Wheel Spacers Research + Photos

[HX_Guy]

I'm loving everything about my B8 (hopefully I get to keep it ) except the wheel offset. I like the wheels and will keep them, so some spacers are in order.

I still have my B6 with has RS4 Replica wheels with a 35mm offset (8x18). The stance is perfect in my opinion and I would like my B8 to look the same.
I tried swapping wheels to see how it would look but unfortunately the RS4 reps do not fit on the B8s hub.
So I took out the ruler and measured as best and accurate as I could.

On the B6, the fronts sit exactly flush with the fender from what I can tell. The rears it ~5mm inside from the fender edge.

On the B8, the fronts sit 14mm inside from the fender edge while the rears sit 21mm inside from the edge.

So to get the same look, I would need 14mm spacers up front and 16mm in the rear. I have not seen either of these sizes so now the question is, should I go with 10mm/15mm...15mm/15mm or 15mm/18mm? 10mm/18mm?

10mm on the front would put the wheel 4mm inside from the fender edge and 18mm would but the rear 3mm inside from the center edge. That sounds pretty good I'm thinking. I don't think I want to do 15mm on the front as it's past the 14mm that would make it flush and I don't want it to stick out one bit.

Here are some photos showing both cars...











I was surprised to see the stock 18" Sport Package offset is ET47! So whimpy! :)



Was also surprised by how nice and thick the Sport Package anti-sway bar is. Looks seriously aftermarket.

[HX_Guy]

I've found some B8 photos online which are throwing me off.

These are apparently 10mm spacers...I think they look really good, especially the front, the back could use slightly more.




But then these are 15mm back and front and they almost look less aggressive than the 10mm. What gives?

[FmL 50cmonsters]

Okan and I both run H&R 20mm Rear/15mm fronts, and the fronts are perfectly flush whereas the rears could easily take another 5mm to be totally flush. 10 or 15mm in the rear is not going to cut it just based upon my own experiences.

[HX_Guy]

Arebyou on stock suspension?

[Blake P]

15(F)/20(R) is most common and causes no problems, but I'm sure you already noticed that when you searched...

[HX_Guy]

Trust me, I've searched and read every post on spacers I could find and still can't really decide which way to go. The guy from BFI suggested 10/15 and that 15/18 could be too aggressive. You're recommending 15/20 which is even more aggressive.

[Blake P]

Trust me, I've searched and read every post on spacers I could find and still can't really decide which way to go. The guy from BFI suggested 10/15 and that 15/18 could be too aggressive. You're recommending 15/20 which is even more aggressive.

If you really read every post on spacers, you would see that there are many people running 15/20 with absolutely no issues, regardless of what BFI says. Either way, a few mm here or there won't make or break the look of your ride as long as you're on stock wheels. No diss, just sayin...

[Okan509]

I have 15 front 20 rear. Upgrading to 25 for the rear. check my thread for pictures.

/end thread

[Blake P]

I have 15 front 20 rear. Upgrading to 25 for the rear. check my thread for pictures.

/end thread

But but but... BFI said he might have issues!

[MiracleWhips]

The avant posted above is mine.

That was with 15MM spacers all around, and could have easily gone with 20MM in the rear, both before and after H&R springs dropped the ride height.

[MiracleWhips]

I also noticed you are comparing two different B8 wheels above.

The white sedan is an S4 with stock 8.5 ET43, the rest are A4 sport pack wheels at 8" ET47 (which you obviously know)

[Blake P]

I also noticed you are comparing two different B8 wheels above.

The white sedan is an S4 with stock 8.5 ET43, the rest are A4 sport pack wheels at 8" ET47 (which you obviously know)

I was just about to post that. The trispokes are already 10mm more aggressive than yours.

[EricJ0n]

If you really read every post on spacers, you would see that there are many people running 15/20 with absolutely no issues, regardless of what BFI says. Either way, a few mm here or there won't make or break the look of your ride as long as you're on stock wheels. No diss, just sayin...

+1... I just installed 15/20 per the norm here. I could have even gone a bit wider. 10/10 is definitely not enough on those stock 18" sport wheels.

[HX_Guy]

I also noticed you are comparing two different B8 wheels above.

