Moving up to 20's at last

[HPsauce]

I know my S8 isn't an FE, it's actually later than most of those and first registered in late 2003. :Confused:
But it only has 18" wheels, summer and winter.

I've just ordered a full set of five FE 20" wheels from our sponsor which will need a full refurb before use later in the year. +++

The plan is to use the factory-fit 18" FL Avus wheels as winter wheels next year, so I will move the tyres to them from my current 18" winter wheels once this winter is over.

The current (five) winter wheels are the PF S8 Avus design and they will probably be available in a few months time, possibly with some part-worn summer tyres. If anyone is interested please PM me, they are in reasonably good nick though most could probably do with a minor refurb due to a few scratches and scrapes. Hub caps are all in good condition. :cool:

My plan is to have the new 20" wheels looking great and with new rubber for the summer meet in Wales. :D

[Professor Peach]

Excellent. They will look great with fresh refurbishment and new rubber. Let me know when the old 18's come up. I still need some winters at some point when funds permit.

[HPsauce]

OK, will do. The PF 18" Avus make pretty good winters as the faces and rims are less exposed to kerbs than the FL version. +++

[HPsauce]

I've just ordered a full set of five FE 20" wheels from our sponsor which will need a full refurb before use later in the year. +++
And they've arrived. All nicely packed and the delivery guy was a car enthusiast (Triumph Herald!) so we had a bit of a chat while he unloaded. :D

The tyres however are a different matter, not that I was expecting any that I would use. :tuttut:
There is one single wheel that our sponsors have had for a little while, that had a decent-brand 255/35R20 the size I think I would expect, but old and worn so maybe a possible spare once it's been checked?
The other four came from a recent arrival and were a mixed bunch to say the least. One 255/35R20 and three 255/30R20. :eek:
And the tyre brands were all different, two I'd never even heard of! :eek3:

Based on this I don't think it had been owned recently by anyone here.......

I'm sort of tempted (subject to checking it's OK) to keep the single wheel "as is" as a spare (not refurbed) as it's still got much of its original finish (see photo).

[Professor Peach]

No Andrew - get them all done. You'll regret it if you don't! +++

[Professor Peach]

A spare wheel well should look like this......... +++

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g271/robdsavage/Spare%20Wheel_zps8kdtezvh.jpg

[Adrian E]

Mine looks just like that too :)

Ref the elderly tyre, I threw away an original pilot sport with good tread as it was as old as the car! There's no set age limit for three as its use and conditions that influence a tyre's life more.

I also had the conundrum about refurbishing my original diamond cut wheel to match the powder coated ones - in the end I did as it means I can alternate the wheels if I need to. My current spare is the best of the pilot sports that the previous owner had fitted in 2010. I have another spare that also dates to 2010 if it's any use? It's stored in the roof of my garage

[HPsauce]

get them all done. You'll regret it if you don't!As the others have to be repainted I'm going to leave this alone for now and investigate if the diamond cut finish can be resuscitated.
If it can I'm sure there's someone out there who would want it, otherwise I'll match it to the others. :cool:

[Singh]

HP, I've had some 275/30/20 tyres from my RS6 sat in the garage for a year, about 5-6mm iirc, Contis I think. Can check if you're interested in taking them off my hands. I changed to Goodyear Eagle F1's, nothing wrong with the Contis, was just my preference.

[HPsauce]

Thanks Amar, but would they not be too wide as 255/35 is I think the norm?

[briang9]

It is indeed+++

[Norretal]

Glad you got sorted with some 20's Andrew, I'll put mine on the S8 while I get the originals refurbished to a very high standard +++

[Singh]

I had 275/30 or 35/20's on my FL D2 S8, no rubbing. RS guys used to go 20mm bigger on the C5.

[HPsauce]

Thanks, I'll think about it, plenty of time yet. I'm minded to go for a deeper profile for a softer ride, not that there's much in it (89mm vs 82mm tyre depth).

[Norretal]

Thanks, I'll think about it, plenty of time yet. I'm minded to go for a deeper profile for a softer ride, not that there's much in it (89mm vs 82mm tyre depth).

Every little helps, if you haven't driven on 20's for any length of time and your S8 miles have been covered exclusively on 18's you're in for a surprise ;)

[HPsauce]

I have driven similar but not specifically a D2 S8 on 20's. My focus has different sized wheels between summer and winter but that's only an inch, not two. Very noticeable difference in so many ways. ;)
I'll see how they behave once they're on in the late spring. Might keep the 18's for trips to Scotland etc! I wouldn't have wanted to do my excursions on Jura on 20's!

