[Biturbos4] rims for 2001 S4

Fri Aug 20 13:44:25 EDT 2004

I don't necessarily disagree if you live somewhere where the tire 
dealers have actually seen an Audi or BMW before, but in Wyoming this is 
still rare.  I had one local tire dealer tell me that they don't even 
want to deal with aluminum wheels.  This is sort of like saying they 
don't want to work on any contemporary vehicles, since even SUVs and 
pickups are coming with aluminum wheels these days.  I was looking for a 
place to have a flat repaired and ended up going to the only other shop 
in town that has a lift that will accommodate the S4.  I watched over 
the whole process and the young man did a good job for me, including re 
balancing and not over-tughtening the lug bolts.  I can recommend Plains 
Tires in Laramie if you need a flat repaired.

Purchasing a set of  wheels and tires for an S4 around here might be a 
different story.  Its just a question of how much added hassle you're 
willing to suffer in order to try to communicate and deal with locals.  
Wyoming is chock full of small businesses people who are convinced they 
know more about what you want than you do.  I quickly grow weary of 
trying to deal with these people.  Around here they don't stock 
anything, so by the time they order what you want, guess at the critical 
details, get something in that doesn't really work or fit, learn about 
what you really want and need, reorder, jerk you around with many visits 
and lots of excess mis-communication, mis-quote you prices, destroy the 
wheels in the process of mounting the tires, etc, etc, you would have 
saved time, money and a lot of frustration by simply ordering on-line 
from Tire Rack or another good on-line tire store.

Local businesses are great if they are competent, but many simply are 
not and it can be difficult to find the few who are actually good at 
what they do.  Wyoming has precious little regulation or market pressure 
to help consumers deal with incompetent local businesses, so our 
situation is probably not the same as it is for those of you who live in 
civilized areas.

Having sad that, I can also recommend Thelen's Body Shop here in 
Laramie.  They have performed very good work on my S4 after using it to 
hunt deer and breaking the front bumper cover on parking barriers.  And 
I've had very good experiences with the dealer who sold me my S4 new - 
Ed Carroll Motors in Fort Collins, Colorado.   I'm not sure if there is 
even one Audi dealer in the state of Wyoming.  There isn't even a VW 
dealership in Laramie - strange for a university town.

One thing we do have in Laramie is a kick-ass University that's also a 
good bargain along with amazing natural beauty and recreational 
opportunities closer than many people's commute to and from work in 
metropolitan areas.  I suppose these are some of the trade-offs.   You 
should check out  www.uwyo.edu  if  you're in the market for some higher 
education.

Cheers and happy S4ing - Wyoming is a great place to drive around in 
your Audi.

John M. Harrison
University of Wyoming Facilities Planning Office
Laramie, Wyoming

Russell Romano wrote:

>It wouldn't hurt to give the "local guy" a chance to meet the tirerack prices (plus a reasonable allotment to cover shipping).
>
>I was buying 18" OZ Titans for my A6 2.7T.  Tirerack had a great price, but I went to a local shop (Auto Addictions in Allentown PA) and they matched the price and even mounted them on the car free.  I did pay tax which I would have avoided mail order... but if the price is close I prefer to keep the money in my own town.
>
>Local shops are starting to improve their price flexibility and customer service due to the pressure the online places are creating.  It's worth giving them a try.
>
>-Russ
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: John M. Harrison [mailto:johnmh at uwyo.edu]
>Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 10:52 AM
>To: Quincy Chiang
>Cc: biturbos4 at audifans.com; Peter in Boston
>Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] rims for 2001 S4
>
>
>Have you looked at Tirerack.com?  Their selection guide for the S4 seems 
>very good and ordering is convenient and easy, especially if you want 
>tires as well.  They stock fully chromed  wheels in a number of styles 
>as well as painted aluminum.  Their selection guide will only show you 
>wheels that fit on your S4 properly - correct offset, bolt pattern and 
>diameter, etc.  They will arrive at your door via UPS properly mounted 
>and balanced and with the correct bolts for the wheels.  Just grab your 
>large torque wrench and bolt them on.  I got my Dunlop Winter sports 
>this way and have no complaints whatsoever, except for the cheesy 
>digital tire gages I suckered for which really don't work very well at 
>all.  I get much better results with a good analog tire gage.   Good 
>luck.  John M. Harrison  Laramie, WY  2001.5 S4 Avant silver loaded 
>stock 33k miles and running perfectly.
>
>Quincy Chiang wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Chrome rims??  Are you kidding??
>>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: Peter in Boston <peter_in_boston at hotmail.com>
>>Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 7:36 am
>>Subject: [Biturbos4] rims for 2001 S4
>>
>> 
>>
>>    
>>
>
>
>  
>
>>>I need new chrome rims for my 2001 S4. Can anyone recommend a 
>>>source for 
>>>good-looking chrome rims that will fit the S4? (17 x 7.5 or 7, 
>>>35mm offset). 
>>>My local tire guy ordered some Alba rims that looked nice, but the 
>>>offset 
>>>wasn't right.
>>>
>>>thanks
>>>
>>>Peter
>>>
>>>
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>>>   
>>>
>>>      
>>>
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>> 
>>
>>    
>>
>
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>  
>