[s-cars] Avus 17x7.5 ET45 wheels w/ H&R 25mm Wheel Spacers (the whole saga)

[Jeremy Ward]

I hope you guys aren't getting tired of this thread, but I know there
are several of you contemplating the same thing.  

[recap]
A friend of mine is selling his E36 M3 (shameless plug, lmk if you are
interested) because he bought a 2000 S4.  The PO put 19" Porsche turbo
replica wheels on there and Doug sold me the badly curb-rashed Avus
wheels for a song.  Too bad they are ET45 and our cars call for ET35 on
a 7.5" rim.  

They are beautiful on my V8, but the offset looked ridiculous.  I
purchased a set of H&R 25mm spacers (H&R P/N 5055571) to bring them out
10mm (stock) plus an extra 15mm for an aggressive stance and a little
bling.

[setup]
Running H&R springs and Yellow Koni Sports.  Here's a shot with stock
rims and 225/60/15 tires:
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/Wheels/Aero-big.jpg 

Pics of the Avus wheels and bald 225/45/17 tires before the spacers:
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus1.jpg
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus2.jpg
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus3.jpg

Shots of the spacers:
http://198.107.18.114/v8q/pics/HR25mm-1.jpg 
http://198.107.18.114/v8q/pics/HR25mm-2.jpg 
http://198.107.18.114/v8q/pics/HR25mm-3.jpg 

2.85lbs unsprung weight more per wheel.  The old Aero wheel + tire was
42lbs.  The Avus (with bald tires) is 45lbs. + another 3lbs for the
spacers.  Could be better, eh?  But could be worse! ;-)

These are the DRA style, so you will notice in the pics, it comes with
new wheel bolts that will bolt these to my hubs.  My old bolts will work
just fine, and bolt to the spacer.  You will also notice they are
hubcentric, so the weight of the car is not supported only by the sheer
strength of the wheel bolts.  As Ingo (and one of my coworkers) pointed
out, due to the different material types, make sure to use anti seize on
all 40 bolts if you ever want to remove them again.  ;-)

[drum roll]
And the moment you have all been waiting for...  The pics!
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus25mm-1.JPG
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus25mm-2.JPG
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus25mm-3.JPG
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus25mm-4.JPG
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q/pics/Avus25mm-5.JPG


I am pretty happy with the results.  Preliminary tests show no rubbing.
I am putting a little bit larger shoes on her this week (235/45/17) and
hope all goes well.  I think I have a little extra room to work with, so
shouldn't be a problem.  If these Avus wheels (original Audi parts)
weren't such a good deal, I would have purchased the replicas which come
with a ET35 offset (not ET45).  I think I would still push them out a
bit with the low setup I have on there right now.  Of course the 17x8
Bolero 10 spokes would be a nice setup, too... :-)

[extras]
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/ext43.shtml - how to fix curb rash

http://www.audiv8.com/forum/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=v8forum_ger&Numb
er=54900&page=&view=&sb=&o - Michael's tire size calculator (click
attachment)



And that's all I have to say about that - Forest Gump

Enjoy,

- Jeremy
http://198.107.18.114/V8Q