I just bought a 02 A6 and I really like the look of staggered wheels, but I dont know if its a good idea with the car being 4 wheel drive and all. Just looking for opinions

 

No. No. No.

Staggered wheels are not a "look" -- they are a functional element that reduces oversteer in cars that suffer from this problem (think Porsche 911). Audis have the opposite issue -- they understeer. Putting staggered wheels on a car that understeers will only make the problem worse. If you were to do it at all, the only way it would make sense would be to put the wider wheels in front. If that's what you're planning, have at it. Otherwise, find some other way to spend your money.

Staggered wheels do NOT belong on an A6. Period.

 

you can do it just be REALLY careful to make suer the rolling diameter by running different tire heights and all

 

What are staggered wheels? Are they the ones that I see on a lot of 911's with the rear wheel pattern inwards so it shows more of the lip of the wheel?

 

You CAN do staggered wheel (which means that one set of wheels -- typically the rear -- is wider than the other set) on an A6, providing you make sure that the outer diameter is matched all around. IIRC, you can be off by as much as 4% and still be OK.

As I stated earlier, the ONLY reason for doing it is appearance. It will degrade your performance and therefore it is not recommended by self-respecting Audi owners. While that may sound judgemental, it's terribly true.

 

Ive just been shopping around for wheels and I see staggered everywhere for audi a6s, I like the look but I would really like a smooth and functional ride especially for the amount that I spent on the car now I think that I want to do 19's but I don't want the issues that I read about here, shaking, vibration so on and so forth. If I choose to do this what would be the best option for wheels and tires and if this is a bad choice overall I would love the feedback. I just need to do something about the 16's that are on there now!
thanks for the ideas.

 

Check the tire discounter websites..e.g, Discount Tire, etc. You should be able to find tire and wheel packages. If you read earlier postings, the advice seems to be stay away from 19s and stick with 17s or 18s. I'm running 18" Cooper Zeons that work pretty well in rain and dry and the wear is low so far. But I only run them in the summer and swap out to factory 17" with Pirellis for the winter.

2003 A6 2.7T 6-speed

 

Staggered wheels have ONE function: taming oversteer. Audi's understeer. As such, putting staggered wheels on an A6 detracts from performance and is NOT a functional upgrade. You can do it, but you will NOT be going it for functional reasons.

Ditto for 19" wheels on a C5 A6. On an A8 or a C6 A6 maybe, but not a C5.

 

Good luck with your staggered LOOK. I am thinking of doing it to my 2001 A6 4.2 with 19" wheels. Most of the information for staggering on this siteand other sites, says"stayconservative". I agree the look is awesome. remember be conservative and IT WILL WORKthe look willbe AWESOME... good luck...I luv this site you get many different opinions and helpful assistance to make the move for personal goals. From what I have hear owners have done it withAudis quattro with no problems. Remember the secret is be CONSERVATIVE. jtv4.2

 

I can't help but to chime in, the performance you are looking for is in a different car. Of course staggered wheels will work, some might even say they look good. But in the end, do you want a car that looks good and performs poorly on the margins. What you are trying to do is change the fundamental geometry of the car. Without advanced knowledge of mechanical engineering this is an area I would not wade into.

Best of luck, post a picture when it is complete. I am curious to see what it looks like. The only image I conjure up in my mind is of a Chevy s10 on the skateboard wheels, flames down the sides, lowered 3 inches, mirrored windows, base blaring cruising the south side.

Jeff