A little help for a newb?

[KFC.ONE]

This is painful for me to make a newb thread like this but the amount of info is dizzying and I don't know who/what to believe. Maybe someone can take a few seconds to answer what I am sure are remedial questions.

I have a new to me 2004 A6 Avant 3.0 Quattro.

It has stock 16's on it and I want to size up to either a 17" or 18" Avus S4 or RS6 Rep wheel.

How do I determine what size, width, offset, etc. I need? Everything I read is like trying to read a foreign language.

With a bigger wheel I would assume I need to upgrade to bigger brakes?

If I need bigger brakes, can I still use my stock 16's as winter tires?

Thanks for any help!

[prady]

This is painful for me to make a newb thread like this but the amount of info is dizzying and I don't know who/what to believe. Maybe someone can take a few seconds to answer what I am sure are remedial questions.

I have a new to me 2004 A6 Avant 3.0 Quattro.

It has stock 16's on it and I want to size up to either a 17" or 18" Avus S4 or RS6 Rep wheel.

How do I determine what size, width, offset, etc. I need? Everything I read is like trying to read a foreign language.

With a bigger wheel I would assume I need to upgrade to bigger brakes?

If I need bigger brakes, can I still use my stock 16's as winter tires?

Thanks for any help!

Try this... maybe other members have better suggestions.

http://www.ehow.com/how_7933682_offset-factory-wheel.html

However, i put 19's on my car and drove it around and never upgraded brakes. They did rub inside but thats a diff topic

[joelhski]

I think a safe rule is to go no further then 2 sizes larger. 16" factory wheel go with an 18" even though a 19 would fit. You really do not need to increase your braking.

I have 18X8.5 R8 replicas on my car with a 35MM offset and the fitment is perfect

[Batcave]

Hey, I have a 2001 C5 A6 Avant and I did exactly the same thing as you want to do. I spent hours on here but couldn't find the answer - it's really someone that has the same car and had tried a specific wheel/tire.

I switched up my 16" stock wheels to 17" Avus wheels (p/n 8D0601025N) with 225/45 tires and they fit perfectly. There is about less than a finger width between the tire and the control arm or steering knuckle. I kept my 16" rims for my winter tires. The diameter of these tires is only off by a small margin and it doesn't affect your speedometer reading very much. I didn't go to an 18" wheel because the speedometer difference was a bit greater and the prices of tires were a bit more also. 17" was good enough for me.

My summer setup are the 17" S4 Avus rims; 7.5" wide with a 45 offset. For my winter setup, I have the 9-spoke rims (ugly as sin) 4B0601025K, ET45.

I found this tire size calculator was pretty good. It tells and shows you the width, height, profile, etc of the tire as well as the speedometer difference. It won't tell you if it will fit on your car though.

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

Good luck with it all and post photos with your new wheels and tires (that's another tough decision!).

My winter setup (not my photo)...
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/932/4b0601025k.jpg

My summer setup (my car/photo)...
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6060502738_3103fcea60_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ifindoubt/6060502738/)

ps. you don't need new brakes.

[KFC.ONE]

Thanks for all the info!

I never even considered the speedometer if I moved up to 18".

Are there other cons to moving up to 18" besides tire price?

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply!

[redneck truck]

Dude, you've really gotta go do some reading. I've got 19x8 ET35 wheels on mine with no issues, great ride quality, and minimal, if any, speedometer error. My factory size (calculated) 25" tires were actually some 23" tall, so running stock size probably had a major impact on my gearing, braking, speedometer error, and fuel economy. If you're worried about speedometer error, you need to measure every tire you run by hand.

If you're looking for the best balance of ride quality, appearance, and economy, I suggest you look for some 17x7.5 or 17x8 ET35 wheels, make sure they will clear your brake calipers, and run a 235 45 r17 tire.

[KFC.ONE]

Dude, you've really gotta go do some reading. I've got 19x8 ET35 wheels on mine with no issues, great ride quality, and minimal, if any, speedometer error. My factory size (calculated) 25" tires were actually some 23" tall, so running stock size probably had a major impact on my gearing, braking, speedometer error, and fuel economy. If you're worried about speedometer error, you need to measure every tire you run by hand.

If you're looking for the best balance of ride quality, appearance, and economy, I suggest you look for some 17x7.5 or 17x8 ET35 wheels, make sure they will clear your brake calipers, and run a 235 45 r17 tire.

Point taken, thanks for the specs.

[news4]

I have a 2000 A6 with wide body and I installed 19x9.5 with offset 35. Tires are 255/35/19. The winters I'm using are 18x8.5 35 offset with 255/40/18 with no issues