Hey everyone,

I recently jumped on what I thought was a good deal while vacationing in Orlando, Florida. Someone posted an ad on Craigslist selling RS6 reps and I bought them off him. He had them on his S4 and had recently replaced these with a nice set of deep dish rims. Anyway, I got a question on tire size fitment, he had 255x40x18s on a S4 with coilovers and 10mm spacers to align them to the fender. I doubt this setup would work on mine because I think it will rub. I have H&R lowering springs which I haven't installed yet. The seller told me any of these tires would work 225/40/18, 215/40/18 or 245/40/18 with 10mm spacers on both front and back.

I want to run the widest tire I can run without rubbing and I definitely want spacers to align the wheels to the fenders. The guy I bought the H&R springs from had 235/40/18 with 5mm spacers on a S4 with coilovers. To further confuse things, a local tire shop told me I should go with the stock tire size for the RS6 which are 255/40/18s!

What do you guys recommend and/ or what are you running on your 18" setup? The wheel specs are the following:

Rim Size: 18x8.5
Offset: ET35
Hub Bore: 57

 

245/35 should be fine.. might need spacers for inner clearance and I'm not sure if you'll have much problem with fender clearance just on springs. could go with 255/35 if you want wide and don't mind a slightly larger tire diameter than stock

 

Thanks aledelic, damn your car is slammed to the ground! :-) Per Audi, the original tires on the 2003 RS6 were 255x40x18. I kind of didn't want to go 35 since that's way too low profile. What do you think about 255x40x18 or 245x40x18's for these rims on my B5 with HR springs?

 

maybe you're used to seeing 215/35/18 and that's why you think it's too low of a profile.. which I agree for 215. sidewall height of 40 series 255 or 245 is going to be pretty large and will raise your car a little because they're larger than stock size (~24.9"). 215/40/18 is an ideal size 18" tire size (~24.8"). 245/35/18 would also be an ideal size (~24.8") since the sidewall height should be pretty much the same as a 215/40/18. if you think that's too low profile, you could go with 255/35 which would be a little thicker and still close to stock (~25.0")

some pictures for reference..

215/35/18


215/40/18


245/35/18


255/35/18


255/40/18


different tire brands and models have different style sidewalls so some might be thicker than others.. just something else to think about

 

Bro, thank you so much! After your feedback and a tire calculator I found on the net, I am now considering 245x35x18's. I'll probably use spacers to line them up with the fenders but I don't know what size since I have to put the tires on and measure. The link for the calculator is here and I used my stock size 205x55x16.

 

you got a high res picture for a desktop? me want lol

 

So I went to a friend's tire shop to do some test fitments on my car and I asked him for the following two tires: 225x40x18 and 245x35x18. He only had the 225x40x18 so unfortunately I wasn't able to test fit the tire I'm really considering.

Anyway, after test fitting the 225x40x18 I noticed the rim aligned perfectly with the front fender I'm assuming because of it's ET35 offset, but I found that I was barely able to fit my fingers between the inner tire wall and the control arms (I think that's what those are). I assume because of this, I cannot go any wider than 225, let me know if this is true. Even if I used spacers for wider tires then my rims will be sticking farther then the fender.

Also, I don't know if it's because I need to replace the front and rear struts, but notice that HUGE gap in the front wheel well! Could it be that the previous owner used crappy springs or that the springs need replacement? Either way I have an HR lowering spring kit ready to go on the car as soon as I purchase my Bilsteins.

Here are the pics, let me know some feedback please and yes I did notice the tire was mounted onto the rim with the inward side facing outward :

 

the picture you have with the tape measure, my stock 15's look the same. take it for what its worth.(bone stock wheels/suspension)

 

Thanks man, I kind of figured this was stock since the tires I chose didn't change the overall diameter of the wheel from stock, but I wanted to make sure I put it out there. Only thing is, I really wanted to go 245's but I think 225's is the limit for me since I can barely fit my fingers behind the tire, at least with this set of rims.

 

FIY those Reps look like they probably came from oewheelsllc.com. The centercaps at least, instead of having 9 fake hex bolts like the oem and other reps, they have 6 and blue and silver logos. I have the same ones, but 17x7.5.