A8 with sport suspension: Looking for HIGHEST tyres to use with standard 18xJ8

[notorious]

Hi everyone,

I've got 2002 A8 on sport suspension with standard 18" J8 rims. Oh well, actually not completely standard. I've got these Audi original 18" J8 monoblock brushed aluminium rims:

http://www.autointell.com/News-2001/April-2001/Audi-A8-L6-sm.JPG

Question: What is the maximum profile tyre I can put on these rims? I need maximum possible radius of the wheel. Don't care about width of the wheel. The reason I'm asking is because I'd want tyre to occupy as much of the wheel arch space as possible and I just love high profile tyres as the ride feels kind of softer on them.

Standard tyres are 245/45 R18. Does anyone use 245/50 R18 or 245/55 R18 or 250/45 R18 or 250/50 R18 or somehting like this? Please share your experince.

Thanks!

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Now here's a first! Most peeps want ULP tyres on huge rims!

As long as you realise that if you increase the profile without reducing the width of tyre then you'll need to recalibrate your speedo there should be no reason that you can't put 245/55-18 tyres on the car.
You'll gain on MPG and loose on accelaration and handleing in the corners; but if your not a spirited B road driver you won't care.
You could of course lower the suspension and fit bigger tyres.

Please keep us informed of the results. +++

[notorious]

Thanks Conan,

Does it look like confirmation 245/55-18 should fit without rubbing? Great.

Also, could you please explain the logical connection between lowering of suspension and installing bigger (higher) tyres?
I always thought (excuse my ignorance) that lowering suspension kind of reduces space in the wheel arch, making risks of rubbing higher...
Am I wrong?

Currently I have sport suspension. Below are some pictures of how the actual car looks just if it helps to check my current level of lowering.
The rims I'm going to fit on this car are basically the same 18" 8J ET48, but of a different design:

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s35/CWmk5/17inchA8013.jpg

[notorious]

Conan,

You mentioned "you'll need to recalibrate your speedo". Can this be accomplished by VAGCOM? I searched ELSA, but couldn't find how to recalibrate speedo. Can you please advice?

[Conan_the_Librarian]

I don't have ELSAwin at the moment but it is in there. Or was in the last copy I had. basically you mark up a fixed distance of 100Mtrs from your front tyre. Mark your tyres so you can tell how many rotations it makes over the fixed distance and then programme that into the car.

I won't be able to look on ELSA for a while as Win 7 won't run it! :(

Maybe someone else cal look.

As for lowering the suspension. Look at what mkoneman has done. by combining lowering the suspension and increasing the aspect ratio of your tyres you will fill the arches without going to the extreems that he has done. For a motorway cruiser this should make for a stable and very comfortable ribe. Just increasing your tyre aspect ration will lift the body higher off the road, reducing stability.

HtH +++

[PsYcHe]

Mike,

Go to the microsoft website and get XP mode for Win7. it's FOC and you essentially run a copy of XP in a window.

[Conan_the_Librarian]

I love it when you talk geek to me Richard!

[Singh]

Nice colour, please post pictures when you have the new wheels on.

[notorious]

Any details about recalibrating speedo are welcome, though I seriuosly doubt it's possible. Searched ELSA and Google. Google suggests it's not possible :rolleyes:

I'll post pictures when ready. VAG community love to mount these rims (usually called "A8 L monoblocks") on smaller cars with ULP tyres. What I like about these wheels is the fact they are not painted. They are justed brushed and polished, so it's always possible to remove scratches with simple polishing procedure since there's no fear to damage paint. The shiny surface you see is bare aluminium alloy -- it's not chrome coating or a paint. I must say these wheels are very heavy as it's just a monoblock piece of forged aluminium. Not sure they are great for racing...

Here's another picture. Not sure what tyres are used though.

http://www.audiworld.com/news/00/a8_12/1.jpg

BTW, I've got Vista and ELSA works on Vista no problem. The important thing is to use "run as administrator" feature. And then to install Adobe SVG viewer to be able to see electrial wiring diagrams properly.

[notorious]

>> please post pictures when you have the new wheels on

OK, managed to install these wheels after 7 months! My car has sport suspension. I've used 245/50 R18 tyres -- the highest you can use with this suspension. Wheels completely occupy arches, but don't rub. Rims have standard size and offset and I didn't use spacers. Tyres are ContiSportContact 3. I've chosen that model because it has widest "rim protection" from what I've seen.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1761&stc=1&d=1302785429

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1762&stc=1&d=1302785460

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1763&stc=1&d=1302786472

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=1764&stc=1&d=1302786472

[Singh]

Nice one, they look really different but still A8 OEM +++

[Conan_the_Librarian]

I like the look to. Must be a very comfortable ride. +++

[notorious]

Thanks for your feedback guys. I'm sure it'll be hard for everyone to appreciate this approach since mainstream upgrade path is to install sports designs with ULP tyres.

With so much rubber around rims this German car looks very British :) -- it reminds me classic Jaguars from '80s or early '90s.

Arches are very tight now. I can't insert palm of my hand between arch and wheel. Suspension elements are about 1cm from edge of tyre. But no rubbing. It also sits higher because wheels are higher. Ride is very comfortable.

The next project is to put tiptronic heated multi function steering wheel into the car instead of sport tiptronic one that I think looks a bit sick in this type of car. After RNS-E install all those telephone and voice activation buttons will come handy. I've purchased all parts.

I'll soon be selling my legacy 7 spike R18 alloys (fully refurbished) and my current tiptronic sports steering wheel.