[Norretal]

I likened going back to 18's on my D2 after 8 months of being on 20's as slipping on well worn slippers after wearing a new pair of leather shoes all day....maybe a slight exaggeration but you'll know what I mean having driven your Focus on different sized wheels and tyres +++

[The_Laird]

I have exactly the same set up.

Winter tyres on 18" Avus wheels and 'summer' tyres on 20" FE wheels.

The 20" wheels are, indeed, a harsher ride but how harsh (and noisy) is very dependent on the tyres. I bought the car with cheap tyres on it and thought a wheel bearing had gone! New Vredestein tyres made it a lot better for ride quality and noise, but they got noisier when worn.

I've now got a set of Toyos (on Marcin's recommendation) to fit when the 20s go back on, but 2 of the wheels need to be refurbished first. I spoke to the guy who refurbished them last time and he assured me of a match!

But, whatever the ride quality and noise, doesn't the car look great on in the 20s? :)

[Norretal]

I have exactly the same set up.

Winter tyres on 18" Avus wheels and 'summer' tyres on 20" FE wheels.

The 20" wheels are, indeed, a harsher ride but how harsh (and noisy) is very dependent on the tyres. I bought the car with cheap tyres on it and thought a wheel bearing had gone! New Vredestein tyres made it a lot better for ride quality and noise, but they got noisier when worn.


But, whatever the ride quality and noise, doesn't the car look great on in the 20s? :)



Just harsher in my opinion Jim, though I only drove on the Vredesteins so had nothing to compare them with. The harsher ride is well worth putting up with for the improvement in handling, well worth it +++

They're THE wheels for the D2, nothing else comes close :love:

[IT]

The 20's look the best, and ride the best.

Yes, the 18's are softer, but on a flat smooth motorway the 20's are very capable of producing a comfortable ride.

I honestly find that much of the extra noise of the 20's is soaked up quite a bit when you have the alcantara headlining, so you'll be fine.

Get em stuck on and enjoy em... +++

Oh, and post photos.... +++

[HPsauce]

The new 20's don't have any centre caps. Do they take the same ones as the FL Avus 18's or is there a different design?
If so, does anyone have the part number......

[The_Laird]

They're a different design. I'll check the part number later. I have a few spares that you could borrow if you get stuck. Not brilliant, but better than a hole!

[The_Laird]

8D0 601 165K

But don't buy these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-Audi-147mm-Alloy-Wheel-Center-Hub-Caps-for-9-Spoke-A4-A6-A8-RS4-RS6-S4-S6-TT-/331442890195?pt=UK_Cars_Parts_Vehicles_Wheels_tyre _Trims_Trims_ET&hash=item4d2b8925d3

I've bought 2 sets from these guys, for the !8" and 20" wheels, and they're rubbish!

[HPsauce]

Thanks Jim. The Chinese copies shipped from Hong Kong at the same sort of price look much better than those!

[The_Laird]

They are, but they're not lacquered. But a quick spray with clear lacquer seems to do the trick

[Norretal]

But a quick spray with clear lacquer seems to do the trick

Worked for me too Jim +++

I actually considered buying OEM from my local dealer if I'd got to put them back on my D2 as I priced them at £27 each and thought them worth the outlay, they certainly looked worth it

[tintin]

OEM are the best, with the bit of discount from Audi dealers there's not much difference in price...

[The_Laird]

New ones here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221661943322?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I just ordered a set

[HPsauce]

Yes, I was already "watching" those though it's not clear if they are Audi or aftermarket. Also have my eye on a genuine used set in good nick.

[ainarssems]

Yes, I was already "watching" those though it's not clear if they are Audi or aftermarket. Also have my eye on a genuine used set in good nick.

· Replacement Wheel Center Caps made in EU

[The_Laird]

It also calls them "Audi wheel centre caps", so I'll return them if they're not good and claim false description.

[goldsax]

A8+20’’ FE looks too good.
but my old soft butt does notice the harsher ride.
however after a good clean and wax all is forgiven..

[tintin]

Not harsher, just firmer ;)

…and a lovely colour combination - the green is such a nice contrast with the wheel colour and chrome trim +++

[HPsauce]

…and a lovely colour combination - the green is such a nice contrast with the wheel colour and chrome trim +++
I'm hoping mine will end up looking similar, though I think it's a tad darker, Irish Green Pearl.
It's a colour which looks amazing in the sun but can seem black on a dull day when not polished.

[moltuae]

A8+20’’ FE looks too good.


Very nice!

Best D2 wheels ever, IMO .... but then I'm biased :D

[The_Laird]

New ones here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221661943322?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I just ordered a set

I'm sending mine back. They are far to tight a fit and don't sit right in the wheel. Don't waste your money on these. :(

[David's8]

A8+20’’ FE looks too good.
but my old soft butt does notice the harsher ride.
however after a good clean and wax all is forgiven..

