jrandol -

Not sure any one answered, but before you buy rims make sure they will clear your brake calipers and have the proper offset. I never noticed spigot (or centering) rings on my OEM rims but they definitely were on my 18" SSRs. The ones that came with the car were metal but I had to replace them with plastic because that was all I could find.

Yes - an experienced wheel balancer can watch the tire spin and tell you if the rim is bent. I had two slightly bent rims on my Coopers and I replaced all rims before buying the Contis.

I would not recommend larger than an 18" because of increased risk of damage to the rim and tire, and due to tire prices go up dramatically for larger rims.

I burned through 4 tires out of 6 Coopers and finally demanded Discount Tire replace them. I got Continentals for my summer tires on 18" rims. These are supposedly OE tire on A8 and hard enough to stand up to the demands of quattro.

 

That is exactly the reason I won't run anything other than FACTORY RIMS. Aftermarket wheels can, and has been done, but it can get to be a real pain in the buttox! Excentric rings, hitting brake calipers, studs the wrong length, cheap wheels that bend, finish that flakes off.,ect. ect. Nothing better than a factory OEM wheel and a good Audi dealer road force balance job. Been there and done that, won't go there again.

 

I am having a similar shudder at 50-70 mph as the one described in this post. I have been told by Audi dealership (with road force balancer) that my tires are the problem. I have read that Audis are tough on tires but I was told by my local tire guy that the tires I have (ContiTouring Contact A/S) are wearing very nicely and have lots of tread left...my question is this: Can you tell whether the tires are causing a vibration by looking at them (assuming that they don't have major structural problems)? It just bothers me that this guy tells me that I have good tires with lots of wear left on them and I'm about to get rid of them based on the dealership's recommendation...and the dealer was trying to sell me the replacement tires. Thanks!

 

You can not tell by looking at them. They will have lots of tread left, but will shake so bad you just can't take it anymore. Something inside the tires go bad around 25,000 miles. New tires were the cure for me every time. It's just the way it was every 25,000 miles. I had 114,000 miles worth of it. You'll see.