously though, I would say lower it and spacers and it'll look really nice. :icon_thumright:

 

[chazd]

I prefer them to the original S3 wheels tbh

 

[-Ju-]

I like the wheels but they do look too small on your car. Also the rear wheels, even from the side, look like they are crying out for spacers. And you've got some decent reverse rake going on there too.
Other than that it looks fine.

Seriously though, I would say lower it and spacers and it'll look really nice. :icon_thumright:

Yeah I know what you mean regarding the spacers, I was thinking maybe 10mm on the back!

 

[TimG]

IMO they look too small and not even spacers will solve that. Prefer the standard rims, sorry! I would lower the car anyway and then make a judgement on the wheels again.

 

[cloughy]

Original wheels look better IMO

 

[-Ju-]

IMO they look too small and not even spacers will solve that. Prefer the standard rims, sorry! I would lower the car anyway and then make a judgement on the wheels again.

All opinions welcome m8:thumbsup:

 

[N8]

Prefer it on originals.

 

[-Ju-]

Prefer it on originals.

I knew you wouldn't like them N8, you didn't like em first time round lol!

 

[-Ju-]

Same wheels on my old A3 but with H&R's

 

[N8]

I don't like the Calitos, and I don't like the silver. OEM wheels in gunmetal would have looked smart.

 

[crunchie]

Hmm.....not a fan. Each to their own tho.

 

[Lings]

Sorry mate .I prefer your 3.2 with the other rims .the s3 on those carlitos looks poo
put the oe back on

 

[danA3T]

Sorry, I prefer the OEM rims as well dude.

 

[willowsdad]

I think it's partly the colour and as you say the polished rim makes them look smaller than 18's. Maybe you should spray them a dark grey colour like frans, then with a drop and 10mm spacers they'll look a million times better. Or just swap them for 19's.

 

[-Ju-]

Think that's pretty conclusive tbh and kind of confirms what I thought. At least it gave me chance to refurb one of my S3 rims that I kerbed in the snow!

Cheers guys:thumbsup:

 

[legin]

Another for the originals

 

[Spin140]

I like the Calitos especially on a red car but I would as I too fitted some to my silver S3 as you may remember

Its refreshing to see something different and classy looking as opposed to the usual Grey etc.

Its your car you decide

 

[-Ju-]

Yeah I remember, that's one of the things that made me go for them now. Maybe lowering the car will make a world of difference but insurance issues may prevent me from going down that route.
I almost kept the ck's to go on the S3 but I wanted silver to go against the red!

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[nally]

why sb to 3dr ?

 

[-Ju-]

why sb to 3dr ?

Simply because a sb in the spec I wanted would've cost me another £7k on top!

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[The Cardinal]

I prefer the Calito look! They look subtle, expensive and probably better in the flesh.

I don't think I'll ever get around to fitting different wheels to my S3, but if I did it would be these or the 20-cross-spoke / polished lip ones. Let me know if you buckle into peer pressure and want to sell them!

 

[-Ju-]

Your not helping lol! However they are in the classifieds

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[paddy]

wheels are a real personal thing, very Marmite Personally handling and drive comes before looks so lowering and 19"s are a no no for me. I dont see the point in 19s with the roads as crap as they are round Surrey and i really dont see the point in lowering unless your going for the bespoke custom look like N8. So having established i would stick with 18's i have to say i like the stock wheels, i find the new ones way to "fussy". I would lean towards something much simpler like the old RS6's they used on A3's 7-8 years ago. TBH i am not sure any bright silver wheel is going to work on a Red car but i have always been a fan of minilites ! maybe that just makes me old

 

[Lings]

I had deep dished minilites on my old Rs2000
good call lol

 

[paddy]

Shame they dont make them bigger than 17"

 

[Lings]

Iirc mine were 13" with 185 70 tracktor tyres
Lowering blocks on the leafs with spring clamps on the front
Compared to what we had the choice now is fantastic

Remember the ford rostyles polished lips ?

Im old lol

 

[paddy]

I had chrome rostyles on a MK II Capri 3.0 GTXLR ... Gold with a black vinyl roof you dont see gold cars now ...

 

[N8]

wheels are a real personal thing, very Marmite Personally handling and drive comes before looks so lowering and 19"s are a no no for me. I dont see the point in 19s with the roads as crap as they are

Roads are crap everywhere. Crap with 18"/19"/20"

 

[-Ju-]

An update to this thread!
I decided I needed to drop the car to make the wheels look bigger so I went ahead and fitted some H&R's and tbh I was really happy with the result and decided to keep the wheels
So here is a picture with the H&R's and Calito's fitted

 

[-Ju-]

That was until Paul put his BBS CKII Air's up for sale! After a couple of weeks of trying to talk myself out of them, I eventually failed and went ahead and bought them. Collected them today, came back home and put them straight on!

Still getting used to the stretched look on the tyres as they are 215/35/19's so I might end up putting my set of 225/35/19's on, will see how it goes!
Paul (RapS3) if you're watching:icon_thumright:

 

[tcardio]

Spot on!

 

[PaulAr]

Much better:icon_thumright:

 

[N8]

Looks good Ju!

 

[RAPS3]

Awesome

Only thing I forgot to mention is if you change the tyres, make sure you tell the tyre fitter that the tyres need to be fitted reverse / upside down mounted.

They should know what you mean.

 

[-Ju-]

Looks good Ju!

Thanks, means a lot coming from the wheel guru

Awesome Only thing I forgot to mention is if you change the tyres, make sure you tell the tyre fitter that the tyres need to be fitted reverse / upside down mounted. They should know what you mean.

They do look a little unusual on the reverse side, I would never have known that myself so cheers for the info!

 

[Spin140]

I like the wheels but unsure about stretched tyres as always draws my eye to the rim as if something is wrong, to my mind will look better with correct width on but what the hook do I know LOL !!


Glad you are happy.

 

[-Ju-]

My thoughts too Martin, will run them for a while and see if I get used to them, if not I'll stick the 225 F1 assymetrics on that I have.

 

[Baza1819]

Cannot believe ya took the S3 oe wheels off - it looked cracking IMO
Ya must be minted........ Lol
If ya put steel wheels on that S3 it would still look awesome.......... 😉

 

[-Ju-]

The oe wheels did grow on me tbh but it was always my intention to change them