[V6-12v] New Wheels and tires combo

[James4ihl at aol.com]

Clive --

Two things I can say about changing wheel/tyre combos, having looked into it 
myself a while back (I decided not to in the end, but mine were 16" as 
standard, and pretty wide). Firstly, be aware that it'll change the handling of the 
car, but not neccessarily in a good way. If you go with bigger rims, you'll 
have to lower the profile of the tyres. This'll theoretically give you slightly 
better cornering, etc. although on other previous cars when I've done it, it 
never made any appreciable improvement. What it did do was firm up the ride 
considerably, so take into account where you live. If the road surfaces are 
smooth, great. If like where I live, they're lumpy, beware. But I'm guessing you 
know this stuff already.

The more important thing is to consult a specialist tyre dealer so that you 
get the rolling ratio of the tyre/wheel combo right. Essentially, all you need 
to ensure is that you get the same overall radius of wheel+tyre as your 
original combo. had. If you don't you'll effectively change the gear ratios of your 
car in ways that are a little hard to predict (e.g. you could make 1st gear an 
even lower ratio, which would get you 'off the line' quicker, but only up to 
about 15mph), etc.

Apart from that, have fun choosing some slick looking rims!!

By the way - that hesitation problem I was having. I tried cleaning the MAF 
sensor today. Dear God those are delicate little wires. However, I cleaned very 
carefully and noticed that the car ran distinctly smoother, despite there 
being only a thin layer of dirt that I only noticed because I could see it on the 
cotton bud I used. I'm going to clean it again tomorrow a bit more finely - I 
found a very soft, fine little inter-dental brush which should do the job.

Does anyone know where you can get the little bits of rubber joining that go 
between the little blue/green/ yellow coloured vaccum wires that run around 
the intake manifold components? I think some of them could do with replacing...

Cheers,
J

In a message dated 7/2/04 5:12:37 pm, cyoung1661 at rogers.com writes:


> Hi Guys
> 
> Project Audi  has hit the bricks for now ( litterally ) as my car is jacked 
> up motionless for the winter. I looked a my 15" rims and "balloon tires" and 
> wondered if you guys had any suggestions for improving looks.
> 
> I am not sure of the size even when looking on the net , I have a 4 bolt 
> pattern but some say 84mm some say 100mm, anyone know what this means ? or maybe 
> even know what size a 95 90S would be ?
> I thought of going to a 16  or maybe even a 17" rim and would appreciate 
> comments.
> 
> As a side note i checked the registry to check some of the cars, some nice 
> rims there, but I can not load a picture of my car for you all to see ( laugh 
> at ! ) it is a 1M jpeg file but when I press the modify button I get a dead 
> link ! anyone else have this prob ?
> 
> All the best
> and happy motoring to you quatro guys .... grumble grumble. :-P
> 
> Clive