Hi and Help!

[alexpie]

Hi guys,
My names Alex, and I'm from the UK, just bought myself a C6 A6 and I love it. Its only a 2 ltr diesel, but fuel is pricey here in the UK, and this is my daily runaround. I have a Nissan Pulsar GTI-R as a weekend/track toy!

I wondered if you guys could help me, I bought the car with 17" Audi wheels(tyres are 215 55 zr17 94w) but they are in need of a refurb and I think 18's would look so much better, so I've decided to buy some. I've found some BBS LM copies which I like, and they are 18x9 with 46 offset. I know plenty about engines and gearboxes and mechanical things, but nothing about wheels & tyres, so I thought I'd try and find someone who does!! Would I be able to fit these on without any hassle? I'm not going to lower it, as it sits ok how it is and I dont mind adding spacers. Hopefully someone can help, thanks.

[eKKoMan]

I have the same, a 2.0 TDI 2009 C6 A6 and I'm planning to do the same thing.
Here are the OEM specifications that i've got from Audi :

245/40 R18 93W - 8Jx18 ET 48
245/40 R18 93W - 8Jx18 ET 43
255/35 R19 96Y - 8.5Jx19 ET 48

So to answer your question : yes, you can fit them without any problem on 245/40/r18, ET 46 is good. The lower the ET, the more wheels will come out of their sockets (i have to improve my english to better explain it :) ).

In the future the factors to look at are :
- what kind of suspension do you have? comfort/sport/s-line (the first is the highest - last lowest)
- for big body Audi C6 : RS6, S6, A6 4.2 (they have wider wings), you can fit lower ET rims, and the wheels will not stand out.

Good luck!

[alexpie]

Thankyou for your reply, that's helped loads! i understand about offset now!
I have found the same wheels in 19x8.5, would these look better? I'm just worried about ruining the ride which is why I looked at 18s, but I have been told the ride isn't too bad on 19s, and they would fill the arches better and give it a nice stance without compromising ride quality.
Any more help would be greatly appreciated

[OmaHahn]

The most important thing to look at is the wheel/rim itself. I have an A4/B8 but the same thing applies to the C6 and that you have to make sure the bore and bolt pattern on the new 18 or 19 fit this car. Example, my car 2009 A4 requires a wheel that is 66.6 bore and 5x112 bolt pattern.

Don't be fooled by wheel sizes either. An 18-inch wheel on 245/40/18 tires is almost exactly the same size as a 19-inch wheel on 245/35/19 tires! I'm talking about a difference of just .04 inches - this is JUST 1.016 Millimeters! Here's a great site to calculate the size. Look at the OVERALL DIAMETER the wheels. Even a 17-inch on a 45 profile tire is about the same size as a 19-inch on a 35 profile tire!

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

Good luck! CHEERS!

-E

[eKKoMan]

OmaHahn is right about the bolt pattern, since what you are buying is not Audi OEM or Audi replica, you should first check if it fits! But i don't think he is right about the calculations. On my calculations i get :

245/40/18 vs 255/35/19
Radius of the wheel 326,60 mm vs 330,55 mm
Circumference of the wheel 2052,09 mm vs 2076,91 mm
Diference in circumference 24,82 mm => 1,21 %

In my opinion 2.5cm make a difference in ride quality!

"... but I have been told the ride isn't too bad on 19s, and they would fill the arches better and give it a nice stance without compromising ride quality."
I am going through this process myself and i opened a thread on this forum about this.

Conclusions:
If the car has comfort suspension, the difference in ride smoothness will not be that much noticeable between 19'' vs 18'', but it will raise the car! The gap between the wheel and the body will remain constant (due to the suspension). 18'' will be the compromise and the solution!

If the car has sport/s-line suspension, the difference in ride smoothness will feel more between 19'' vs 18'', but the car will definitely look better with 19''.

Hard decision! :)

[OmaHahn]

My calculations were right from that website so they are accurate. The problem is eKKoMan didn't compare Apples to Apples. He used a 255 size tire on the 19-inch wheel. I'm comparing the same 245 tire on both the 18 & 19. Of course the 255 wide tire does actually affect the height too. But...a lot of people use a 245 size tire on a 8-inch wide tire, 8.5, and even a 9-inch tire. So, if you use a 245 tire, then both wheels either an 18 or 19 will be identical size - well, the 19 will be ONE millimeter taller.

I haven't made my mind up if 19 looks better than 18. I just put an S5 replica wheel in 18-inch size with 245 tire and my car looks sweet! I need to put H&R OE springs on to lower a little bit and it should be perfect. If I go to a 19, then my tire will go from a 40 profile on my 18 to a 235 profile on the 19 and again.....the 19 will be the same size as my 18 so what difference would it make to go from 18 to 19. Yes, the wheel/rim itself is larger but can it really affect the asthetics that much? Also, we get those darn pot-holes in our streets sometimes so I don't think I want a thin profile on a tire.

[alexpie]

Thanks so much guys, this is a great help..!
The car is on comfort suspension, I may look at lowering if i get the 18s but I don't want a hard ride, I've seen the H&R and Eibach spring kits, can you get springs that lower the car slightly but are relatively similar ride-wise to the stock suspension? Any advice on this?

At the moment the 18s are seeming like the better choice, as tire's for 19s are alot more expensive, and the 19s would have lower profile and the roads here don't have potholes, they are pretty much one big pothole, they're terrible!
I'm pretty sure the stud fitment etc is correct as they are advertised to fit the car so I think they will be ok on that front.

Thanks for helping me guys, any more advice is greatly appreciated!!

[OmaHahn]

Go to ECStuning.com - they have H&R Springs at the best price I've seen! You should consider the springs I'm going to get: Part #50361-55. It's the most "mild" drop of about 1.2 inches and very comparable to OEM ride comfort. Now, you need to post pics of your car before and after the new wheels and drop is complete or it didn't happen as they say on here! Cheers!

[SinCityA6]

I am running 19X8.5 with an aggressive et32 offset and Tires are 255/35/19. The tires are pushed out to just about flush with the fender. Ride quality is not demenished, if fact I feel the car rides better with this setup.

[alexpie]

Hey guys thanks again for your help, and SinCity your car looks great! Thanks for the picture to give me an idea.
I am seriously considering these "OE Sport Springs" they sound exactly what I'm looking for if I was to lower it. The only thing is, the website you've given is a good price but being in UK I would have to pay $146 postage! Is that a universal H&R part number? As I know they're made in Germany so I'm sure I can find a supplier over here.
So far I'm thinking the 18x9's, possibly with spacers, and if I can get hold of them, some H&R springs.
Do you think this will give me the result I was looking for of giving it that bit nicer stance, and making it a little bit different from the rest whilst maintaining the ride quality?
I'll get some photos of how it is now over the weekend, and then as soon as I'm decided on this I'll order everything, and post an after photo as I'm getting the windows tinted at the same time!
Thanks again guys,