The white sedan is an S4 with stock 8.5 ET43, the rest are A4 sport pack wheels at 8" ET47 (which you obviously know)

So S4 has an ET43 offset? I looked it up on Google and found someone who said it had ET47, same as the Sport Pkg wheels. Man I really need to hone my search skills. :P

That obviously makes a lot more sense looking at the pictures above.

[MiracleWhips]

Why would you use Google when you have a wealth of knowledge right here?

[HX_Guy]

I have 15 front 20 rear. Upgrading to 25 for the rear. check my thread for pictures.

/end thread

So this is your car here? Looks absolutely fantastic...15mm/20mm it is then!

[HX_Guy]

Okan509: Which spacers brand are you running?

What about everyone else? Which brand did you guys go with?

[EricJ0n]

H&R purchased from: http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_A4-Quattro-2.0T/

[rippin'av]

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=15+20+spacers

enough said...

[Okan509]

Okan509: Which spacers brand are you running?

What about everyone else? Which brand did you guys go with?

Thanks for the compliment!

H&R purchased from: http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_A4-Quattro-2.0T/

and +1 to this

[HX_Guy]

Cool...no vibration problems or anything, right?

[MiracleWhips]

The 15mm or 20mm H&R spacers paired with Sport Pack wheels do not have vibration issue.

Early on, the 8.5 ET43 Tri spoke S-Line/S4 wheels had some issues with 5mm spacers.

[TCHUN003]

15/20 on H&R OE SPORTS..

[Stuck'ite]

I have not seen anyone mention the offset on the 2011 Ti wheels. I assume the Ti 19's offset is the same as the other 19" sport wheels? I probably wont lower mine, and if I did it would be Eibac Spot/H&R OE height anyway, not slammed. I am thinking 15/20....but waiting to see OKAN509's experience with 25's here before I order.

[coolwater]

I found this site very helpful. Does all the wheel offset calculations for you.

http://www.1010tires.com/wheeloffsetcalculator.asp

-cW

[Runge]

The 15mm or 20mm H&R spacers paired with Sport Pack wheels do not have vibration issue.

Early on, the 8.5 ET43 Tri spoke S-Line/S4 wheels had some issues with 5mm spacers.

Would 10MM spacers work fine with the S-Line wheels? Any comments? Or should just leave 10mm on the back and possible just 5mm on the front or none?

[Blake P]

Would 10MM spacers work fine with the S-Line wheels? Any comments? Or should just leave 10mm on the back and possible just 5mm on the front or none?

10mm on the front would be a problem if your fenders aren't rolled. I'd say 5mm front, 10mm rear if you aren't lowered and fenders are not rolled.

[ddun]

Would 10MM spacers work fine with the S-Line wheels? Any comments? Or should just leave 10mm on the back and possible just 5mm on the front or none?

believe it or not 10mm would fit perfectly on the fronts rolled or not, its the rears you'll have trouble with. when i had this setup, i got a light scrub in the rear on dips and when fully loaded and thats with trimmed liners and a bunch of stuff shaved down.

this is with 10mm rear(ET33), 5mm front(ET38). sorry dont have too many pictures of this setup. if you can tell with these crappy pics, you can see that the wheels still look sunken in the fronts.





heres ET32 all around from another setup i had, again fronts weren't the problems. it was the rears.





thats if you're gonna use the stock 255's.

actually i take that back, its a close fit and i have -2 camber in the front. anything less and it might start to rub. so i wouldn't say it fits everyone...

[Watercooledind]

PM me for pricing on spacers. I would be happy to make you guys flush/poke.

[HX_Guy]

And they're on! :D

I'm going to do a little "How-To", even though it's the easiest install in the world, but I just enjoy doing them (similar but of course a lot less complicated than one I did back in 2007 http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...o-2002-Audi-24... ).

I went with the 15mm/20mm from H&R with new 43mm front and 48mm bolts. They are definitely not too big, which I was concered about, and I could even see going with 25mm in the back, though this looks nice and still OEM in a way, which I like.

Here are a couple teaser pics until I get the How-To done...

[Greg Nelson]

Looks good, yet agree you want to go 25mm on the rears with your rims
Cheers

[Okan509]

Looks good, yet agree you want to go 25mm on the rears with your rims
Cheers

I will have my 25's on soon!

[HX_Guy]

Ok now you guys have me wondering about the 25mm in the rear. I like how it looks, but I have that feeling where I'm asking myself "I don't know, it could be a bit better."

