[V8] replacing wheels

[Kneale Brownson]

First, Audi chose to go the way of the UFO because 15-inch and 16-inch 
were the only tire sizes where they could fit a high-performance tire at 
the time of design.

The URS-4 did not come with UFOs.  Only V8s and '91 200q20v cars had them.

I have run a set of 15-inch Borbets on my 200q20v sedan for summer 
wheels for years with no pothole problems.  I have cracked several OEM 
Audi basketweave wheels.  I have never cracked a Aerowheel.

On 6/1/2011 2:48 PM, rmwoodbury at roadrunner.com wrote:
> I too would love to replace the wheels on my '90V8.  After reading all the discussions over the years and after having a bit of recent experience with wheels and wheel/tire combinations, I have come to the following conclusions for myself and present them here for comment:
>
> 1. The Audi V8 Quattro was produced by the factory with only two wheel size variations throughout its model run.  The first was the 15" flat faced, "pie dish" wheel" which was most common in '90 and '91 model years, replaced by the BBS "Mesh" wheel.  The BBS wheels were offered for the V8 (and the 200 20Valve) in 16" size with the same width and same offset.  To my knowledge there were no other wheel variations either standard production or optional purchase offered by Audi for this car.
> 2.  The V8 with UFO has superior brakes to anything else that is put on the car with the exception of big rotor combinations of some sort that most certainly require 17" wheels.  The UFOs were not successful because of rotor problems probably due more to US traffic driving conditions than anything else. I have had zero issues with my UFOs on any of the Audi's that have had them, probably due to my driving style and habits which seldom involve heavy US traffic conditions.
> 3.  Changing wheels and brakes will be an enormously expensive exercise easily exceeding the cars value.
>
> I have recently acquired a set of '94 S4 wheels which are now carrying my wife's 100CS Avant around.  Those wheels would certainly fit over my UFOs since the Ur-S4 came with UFO's.  But the 8" width rule them out for the V8 because it is my understnading (although I haven't tried this) the wheels won't fit the V8 unless the fenders are rolled or slightly modified to accept them.  I won't do this.  The S4 wheels are 16" diameter.
>
> On the Avant once before I had an opportunity to buy four Fuchs wheels with nearly new tires.  Since I was shopping for tires at that exact instant, I couldn't resist and bought the tires from a guy in South Portland.  The bolted up fine and we ended up rolling the tires to replacement and putting on another set.  But that is as far as they went, because when I was replacing that second set of tires this past fall, we discovered that two of the light Fuchs rims were cracked and worthless. Lesson learned:  These are heavy cars and one needs to be very very careful about buying wheels.  What this means to me personally is that if the wheel is made by folks in countries that specialize in "knock offs", I'll pass.
>
> It is pretty common here in Maine for people to find that they have cracked their new 17", 18" or 19" wheels because our winter driving conditions are so severe and the secondary roads so brutal that big wheels just don't work well.
>
> Here again, it is an easy decision for me at least:  buy something that was intended to be on the car to begin with, is strong enough to withstand the kind of driving that the car will be subjected to and make "bling" the last item on the checklist of choice.
>
> Back in the good old days when I was playing with Porsche 928s there was a more or less continuous thread about putting on wider and wider wheels.  The 928 S4 came with 16" wheels, narrower at the front than the rear, and two completely different size tires...the fronts were 225/50/16 I think and the rears were 245/50/16.  Anyway a lot of guys wanted to fit 17 or 18" wheels to their 928, and itis common now to see 928's with late Porsche "Cup" wheels from later 911s.  The Porsche documentation for the 928 specified NOT to exceed 16" wheels because of the design of the suspension components.
>
> I suspect if Audi wanted to fit 17" wheels to the V8 they could have easily done so. That Porsche and Audi have done things a certain way indicates to me that they probably had some reasonably good physics behind their design decisions as cost seems to seldom be a consideration in the design of the upper level cars from either manufacturer.
>
> I will be dull and boring, but from now on, I am sticking closely to what the Elves in Ingostadt have dictated.
>
> Just my .02 worth....
>
> Roger
>
> Oh,  yeah.  There are LOTS of OEM wheels around...just takes a little poking around.
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