Spacers

[S8yot]

Reasonably happy with my standard S8 wheel / tyre combo (18"alloys with 245 tyres). However, I've wondered whether anyone has experience of adding spacers. Thinking that widening the track further would improve the appearance of the car.

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Several peeps on here have done it. A8_Tony, Ska and mkoneman amongst them. They'll be along soon I expect.

[Oli18]

Originally Posted by S8yot

Reasonably happy with my standard S8 wheel / tyre combo (18"alloys with 245 tyres). However, I've wondered whether anyone has experience of adding spacers. Thinking that widening the track further would improve the appearance of the car.

Hi S8yot - I was about to ask the exact same question.

Also, are there any negative side effects of using spacers? Does it wear the suspension quicker?

Any links to suitable spacers would also be appreciated.

Cheers,

Oli

[Ska]

I run an extra 30mm on the rear axle and 26mm on the front.
Upside are:
There's a defo. noticable improvement on hadling & easthetics.
Down side? You'll have to fork out for some longer or shorter bolts also if you get the wrong types (material, quality, shape & size) you could end up with a costly mistake.
For a car the size of the 8's you have to have hubcentric (centre collar 57.2 mm diameter to carry the wight of the car though the hub rather than through the wheel bolts!), spacers like H&R, certain FK or Bilstien which are popular. A no no as I have found through experience is not to allow the local tyre fitter to use his air gun when tightening the bolts back up especialy on Aluminium spacers as the threads will shear off - always torque tighten by hand!
Oh yeah when working out what thickness you need leave at least 5mm space between the arch body work and out side edge of the tyre.
Here's a good guide:
http://www.performancealloys.com/all...el_spacers.asp
http://www.venommotorsport.com/produ...category=Wheel

In the pics below both spacers are on:



Woops forgot to say I run 19x8J with ET35 offset wheels I remember this because the wheels are sitting in the utility room right now after a refurb; took the opportunity to clean up things underthe front arches:
From this:


To this:

I digress
The pic in the sig below has the rear spacers on but non on the front.

Ska,

I am assuming you 30mm rear is a 15mm spacer each side ?
What size tyres are you running?

I have found a wheel I like, it's 19" and it comes in 8" and 9.5", any thoughts on the best option/tire size as its only £5 difference per wheel.

http://www.performancealloys.com/det...sion=305253916

Thanks

[Oli18]

VERY tidy Ska - looks awesome! Would love to see the way it looks after the wheel is back on...i bet spot on!

-Oli

[Ska]

Originally Posted by Nigel888

Ska,

I am assuming you 30mm rear is a 15mm spacer each side ?
What size tyres are you running?

I have found a wheel I like, it's 19" and it comes in 8" and 9.5", any thoughts on the best option/tire size as its only £5 difference per wheel.

http://www.performancealloys.com/det...sion=305253916

Thanks

Thats right 15mm on the rear each side. As for tyres I currently run 245/40 19 but will change to 255/40 19 soon I believe that is the max width you can put on an 8J rim. Not too sure about the 9.5inch width; what you'll proly find is that you won't need spacers for these going for a wider wheel is the better option than opting for spacers IMO but it depends on what they look like on the car & if they have the correct off set.

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Originally Posted by Ska

Thats right 15mm on the rear each side. As for tyres I currently run 245/40 19 but will change to 255/40 19 soon I believe that is the max width you can put on an 8J rim. Not too sure about the 9.5inch width; what you'll proly find is that you won't need spacers for these going for a wider wheel is the better option than opting for spacers IMO but it depends on what they look like on the car & if they have the correct off set.

Guys,

This is a great site for wheel and tyre info. HiH
Remember, offset has a big part to ply in wheel fitting.
I am currently planning to fit 10.5" rears with a 40mm offset running 285/25-20 tyres. Wish I could find some 305/25-19 tyres but they don't seem to esist.

[Architex_mA8tey]

Originally Posted by Figure_11

[Wish I could find some 305/25-19 tyres but they don't seem to exist.

You can get Dunlop 9000 sports in that size mike (N rated for porsches)
but they are a whopping £224 each!
see http://www.design911.co.uk/fu/prod10...-Tyres-N-rated

You can also get Pirelli P-Zero Rosso Asimmetrico I believe in that size

Also take a look at ryoung's post on this thread
http://www.tyresmoke.net/forum/audi-...warning-2.html

Theres a pic of a D2 A8 with those tyres on the rear hehe

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Ooooooerrrrrrrr durty picture....