Someone stop me if this is too crazy but here is what I'm thinking. Now this is just to test the aesthetics, I will not drive the car like this...but I need to know how it will look and if it's 25mm is too much or not.

5mm is 0.196". Three quarters (coins) stacked together are 0.187". I'm thinking of taking the quarters together, maybe 3 separate stacks and placing them between the spacer and wheel hub, then mounting the wheel. I'm thinking it should be ok, I'm not going to drive the car, just lower it off the jack to see how it looks.

Good or insanely stupid? :)

[Greg Nelson]

Ok now you guys have me wondering about the 25mm in the rear. I like how it looks, but I have that feeling where I'm asking myself "I don't know, it could be a bit better."

Someone stop me if this is too crazy but here is what I'm thinking. Now this is just to test the aesthetics, I will not drive the car like this...but I need to know how it will look and if it's 25mm is too much or not.

5mm is 0.196". Three quarters (coins) stacked together are 0.187". I'm thinking of taking the quarters together, maybe 3 separate stacks and placing them between the spacer and wheel hub, then mounting the wheel. I'm thinking it should be ok, I'm not going to drive the car, just lower it off the jack to see how it looks.

Good or insanely stupid? :)

Neither IMO. Buy the 25mm, put 'em on, check the fit, take for a ride and assure no vibration.
If don't fit, sell 'em here on classifieds - small investment loss to obtain the proper stance for your ride
Cheers

[HX_Guy]

Did my experiment this morning and I have to say that I prefer the 20mm over the 25mm.

With the 25mm, something just doesn't look right. Maybe if the car was lowered it would be different, but without lowering it, you can see too much of the top of the tire which looks odd. The 20mm still looks OEM...stock in a way, but a good way. 25mm looks like a staggered setup and I'm not liking it.

Plus, these Pirellis are a lot more rounded than the Continental DWS (which I will be getting once these are worn out) so with a more squared off tire, it would look even more odd I think.

A couple photos...

[coolwater]

I like how the 25mm setup looks. That gets your rears to 18x8 ET22.
I am thinking about going with 10mm spacers for my rears to get me to the same setup.
I think only BFI and ECStuning currently makes a 10mm spacer though.

-cW

[Greg Nelson]

I also like the 25 mm rear spacer setup. Also think a coil over lower setup would improve appearance.
I currently have 5 mm all around, really need 10 mm in rear, BFI's are only for OEM rims - I'm on VMR V708's
Cheers

[coolwater]

I also like the 25 mm rear spacer setup. Also think a coil over lower setup would improve appearance.
I currently have 5 mm all around, really need 10 mm in rear, BFI's are only for OEM rims - I'm on VMR V708's
Cheers

Does VMR have the 45 degree bevel?
Just saw this 11.5 spacer from ecstuning....
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_A4-....0T/ES2177176/
But looks like it also has a bevel portion.

UPDATE: This may work better for you:
http://www.3zero3motorsports.com/sto...rmarket-wheels

I also have to confirm if my hartmann reps have a bevel...

-cW

[Greg Nelson]

Does VMR have the 45 degree bevel?
Just saw this 11.5 spacer from ecstuning....
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_A4-....0T/ES2177176/
But looks like it also has a bevel portion.

UPDATE: This may work better for you:
http://www.3zero3motorsports.com/sto...rmarket-wheels

I also have to confirm if my hartmann reps have a bevel...

-cW

Thanks cW, I will look into both.
Am clueless re my VMR V708's have 45 degree bevel - will contact VMR next week.
For $74-$87/pair worth investigating
Cheers

[Stuke'ite]

Did my experiment this morning and I have to say that I prefer the 20mm over the 25mm.

With the 25mm, something just doesn't look right. Maybe if the car was lowered it would be different, but without lowering it, you can see too much of the top of the tire which looks odd. The 20mm still looks OEM...stock in a way, but a good way. 25mm looks like a staggered setup and I'm not liking it.

Plus, these Pirellis are a lot more rounded than the Continental DWS (which I will be getting once these are worn out) so with a more squared off tire, it would look even more odd I think.

A couple photos...

Is it me or did all your pictures vanish? I wanted to see those 25's but all I am getting at the moment are ?'s for your pics. Hmmmm.....
I am pondering 25's for the Ti Avant.