UPDATED - B8 Sport Wheels on B7, Eibach Pro

[GA42.0T]

Updated Jan. 2, 2011:

So evidently there is a clearence issue with these 47ET wheels. I put on new brakes last week and with the brand new pads on there, the wheels wouldn't clear the calipers. Wheels BARELY touched the calipers, so looks like 5mm spacers at a minumum are needed. For cosmetics though, 10mm spacers up front are probably best, so that's what I'll go with.

.... just FYI to anyone looking to go with these wheels on B7.

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FTWDLTBTDWICTW

So here are the 18" B8 Sport Package wheels on a B7. I know they're only OEM goodness and won't thrill the heavies, but I think they look good on our cars. Kinda psyched actually. They needed the 66.5 to 57.1 centering rings. I got plastic ones from ECS, and I don't know if it's in my headgames or just bad roads, but I feel some vibration. Going for a 60 mile drive tomorrow and bound to find some good pavement. Hopefully I'll get a smooth ride at some point.

They need purdy lug bolts or lug head caps. I'll probably just get the caps for $.90 each.

I know. Needs LOW!

Saturday = SOO-UM LOW. I'll add Koni FSD/Eibach Pro kit, along with black out grill. More pics after.

So, lay it on me. WHAT DO YOU THINK? I promise not to get butthurt if you trash it.







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UPDATE
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So here I am. Installed the Koni FSD/Eibach Pro kit and RS4 rear sway and feeling pretty good about it.

Drop
For me, it's perfect. I know, SEXICÄN, not enough drop for you! Sorry. I was at 27" fender arch to ground all around prior, now fronts are 25.75" and rears are 25.5" even. So for those who need help with math, for me this kit yielded a 1.25" drop in the front and 1.5" drop rears.

Before and Afters:






Now more pics!










Offsets, Future Spacers
Fronts actually are already flush with the inside of the fender. So could use maybe 3 or 5mm to get completely flush. I'll probably leave as-is.



Rears look like they could take up to 20mm to be completely flush. I'll probably go a bit moderately with 10mm



Impressions
Friggin love it. I love the OEM look of the wheels. Bigger 18" wheels look sporty and I've always liked multi-spoke designs. For me, the drop is perfect. I'm looking for a sporty look and feel for a daily driver. I don't really like the tuner-dude look of really dropped, slammed, poked, 19X9... and so on. So for me, this is perfect. (Not provoking another LOAR discussion. Just IMO.) So far, the Koni FSDs and Eibachs feel great and I can really feel the RS4 sway bar. The masses are correct, this is a great mod.

Not Quite Done
For exterior, I'll probably add 8 or 10mm spacers in the back. Leave front as it.
Would like to CC and smoke side markers. Cupra R lip and maybe 10-15% tint. That should do it. Would like fancy headlights too, but $$$

Note on the grill: I obviously got the blackout grill with satin black fill plate. I carefully removed the chrome strips from the original gray fill plate and went with those. I like that small addition of chrome. I'm not going fully Darth Vader because I've got silver wheels and stock chrome window trim. That's not changing. So thought the chrome rings and chrome filler plat strips are a nice accent. Again, IMO.

[EuroSpec27]

I like!

[Quattro]

remind me of b5 rs4 wheels, once the car is lower it will be golden

[itsmatt33]

these will look great and very oem+ with a drop

[vbrad26]

i like it!
not bad at all!
looking forward to more pictures of it after this weekend though haha

[palestar]

Looks great man, they fit the B7 really well

[Sprode]

Prefer oem b7 TI wheels personally, but is better than many of the options out there.

[pw211]

Looks OEM

[EMAXX]

Doesn't look bad... Makes the B7 kind of looks like a Passat to me though...

[Spesh]

I've always liked the phase 2 RS6 Tri spoke wheels on the B7. But these look good.

[GA42.0T]

Thanks for all the love.

Doesn't look bad... Makes the B7 kind of looks like a Passat to me though...

Yes, I see that. Very similar to some of the current Passat wheels.

Prefer oem b7 TI wheels personally, but is better than many of the options out there.

I'm right there with you. I think the B7 Ti wheels are some of my favorite OEMs (remind me of the old multi-spoke BMW wheels on my 1979 320i). They just don't suit me with a black car though. Too Darth Vader/Johnny Cash/Metallica/badassmofoinallblack. I know they make them in silver too, but figured I'd have to wait years to find a set of those on the classifides.

[TH85]

can you explain in detail what u used in order for those to fit along with costs? i assume this would go for any b8 a4/s4 wheel going on a b7 a4
thanks! looks good!

[euroazfck]

Nice!!

