[V8] Wheels

[Roger M. Woodbury]

I am seriously shopping for new wheels for my V8.  

 

I really am sick of the standard aero wheels.  Last spring I lost a center
cap from the right front wheel, and to replace it will cost at least $45
(from Shokan), and I don't want to spend a cent of wheels that I don't like.

 

The obvious solution is to source some OEM BBS wheels that are the correct
size for the car, and they are "around" sort of, although relatively
expensive in the face of some of the alternatives.  Now, here's the part
where the story gets complicated.

 

I bought new tires for the car not very many miles ago.  I got the deal of
the century on some Michelins on closeout from Tirerack, so I HAVE 15"
wheels that will last several years on this car.  Prudence says that I
should stick with 15" wheels!

 

But this email is about an Audi V8, so when does Prudence have anything to
say remotely relevant to owning an Audi V8?  

 

In October I had to replace the tires on Michele's 100CS Avant.  The Fuzion
tires that I had put on last time had reached the end of their horrid life.
The ONLY things that I will say for Fuzion tires is that they are cheap, and
will last around 25,000 or so here in Maine on an Audi Quattro, and
Bridgestone should be ashamed for making such things no matter what they
call them.  They were cheap which is the ONLY good thing about them.

 


When we pulled off the wheels and peeled off the old tires, we found that
two of my four Fuchs wheels were cracked.  Now, those Fuchs wheels I had
bought with nearly new Dunlop tires, thirty-five thousand miles before I
bought the Fuzion tires.  The price for the Fuchs wheels and near new tires
in southern Maine was cheaper than new tires shipped here from Tirerack and
mounted and balanced once they got here.  Besides, one of the OEM five star
wheels that came on the 100 had developed a crack in one rim, so my days
were numbered for those wheels anyway.  They were also pretty ugly, with
75,000 miles of Maine and Maine winter road salt peeling off the paint and
so on.

 

I had ordered four new tires from Tirerack.  I had chosen the Dunlops
despite their rather dismal wear rating because combined with the $40 rebate
they were cheaper than anything else, and my previous experience with
Dunlops on the 100 was exceptionally good.  Wear had been OK, and they were
quiet.  

 

But in October, I owned four new tires and needed wheels..until my mechanic
suggested that there were four near new Dunlop Graspix winter tires on the
wheels of one of the A6 Avants that were abandoned in back of his shop.  

 

Sure enough, the tires were nearly new, put on the fall that the car was
driven in to the shop with a seriously stuck shifting lever.  The owners of
the car, having been given the car by Auntie or someone, had zero investment
in the car, and chose to abandon it for the cost of investigating the frozen
shift lever issue, and there the car sat.  BUT of course the car had 16"
wheels, which meant that the deal we made was for my old 100CS wheels and
the new tires for his A6 wheels and nearly new Graspix tires.  

 

So now my wife's '94 100CS sits proudly on '97 A6 16" wheels with Dunlop
Graspix tires on it.  And a totally unexpected benefit of the 16"
wheels/tire combination is the car look GREAT with the bigger wheels!
Naturally, I began to wonder how much better the V8 would look with 16"
wheels in place of the awful 15" Aero wheels?  So I have been looking
through the Audifans market place for wheels, and there are some interesting
alternatives that might work on the V8, including one set of very
interesting 17" wheels.but I won't go there:  Maine roads and winter do not
do well with 17" wheels on cars that were never intended to have them.

 

Now the final element is that myV8 has UFO's so whatever 16" wheel I source
will have to clear them and mount up properly, hopefully without spacers.  

 

Right now I am wondering if S6 wheels from 2003 or so would fit without
difficulty?  I am interested in staying with stock Audi wheels, primarily
because they will likely be stronger than an aftermarket wheel since they
were built to take the weight of these pretty hefty cars.

 

Anyone with comments, or BTDT?

 

Roger

 

P.S.  I could peel off the Michelins, put them on two newer Fuchs wheels to
go with my two wheels that are still good, and use them on the 100CS during
the summer, replacing the wheels and tires on the V8.  The Dunlop winter
tires will probably go two more winters at the rate we're driving now
anyway.  Or is this just a case of too many cars and not enough time or
wheels?  Maybe its just winter?