Summer tires mess up handling

[Ed Kellock]

Correction... the tire size is 225/50-16 not 60 series.  I'm sure most just
assumed it was a mistake but wanted to be sure.

My big brake kit is an early Mov-it one where they saw off one of the
caliper mounting ears for the UFO calipers.  I had hoped to use urS4 5-spoke
wheels, but they won't clear the brakes.  I have test-fit some urS6 6 spoke
wheels, but those only allowed 6 thicknesses of copy paper of clearance.
Currently, I have A6 4.2 winter wheels on it and the clearance between wheel
and brake is fairly decent.  I will probably use those wheels year round and
have different tires mounted for summer.  They actually look pretty good on
the car too.  I originally bought them for my V8 though, so I may go another
way.  I'm thinking about doing something different with the brakes though,
not sure what.  I bought another set of UFO uprights thinking I would go
back to that, but I really like the feel of the big brakes.  I have no
qualms about running UFO's.  I may juggle stuff between cars.  My Avant is
not going to be seeing any serious performance duty, though I do load it up
and take it camping.  But my "new" 93 V8 still has only G60's so I could
move the big brakes and the A6 wheels to it.  With the UFO's back on the
Avant, I'd have way more flexibility with it for winter, etc.  The V8 will
probably get garage queen status when the roads are nasty.  

Have I reached terminal Roger ramble length yet?  ;-)  Just kidding Roger.
How's Mariah?

Ed

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ed Kellock [mailto:ekellock at gmail.com] 
> Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:22 PM
> To: 'the Spaeth's'; '200q20v at audifans.com'
> Subject: RE: Summer tires mess up handling
> 
> 
> I believe it's a function of width and tread compound and 
> design.  On my Avant I'm pretty well limited to 16's or 
> bigger due to the brakes.  It came with 16x7 Dunlop SP8000's 
> 225/60-15's which tend to run fairly large for that size, so 
> they tramline pretty significantly also due to their large 
> longitudinal grooves.
> 
> Currently it has some 215/55-16 snows on it and is pretty 
> nice in comparison.
> 
> Out of all the tires/wheels I have I only have 2 sets of 16's 
> that will fit over the brakes, and even then I am measuring 
> the clearance between wheel and brake caliper in thicknesses 
> of paper, which does not make me very comfortable.  I have 
> thought about getting some 17x7.5 wheels, to match the stock 
> wheel width and then as narrow a 17inch tire as I can find 
> that will approximate the correct diameter.  215/50-17's are 
> available and in a less agressive performance tire, I think I 
> could probably achieve a decent ride and give those brakes 
> some more clearance.
> 
> The only problem with the 17inch wheel approach is wheel 
> choice.  I have become pretty obsessed with weight and OEM 
> wheels and I'm just not sure what I can find on another Audi 
> that will be lightweight and have the right dimensions, i.e. 
> 17x7.5 et35, to match the stock setup.
> 
> Ed
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: 200q20v-bounces at audifans.com
> > [mailto:200q20v-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of the Spaeth's
> > Sent: Saturday, April 21, 2007 10:51 AM
> > To: 200q20v at audifans.com
> > Subject: Re: Summer tires mess up handling
> > 
> > 
> > Our 91 TQ Avant does the same thing. I believe the same size
> > tire. The tires tramline to a scary degree. I have had very 
> > careful alignments done. I have one of the Bernie style upper 
> > bars to get it all they way dialed in. We are running H&R 
> > springs with Koni adjustable struts. There is no indication 
> > of this with the 16" snows. It drives fine with the snow 
> > tires on it. I have thought about dropping back to 16's for 
> > the summer. Could this be caused more by the actual tire 
> > design than just the size of tire? I don't want to spend that 
> > much on new tires just to have them do the same thing again. 
> > I have tried different air pressures but it didn't seem to 
> > make much difference.
> > 
> > Craig
> > 
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