[A4] My new A4 has been built! A tire mystery

[Rocky Mullin]

	you can lessen the sticker issues if you lease instead of buy.
i'm never going to own an audi again, they are nothing but a liability
once out of warranty.  i adore them thoug, so leasing is the way to go.

	go with 16, not 17.  smoother ride, identical handling.  the
quest for bigger rims is simply the american size-queen vibe.  bigger
isn't better.  people think it is ,though, especially because it's
more expensive.

At 10:46 PM +0000 11/3/05, gsackerson at comcast.net wrote:
>Hi all,
>   I got word from my dealer that my 2006 2.0T Quattro A4 has been 
>built (I ordered a few options that you can only get from the 
>factory) and is on the banana boat shipping my way. Now it's time to 
>sell my 2002 A4. I was somewhat disheartened to see the Blue Book on 
>that puppy - it seems that frame repair significantly reduces the 
>Blue Book value even if the shop repairs it as good as new (which my 
>body shop claims is possible.) But, while the value is lower than 
>I'd like, it's still a nice payment for the shocking sticker price 
>I'm paying for a new A4 ($38,000 with the options I selected - 
>gulp.) I am excited indeed. I love the performance of the new 2.0T 
>engine and the look of the front grille is growing on me.
>   On another note, I'm a bit intrigued by what the lead Audi 
>salesman told me about the difference between different size 
>wheels/tires. My car is coming with 17 inch wheels/tires, and I was 
>curious about what makes a 17 inch tire different than a 16 inch (or 
>smaller.) As I understand the answer, all tires on a vehicle, 
>whether it's a 16 inch, 17 inch or 18 inch, all measure the same 
>from the ground to the top of the tire, otherwise, the odometer 
>wouldn't work correctly with different size wheels/tires. Correct? 
>OK, if I heard that right, the 2nd piece of information I heard was 
>that the thickness of the rubber on a larger tire would be less than 
>the thickness of a smaller tire on the same vehicle. This is where 
>my brain starts going "huh?" As I heard it, to keep the overall 
>height of 2 tires on the same vehicle the same, the thickness of the 
>rubber on both tires are different to keep the overall size the same 
>- is that correct? I guess I assumed the larger tire was also wider
>  , but it sounds like I'm wrong on that. I always assumed that 
>"sport" tires had a lower profile and were wider to compensate for 
>the lower profile.
>   Anyone care to elaborate or correct me on this? I realize this is 
>probably "Tire Design 101" class stuff here, but I'm interested in 
>more than theory - I'm truly interested to know how this translates 
>to real world coming from a vehicle with a 16-inch wheel/tire to one 
>with a 17-inch/wheel. Several of you already addressed the 
>perception of the driver - that the cornering "seems" better on the 
>larger tire even if times on a track don't prove that out.
>   Feel free to fire away!
>
>Glenn
>On the way out: 2002 1.8T A4 Quattro
>On the boat heading to America: 2006 2.0T A4 Quattro
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-- 
  Rocky Mullin 

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