RE: Tire size for A4

["Greg Spark" <sparkg@wave.co.nz>]

Many thanks to all those listers who gave advice re tire sizes for my 17x8
rims. The list triumphs again as usual :)
In summary the tires closest to standard 205/55-16 were (in order starting
at closest match):

225/45-17	extremely close match
245/40-17	very close match (slightly shorter tire)
235/45-17	close but taller (nice "full-well" look)
235/40-17	close but shorter by about same amount as 235/45-17 is higher.
225/40-17	much shorter tire (give a very "empty-well" look)

Jouko's advice was what I eventually went with (i.e. 235/45-17) as I like
the look of a slightly fuller well and I didn't want to go as wide as 245.

The rims are Ronals with 10  spokes and have a fairly wide polished rim -
look absolutely fabulous and the car feels much tighter with better road
feel - not at all heavier though. All this assessed on a 12km run home in
rain at night,  so not really a full test run.

Price was stunning for our market : after trading back my 16inch 5 spokers
(2 years old virtually unmarked with tires 50-60% worn), net price per rim
was NZ$325 or about USD$175.
Price of rubber for new rims not so good though - (80% more than for 16s
  )

Greg Spark
'96 A4 1.8Tq 5sp mtm 187hp, K&N, Remus, 17x8 Ronals
Ming Blue Heaven