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| D2 - Wheels and Tyres Refurbing, center caps, tyre brands, tyrefitters - discuss it here |
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#61
4th April 2015, 03:50 PM
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The 20's with new Michelins had their first proper run today.
 Somehow ended up in a mini-convoy with an old restored Porsche behind me (Audi driver normally) and an S4 behind that on a nice winding road. Then we caught up with a newish S4 (the supercharged variety) for a "sprightly" run to our breakfast venue.  Handling is excellent.  And I discovered that an S8 is faster out of a sharp corner than a older V6 RS4 Avant, probably due to turbo lag. 
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!  Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850! 
Last edited by HPsauce; 4th April 2015 at 03:52 PM. 
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#62
4th April 2015, 04:51 PM
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We also did a sort of comparison between the centre caps on mine and Rob's (Professor Peach).
His were not as flush fitting as mine and one we looked at more closely came off VERY easily and was quite tricky to get back on.  We didn't study that closely, but it looked like his had the same potential problem as mine had initially, a spring ring that had a gap too small to allow enough "shrinkage" to clip fully in.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one! Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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#63
7th April 2015, 12:49 PM
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Quote:
The wheels look really excellent in the flesh though! And the breakfast was of course excellent too! 
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All too often, the light at the end of the tunnel turns out to be a headlamp on the on-coming train of disappointment. 2016 S3 Sportback
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#64
18th April 2015, 09:02 AM
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I think I've found one possible cause for the fitting issues of the centre caps.
Studying pictures online (of my cheap Chinese ones and similar) vs the genuine set I have just acquired, the four retaining lugs that are pushed out by the spring are subtly different. The OEM ones have a vertical "slab" that is 10mm wide and 2mm deep with a couple of "buttresses" at the bottom. And of course the two-way sloping wedge section at the top with the spring pressing on the back. The copies have the same slab, with buttresses, but part way up thicken to maybe 3.5mm and that extra thickness continues in the "wedge". This makes them overall maybe 3mm larger in diameter where the lugs have to penetrate the hole in the centre of the wheel and of course much less flexible. Enough to make it difficult or impossible, unless (as I have) you use smaller/weaker spring rings and bend each of the lugs in a bit.  I'll try to attach some pictures to show the difference. Taken from different angles and just "snipped" from t'internet but the difference is pretty clear. The OEM ones have slimmer, straighter lugs and the copies are just too bulky.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one! Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
Last edited by HPsauce; 18th April 2015 at 11:50 AM.
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#65
29th April 2015, 06:19 PM
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The genuine centres (chrome effect, not brushed) were pretty tarnished so I've dismantled and fully refurbished them:
 And they are a much better/flusher fit (cheap Chinese copy lying on the ground): 
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one! Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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#66
3rd May 2015, 07:02 PM
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Just a final footnote on the cheap Chinese centres which I've now taken off and cleaned, with the intention of spraying with lacquer and keeping as spares.
The base of the retaining lugs (where the little triangular supporting buttresses are) are all showing very obvious signs of overstretched plastic that would probably fail eventually. I guess this is down to a combination of poor material (less flexible/resilient) and the thicker lugs which means they have to bend more to fit. The lesson is: Don't even think of buying cheap copies with the light beige plastic material, you need the grey OEM ones.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one! Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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#67
3rd May 2015, 07:23 PM
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talking from bitter experience with our old A6 you don't want them falling off at speed either - marked a rim fairly badly when one did on that when we first bought the car!
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===SOLD===2002 Audi S8 D2 Final Edition (yes, really) in Avus Silver with purple extended leather===SOLD=== 2011 S5 Sportback in Phantom Black with black Super Sports leather, 9x20s, tech pack high, adaptive xenon plus, intelligent key, memory seats pack, sunroof, B&O, Audi Drive Select & quattro Sports Diff, DAB, parking system plus 2015 VW Golf GTI Performance Pack in Carbon Grey with black Vienna leather, tech pack (Discovery Pro nav & Dynaudio), DCC, factory towbar and retrofit RVC
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#68
5th May 2015, 12:48 PM
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Quote:
Just looking again at the design of the copies you can see why they are difficult to fit: The lugs that are marked as 24mm from tip to base are only actually thin at the very base, maybe 6mm or so. Almost all of that has those triangular buttresses and above that it's thicker and quite rigid. So almost all the flexing takes place at the 2mm or 3mm thin area at the top of the buttresses. Which is why that is showing stress marks on the ones I removed. The OEM design is the same (thin) thickness from base up to the "wedge" at the top. The wedge is also shallower. So they have a whole 15mm or so to flex and less distance to bend as well. I also suspect the OEM material is more resilient. All of which says that the Chinese ones have almost been designed to fit badly and break quickly.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.). 2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one! Finally: gone, but not forgotten..... 1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors. e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer. And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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