[beantown]

remind me of b5 rs4 wheels, once the car is lower it will be golden

Was thinking the same thing (those or USP wheels)

GA4 - I like 'em, look great!

[A 4 Awesome]

Looks good. Will look even hotter next week after your drop. good choice

[Godfather 2.0T]

nice OEM+ look!

[joeygriebel]

Looks good!

[unh112]

you got any spacers?

[Sprode]

Thanks for all the love.


Yes, I see that. Very similar to some of the current Passat wheels.


I'm right there with you. I think the B7 Ti wheels are some of my favorite OEMs (remind me of the old multi-spoke BMW wheels on my 1979 320i). They just don't suit me with a black car though. Too Darth Vader/Johnny Cash/Metallica/badassmofoinallblack. I know they make them in silver too, but figured I'd have to wait years to find a set of those on the classifides.

I am glad to see you considered things properly. I have never and will never own a black car (i'm too dirty) and therefore my wheel choices may be biased.

[GA42.0T]

Dam! Thanks for the support everyone!

you got any spacers?

No, I don't have any spacers, but thinking I may need them. These have a REALLY high offset - 47 mm (stock split 5 spoke 17 X 7.5 has 45et), and they're super close to the suspention. I don't know what it's called, but I'd guess it's the upper control arm. I can't even get my fingers inbetween that part and the wheel. I'm worried that going to lower springs may somehow cuase rubbing. I drove plenty of miles today to conclude there's no rubbing right now. Anyway, with that high of an offset I figured they'd I'd need some spacers so they don't look burried in the wheel well. But I actually think it's not bad. May end up trying something moderate. 5 or 8 mm front, 10 or 12 mm back just to see if it looks better.

can you explain in detail what u used in order for those to fit along with costs? i assume this would go for any b8 a4/s4 wheel going on a b7 a4
thanks! looks good!

Well, right now, all I've spent/used was the the wheels/tires, hub centric rings and lug nut covers. And having the TMPS sensors swapped out.

Wheels/tires: Got them for $1,300 shipping included from the classifides here. Thought that was a great deal. They're brand fucking new. 100% zero sign of wear. The tires have the little nubs on them. The tires alone are like $330 each (granted they don't get great reviews) and the wheels are like $380 retail. So that's a $3,000 retail set up. However, since I've got these, I have seen another set or two on the AZ classifides go for a bit less. One set I think was $1,000 with worn tires and another was less thank $1K with no tires - neither included shipping. May be a set out there now. (Props to titsavant32 for selling me the wheels. It was my first classifides purchase and needless to say I was hesitant to PayPal someone 1300 bucks. But he's true blue and the wheels are The Shit.)

Hub centric rings. Very cheap. $10 + shipping from ECS.

However, I'm getting some vibration that I can't tell if it's in my head or the rings. They fit rather loosely, so I may have to get some more/different/better ones. Have seen some metal or aluminium ones for like $45.

Lug nut covers. The lugs are exposed with these wheels, so the ugly ass stock lugs I have won't cut it. The least expensive route are these covers for $.90 each from the dealer. Picked them up from VW dealer today.


New lugs with nice smooth or rounded head would probalby look nicer, but be more expensive.

Finally, I paid a local Goodyear tire store $100 to pull the TPMS sensors out of my stock 17's and put them in the new 18's. That included re-mount and balance all 8 wheels/tires. Note sure if that's rip off or not, but seemed reasonable.

So that's:
$1,300 wheels/tires
$18 hub rings, shipping
$18 for lug nut covers from local VW dealer (Audi should have these too. Same part.)
$100 to swap TPMS sensors from old stock wheels to new
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$1,436. Ugh! And I still owe $10K on the car note. I've got to stop reading Audizine.

[GA42.0T]

I am glad to see you considered things properly. I have never and will never own a black car (i'm too dirty) and therefore my wheel choices may be biased.

Yeah. It's a long story how I ended up with this car and I'm not regreting it. Love it so far. That said, if I can help it, it'll be my last black car. Looking at it under artificial light or late in the day when the sun is low is flat out depressing. The scratches, swirleys, water marks. It looks just terrible. But, in the right light, freshly washed, it does look incredable. Brilliant Black is a good name. I think only Brilliant Red shines as much - in the right light.

[GA42.0T]

i like it!
not bad at all!
looking forward to more pictures of it after this weekend though haha

Ha! Thanks!

I know. I've seen your shit. I'll still be 4x4'ing compared to you, but I will be LOAR than I am now.

[Erocko]

Good stuff. I am glad you tried it. Once you get it low, it's gonna look sick. Good choice.

[porkchops!]

Although not necessarily my personal taste, that shit looks classy. Nice and OEM.. very respectable. Of course, lowering will really bring it full circle. What size tires are on 'em?

