1st off, apologies for the N00b questions....

And yes, there are plenty of threads regarding wheel sizes for A4's but I couln't find any asking exactly what I'm looking for.

..so here goes

I have just bought my first A4 ('06 B7) and I am a bit confused about wheel sizes and errata- I would like to take my stock 17's off for winter use and put some 18's or 19's but I'm not quite sure which way to go yet. Is my thinking correct that if I were to go the 19" direction that the tires would fill the wheel well and in effect 'lower' the car or give it that appearance because they would fill the well better? Andare there any rubbing issues with 19's on a stock suspension?

Conversely, If I just went up to an 18" and lowered the car, does that create any rubbing issues.

And then, what with the whole 'offset' issue? what offset do you need and why again? I can't seem to figure that out.....me dumb

any assistance or advice greatly appreciated!


Slainte!


-G

 

I just got my '07 A4 the other day, so I'm not sure exactly what size wheels will fit.

However, about your question: "Is my thinking correct that if I were to go the 19" direction that the tires would fill the wheel well and in effect 'lower' the car or give it that appearance because they would fill the well better?"

Actually,if you go with 19" wheels, then you will have to go with a smaller profile tire. This will in fact make the gap bigger and make the car look higher, because even though you're putting on a larger will, you will be putting on a shorter tire. So you will definantly need to lower the car.

Regarding the offset question, the offset basically determines how far in and out your wheel will be.

 

hahah
yea... getting 19" would mean getting lower profil tire... i think its (235/35/19) for 19" and (235/40/18) for 18"
so, it has nothing to do with filling the gap, unless you are getting bigger tire+ wheel diameter overall... which would affect your speedometer reading and performance...

i would get 18" if your location has bad road conditions...
oh and OFFSET just determines the space between the wheel and the fender. go for around 35-38 offset to be safe ( buh it still depends on your wheel)

 

When going +1 or +2 with wheel size you choose tire size accordingly to keep the sameoverall diameter- there will be no difference in wheel gap. I run 235/35/19 tires on 19x8.5 wheels with a 38MM offset which fill the wheelwells nicely.

Here's all you ever need to know about wheel offset: http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp