Anybody know the wheel specs for an 2008 A3 S-line?

Offset? Backspacing? Bolt pattern?

I'm changing out my stock 225R45/17 and Audi wheels to a minus-one for winter tires. So winter tires would be 205R55/16. But I need the specs for a 16 wheel. I'm looking to buying online to save a bit.

(I guess I could probably remove one wheel and check but thought someone here might know...)

 

Go to Tire Rack and put in your car the tires and rim combo will come up with multiple options and will be the correct offset. I got mine last year and they worked perfectly and unfortunately I'm about 2 months away from having to put them on again. Suggestion go Blizzak's. But really if you want a cheaper tire wheel combination that will come balanced with proper spacers and lug bolts go with Tire Rack they throw all those necessities in when you get the combo. Very cheep way to do it if you don't mind changing tires. tirerack.com

 

Make sure the 16s clear your brakes. Personally I'd stick with 225/45-17s.

For the record:

A3 Standard Wheel Size for the NA Market is 7.5X17-56mm offset
A3 Upgrade Wheel Size is 8X18-50MM offset

You can work down to 45MM offset if you stay with the stock ride height.

 

A3's will take 16" wheels, but Panzrwagn has given the correct offset numbers, and 4RingsRod gave you good advice about Tire Rack's fitment. Bolt pattern is 5x112mm.

I have really liked Dunlop Wintersports on three different cars here in the Pacific NW, but I spend less total driving time in snow and ice, where Blizzaks are fantastic. Just didn't care for them on wet and dry roads.

The OEM wheels, at least the 17" 16-spoke ones, are quite heavy at 27-28 lbs. I chose to use those as my winter wheels.

 

Yes, Tire Rack is where I intend to get them. They seem to have a nice selection without going overboard.

My A3 S-line 2.0T has the stock 5-spoke wheel with stock Pirellis 225/45-17. I removed one last night to see what the deal is. Behind it are these numbers: 7.5Jx17H2ET56.

Looking it up on the InterWeb, this means the wheels are 7.5" in width and 17" in diameter (well, we knew that...) The "J" is the shape of the bead profile. "H2" means the bead is double-hump design. The final number is what I was looking for. The stock 5-spoke wheel offset is 56mm.

On TireRack, the wheel I was looking at has 45mm offset. This basically means that my tires will stick out by 11mm away from the suspension and bodywork. Not sure if that's a good idea. Anyone?

 

I got my winter tires and rims from Tirerack last year. I choosed the dunlop wintersports 205 wide and i am really happy with them. The wheels are Borbet 16 spokes, silver, 16" in diameter, i guess the offset is 50 mm.
Do not forget tho buy the pressure sensors, Tirerack sold those to me for 50-55 dollars a piece while the dealer wanted 80 bucks. They work fine.

I spent about 1,160 dollars for the all package including shipping. Highly raccomended.

 

You've picked up a lot of knowledge in a short time, a3driver - and you've almost got it.
There are two other factors that come into play here; tire diameter and wheel width.
225/45 - 17 tires are usually 24.9 - 25" in diameter. If you go 1/2" or more taller, you risk rubbing with 45 offset on S line or lower suspension ( depending on wheel width). If you go smaller, it just looks funky - unless you lower the car.
Wheel width, as well as offset and height, determine the tires position relative to the fender. Think about it. Offset is the distance (in mm) from the wheels center to it's mounting plane - so if you go from a 7.5" to an 8" wheel, you add 6.4 mm ( 1/4") to each side of the wheel. Generally speaking, on an A3, you can go down to 42 or so offset on stock wheel width and tire height, but as wheels get wider, the offset # must increase for fender clearance - you'll be back in the 50+ offset range when you get to 8.5 or wider wheels, and rubbing on struts or other inside pieces becomes the problem.
I run 8 x 17 wheels that are 48 offset, with 235/45 - 17 tires on a Euro height sport suspension. Looks just about perfect.
Your 11mm calculation is correct, but only if the wheels are 7.5 wide. if they're 8", it figures out as 17.4mm further to the outside. if you use the same size tire on both wheels, 11mm is more like reality, because the tire centering doesn't change

 

I'm using 225/45-17 tires on 8" wheels with 45mm offset at stock (Sport/S-Line ride height) with no rubbing.

205/55-16 tires are the same diameter (24.9") as 225/45-17's (I'll bet you already knew that) so you should be fine with that tire size, and I don't think you'll have any fit problems with 45mm offset.

 

All good input, but the final consideration about going to 16" rims is making sure there are no brake clearance issues, with rotors, calipers and the wheels.

Also snow can get packed in and round the brakes, then melt and refreeze as ice as the brakes cool down. Like during the day while you are at work or overnight if you don't park in a garage. Come out to start car, go to drive off and the brakes are frozen. Not good.

 

Based on input on this thread, and others I've talked to, I've decided to stick to the stock size of 17" wheels and 225/45-17 tires. My order for Dunlop Winter Sports 3D is on its way with a cheap-o wheel set from Tire Rack. Thanks to everyone for their help! Really learned a lot these past few days about tires and wheels.