As for spacers.. I would definitely recommend acquiring them before your suspension install. I'm not sure exactly how your specific suspension setup will sit, but with that high of an offset I'd say it's almost guaranteed that you'll have clearance issues. As well, after lowering the car a bit, the "sucked-in-ness" of the high offset will really be a lot more noticeable. If I were you, I'd do some researching on here to see what final offsets you like the look of and at what ride height. I personally would recommend doing something along the lines of 10mm front and 15mm rear spacers (final offset= et37 front, et32 rear). With the "right" drop I think that would look gorgeous.

Either way, you are off to a fantastic start. I like seeing people that take time to plan mods and spend their money wisely instead of just throwing their money at the first crap they see... just to have something "different". Well done

[GA42.0T]

Good stuff. I am glad you tried it. Once you get it low, it's gonna look sick. Good choice.

Sweet! Thanks!

Although not necessarily my personal taste, that shit looks classy. Nice and OEM.. very respectable. Of course, lowering will really bring it full circle. What size tires are on 'em?

As for spacers.. I would definitely recommend acquiring them before your suspension install. I'm not sure exactly how your specific suspension setup will sit, but with that high of an offset I'd say it's almost guaranteed that you'll have clearance issues. As well, after lowering the car a bit, the "sucked-in-ness" of the high offset will really be a lot more noticeable. If I were you, I'd do some researching on here to see what final offsets you like the look of and at what ride height. I personally would recommend doing something along the lines of 10mm front and 15mm rear spacers (final offset= et37 front, et32 rear). With the "right" drop I think that would look gorgeous.

Either way, you are off to a fantastic start. I like seeing people that take time to plan mods and spend their money wisely instead of just throwing their money at the first crap they see... just to have something "different". Well done

Great stuff. Thanks for encouragement and the tips, Kyle. Terrific point about it looking more tucked after lowering, and great advise about have spacers on hand. My problem is I've got lift time tomorrow that shit's going down then. I'll keep the stock 17's on hand and if the 18's won't clear I run the stocks till i get the spacers.

Thanks again everyone!

[Koby]

I want to like it, but that's just not doing it for me. Maybe once it's lowered?

[TH85]

all you really need is hub centric rings to make the B8 platform wheels to fit our cars??!

[jma57]

Damn, you beat me to it! Good on you. I hope to get my set just like yours this weekend. It looks great and it'll look a lot better once you drop it and possibly get some spacers.
Congrats.

[GA42.0T]

all you really need is hub centric rings to make the B8 platform wheels to fit our cars??!

I guess so. There are no clearance issues now, thought it's tight as shit in there (that's what she said). Lowering it tomorrow, so will report any clearance issues afterward. Regardless, could probably use spaces for esthetics alone.

I've also got a shitload of vibration but concluded that the fucking ballsuck lazy ass guys at the tire store who swapped my TPMS sensors didn't re-balance the wheels per our agreement. I looked closely and there's not a new weight on there - only brake dust-caked old weights. So, assuming proper balancing fixes the vibration, then yes, it seems that only hub centric rings is all you need. Plus TPMS if you don't have them and want them, plus lug head caps or purdy lug nuts if you don't want to rock the ugly stock lugs.

Damn, you beat me to it! Good on you. I hope to get my set just like yours this weekend. It looks great and it'll look a lot better once you drop it and possibly get some spacers.
Congrats.

Ha! Thanks man. Look forward to seeing yours and hearing how it goes. Hopefully you'll be vibration free. As yet, I'm still shaking like a mofo. Tire store is going to reblanace them tomorrow morning and if that does't fix it, I'll be very depressed.

[TH85]

^^^cool! let us know if the vibration issue was just the weights not added....

[arce909]

I like!!! Lower ur car and ur good!!

[20AE428]

Those are one of the smallest looking 18" wheels. Will of course look better with less gap.

[GA42.0T]

Those are one of the smallest looking 18" wheels. Will of course look better with less gap.

That's funny. Being used to the stock 17's, when I look at it all I see are WHEELS. All in the eye of the beholder I guess. True though, they look kinda puney in that gap.

[vbrad26]

when you get bored with them you should paint them some sort of crazy color lol

[GA42.0T]

when you get bored with them you should paint them some sort of crazy color lol

HA! Yeah, that's likely. I'll take a pole and let the forum decide which color. Failproof!

[dortiz750]

looks nice

[GA42.0T]

More pics and details tomorrow.

[SEXICÄN]

will look once you LOWER IT

[GA42.0T]

Bump for updated OP. Look up^^^

[A 4 Awesome]

Told you it would look better with the drop. BIG Keep up the good work!