RE: 225/50 tires on 16x7 A4 rims?

[RELAYER@aol.com]

Eric Fluhr said:
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Recently, my father noticed some vibration with his '97 A4.  He checked
the tires, expecting to have thrown a wheel weight.  As it turns out,
three out of four of his tires have unnatural bulges in them.  So, it
looks like he will be replacing the tires fairly soon.  

He doesn't like the fact that the 205/55-16 stock tires do not stick
out beyond the rim...feels it leaves the rim susceptible to damage
from curbs and such.  He wanted to go to a 215 size, but the next
closest diameter would be 225/50.  Can a 225/50 fit on a 16x7" rim,
or does it need a 7.5" width?

As for performance (based on sidewall flex vs. extra tire width),
is a 225/50 significantly better than a 205/55 on a 7" rim?
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Eric,
Your dad should know this already!  My car has the same rims as his and he is
always pointing out my fat 225/50 16 tires.  There is no rubbing or clearance
problems.  And the car handles much much better now!   I haven't been able to
get together with your Dad for some time now for wings and beer, I will have
push him for this weekend.

  /\        _I        Christian J. Long (& Breeze Heller - fiancee)
/    \ I_I I_I I      Orlando, Florida, USA
                       University of Central Florida Alumni 1994
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'98 Audi A4 1.8T            Low pressure V2 rocket
'96 BMW 318ti              Will be replacing with a CGT or 4KQ
'90 Audi 90                   Now in the hands of the mother in law
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Past Audis: '84 CGT, '85CGT, '87.5 CGT, '90 CQ