[Biturbos4] Wheels - advice and experience

Thu Mar 17 20:34:24 EST 2005

Just a bit more advice...  I had some Audi wheels straightened and made 
pretty several years ago, by one of the older wheel repair companies in 
Pennsylvania.  Nice job, but the paint wasn't even close to the factory 
finish.  Probably a good idea to discuss the finishing process with your 
chosen guys before the job rather than after, just to be sure.
Regards,
John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Grant" <gfl1 at optonline.net>
To: "northrup" <northrup at crazybug.com>
Cc: <biturbos4 at audifans.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 17, 2005 7:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Wheels - advice and experience

I have two places.

One is "Auto Collision Experts" in Elizabeth NJ, right new Newark
Airport. About $70 a wheel.
Inconvenient, but recommended.
(908) 352-5991 (12/04)

The other, on which the jury is out, is USA Wheels, in Fiarwield NJ.
About $100.
UInclear that they did a great job. Also unclear that they did a bad
job, just witholding judgement based on some odd circumstances with my
last repair.
(973) 227-7977

Grant
On Mar 14, 2005, at 10:21 AM, northrup wrote:

> I drive that same road, and those ruts are HUGE!
>
> For those wheels, you might try someone like achtuning.com (josh is the
> owner, but anyone should be able to help you).  You may get a better
> deal there as compared to the dealer.
>
> btw, where would one get wheels straightened?  I took some wheels to
> Wheel
> Collision center in Bath, PA - but they wanted something like $250 to
> fix
> a minor wobble.  If there is somewhere cheaper, i'd like to know!
>
> wilson
>
> On Mon, 14 Mar 2005, Grant wrote:
>
>> Quincy,
>>
>> Thanks for the advice.  BTW, I am familiar with the wheels you suggest
>> - they're just hard to come by (except at Audi's extortionist pricing
>> new).
>>
>> My roads?  My commute.  New Jersey 287 north right now has *ruts*
>> between the lanes for miles.  And several of my back-roads to work
>> have
>> pretty bad potholes, some which come up "around the bend".  I think
>> I'm
>> pretty careful, but it seems you can't be careful enough!  Its darned
>> frustrating.
>>
>> Maybe I should sell my S5s and winter tires (once all straightened) to
>> someone who has better luck than me ....any takers?)
>>
>> Grant
>> On Mar 13, 2005, at 10:52 PM, Quincy Chiang wrote:
>>
>>> Grant,
>>>
>>> I've never heard of anyone bending the stock Avus wheels, given they
>>> are approx. 28+ lb each, and are known to be damn strong!  Then you
>>> went on and bent a few 16" wheels with even squishier tires?  I know
>>> many people have 16" AT Italia S5 wheels as winters and have had no
>>> problems with them.  Man you must drive on some really really bad
>>> roads!!
>>>
>>> For OE wheel options, you can go with any 16" wheels offered on the
>>> A6
>>> with 2.7t because that car has the same front brakes as ours.  There
>>> should be 2 types, a 5-spoke design and a 6 split-spoke design, both
>>> are 16x7.  Do a search on Audiworld to see what they look like if you
>>> don't know.
>>>
>>> There's also another OE wheel that clears our front brakes.  It's not
>>> offered as a standard wheel but it's sold by dealers as a specific
>>> winter rim for cars with the HP2 brakes.  These are 16x6.5, extra
>>> narrow for mounting 205 or even 195 section width winter tires for
>>> good winter traction.  I have them and here's what they look like on
>>> my car:
>>>
>>> http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/41218/100-0022_img_small.jpg
>>>
>>> I know they're not they prettiest things, but they are quite heavey
>>> duty and I seriously doubt they can be bent given the extra squishy
>>> sidewall due to the narrow wheel width.  The previous owner got these
>>> as part of his deal when he bought the car instead of getting a
>>> discount, so I'm not sure what they cost.
>>>
>>> HTH and good luck with whatever new rims you get!
>>>
>>> Quincy
>>>
>>> PS: Wilson, interesting info.  Although I thought only the RS4 in
>>> Britain had problems with bent rims, didn't know the regular S4's had
>>> problems too, at least I've never heard of it until now.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: northrup <northrup at crazybug.com>
>>> Date: Sunday, March 13, 2005 7:35 am
>>> Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] Wheels - advice and experience
>>>
>>>> Grant:
>>>>
>>>> I recall reading something about the S4's with aluminum uprights
>>>> in
>>>> regard to wheels.  Note that i do not recall the source of the
>>>> information, so it should be taken only as a possibility, and not
>>>> fact.
>>>> In any event, IIRC, it went something like this:
>>>>
>>>> Audi used aluminum uprights on the S4, but then there were some
>>>> broken
>>>> suspension issues.  To resolve this, softer (lighter?) wheels were
>>>> used
>>>> in  conjunction with the aluminum uprights.   This resulted in
>>>> many bent
>>>> wheels.   After this Audi essentially threw in the towel.
>>>> Aluminum
>>>> uprights were discontinued in favor of a stronger (heavier) setup.
>>>>
>>>> Stronger (heavier?) wheels were added.  The result: more unsprung
>>>> weight,
>>>> but less damage.
>>>>
>>>> So, all that means if you are shopping for another set of wheels,
>>>> you may
>>>> wish to consider the 2001+ variety.   Then again, if your car has
>>>> aluminum
>>>> upgrights, you may wish to continue with softer wheels!
>>>>
>>>> Nothing is ever simple in the performance arena. :)
>>>>
>>>> wilson
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, Grant wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I'm looking for the group's collective experience with wheels.
>>>>> I bought 4 snows and 16"  (16 x 7 x 35 ET) AT Italia S5 wheels
>>>> from the
>>>>> tire rack, and have bent several of them - while bending only 1
>>>>> original avus wheel.  These things seem to be very weak/soft.
>>>> I'm
>>>>> about to throw in the towell and replace them, if I can figure
>>>> out what
>>>>> is better in the long run.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm curious what experience people have had with other
>>>> aftermarket or
>>>>> 16" OE (used, presumably) wheels, especially RONALs (which made
>>>> several
>>>>> of the OE wheels).
>>>>>
>>>>> Good/bad.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks, much.
>>>>>
>>>>> Grant
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>> Biturbos4 at www.audifans.com
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>>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
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>>
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>

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