Hi guys
I want to make sure I have the right info before I make the plunge
I just picked up a 2004 A6 a couple of months ago and it came with 9 spoke 18" wheels. The tires on it right now are 235 40/18


Here is my question
I am thinking about getting a winter package forNew england driving.Should I stick with 18" or can I go to a 17" or 16"rim?
How about offset, do I need to worry about that when making this selection?

Thanks

 

check out what tires you can get cheaper that get better traction. I no how North Eastern Driving can be. Northest town in Jersey myself. So we can get some decent snow like you guys. Quattro does handle well in the snow to begin with but getting some winter sets will help and also make you more comfortable about driving in said conditions if absolutly necessary

 

southboroA62.7S,

I have spent a few *cough* winters in the Midwest, but none in the Northeast. I can only imagine the winters there are similarenough for my advice to be valid.

The first thing we must take into consideration is the size of your brake setup. If you can go as small as 16" wheels with your current brake system that would be preferred,but 17" will suffice. Next thing that must be considered is the size of the tire. For the Quattro AWD system and your speedometer to work properly you must stay within 3% of your original tire size. If you go to a smaller 17" wheel then you must increase your sidewall height to 45 to keep the same dimenions of the tire. Now you would have 235/45/17 with 17" wheels.

Too complicate things more, some people go with a smaller width tire which can help in deeper snow. If you do that then you must adjust the sidewall heightaccordingly to stay within that 3% parameter. It can be confusing, but this should info should help with the basics. Also, if you go to www.tirerack.com they have a good deal of fairly accurate information. You can also call them too, they are typically very helpful.

Hope this helps!

 

Here is a link for a tire size calculator to compare sizes.

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

Enter in your stock dimensions and then try 235/45/17, 215/50/17, and 225/55/16 for a few possible tire sizes.

 

Khardysius



Thanks for the info. It is very helpful
I used the 101 calculator and now I know what tire size to use for a 17" winter package.
At this point, I can use 225/45R17 since there is a nice deal on Craigslist for that package @ $700.