:eek2: thats more than I need to know of your personal hygiene and body care issues. :ROFL:

[moltuae]

:eek2: thats more than I need to know of your personal hygiene and body care issues. :ROFL:

:ROFL:

I'm willing to try anything once, but I'm a little sceptical that cleaning and waxing one's butt could make for a softer ride.

[HPsauce]

My tyres turned up today, just need the centre caps to arrive from Hong Kong. Garage is getting a bit full with wheels and tyres; I also have a couple of new summer tyres to fit on the Focus, the set of 20's and all the normal summer wheels for both cars! :tuttut:

Though I'm still debating whether to bother refurbishing the spare wheel which is still "diamond cut" but with minor rim damage or just polish up the edge and respray with lacquer. It's not bent, it's still perfectly round, but looks like it probably had a blowout and the rim has rolled along tarmac. :(

[HPsauce]

just need the centre caps to arrive from Hong Kong. Arrived this morning, look OK but haven't yet had a chance to check how well they fit.

[David's8]

Arrived this morning, look OK but haven't yet had a chance to check how well they fit.

Pictures soon then? +++

[HPsauce]

check how well they fitNot at all! :mad: Do NOT buy these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151510365124

I have found a way to make them fit and hopefully stay on until I can get some decent replacements, see next post for details.

[David's8]

Oh, sorry to hear that. What a pain.

[HPsauce]

OK, so after trying with some force I just could NOT get these on.
The process also caused some flexing and weakening of the plastic lugs on the back as they were bent out in the wrong direction.

Eventually after some careful study I worked out why, it was the metal spring ring causing the problem.
Without it they did clip in, but rather loosely, and not entirely flush at the edge. With it, no chance!

The ring is basically too large and too strong and has only a small gap so cannot shrink enough to clip on.

As it happens I have some redundant centres I bought a while ago that fit nothing I have. They too use a similar ring so I compared.
Superficially the same size, but the spare ones use a thinner, more flexible, wire and VERY IMPORTANTLY have a larger gap (extra 5mm or so) so can be compressed more.

So I just swapped the rings over between the new centres and old spares and they now fit quite well and look OK.
The only real problem is that one has damaged/flexed lugs that could break off at any time.

I guess they may also have worked OK if I cut a bit off the ring to make the gap larger, but swapping was easier and they seem fairly secure with the slightly weaker spring.

[HPsauce]

Pictures soon then? +++
It will be a few days, I need my tyre man here to fit the tyres and then swap them for my winters that are on the car. Weather forecast rules the timing.

[The_Laird]

I had exactly the same problem with a set I bought in the UK, but I returned them and got a refund. I've also had issues with centres for the 18" and 20" wheels with a company called 555 or something like that. The 20" centres were too loose and the 18" ones didn't fit at all (and I broke them trying t force them on).

Interesting to hear that swapping the wire ring seemed to fix the problem. Do they sit OK on the wheel now?

[HPsauce]

Do they sit OK on the wheel now?Reasonably, but I'm going to wait until they're on the car to decide if they are acceptable.

[HPsauce]

I've just seen a set of 5 sold on AudiSRS for 1300€ (about £1000).
That's refurbished, with caps and shipped from Romania.

I could sell mine at a reasonable profit!

[mattylondon]

I've just seen a set of 5 sold on AudiSRS for 1300€ (about £1000).
That's refurbished, with caps and shipped from Romania.

I could sell mine at a reasonable profit!

You could make more of a profit... This seller is asking £1500 for a set of 4!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251857617797

[tintin]

Hmmm…but if I was asking that much, I'd shell out c £20/item for proper centre caps...:tuttut:

[HPsauce]

I'm sort of tempted (subject to checking it's OK) to keep the single wheel "as is" as a spare (not refurbed) as it's still got much of its original finish (see photo).
Mainly because I didn't really have room to carry it along with 4 other wheels with tyres I didn't get the spare refurbished, though I did have it checked for "roundness" and it's OK.

I've had the horrible old tyre removed and cleaned it up a bit so it's now OK for a spare, though definitely not up to Rob's standards. :o
Before and after:

[Professor Peach]

Mainly because I didn't really have room to carry it along with 4 other wheels with tyres I didn't get the spare refurbished, though I did have it checked for "roundness" and it's OK.

I've had the horrible old tyre removed and cleaned it up a bit so it's now OK for a spare, though definitely not up to Rob's standards. :o
Before and after:

It looks good Andrew!+++

[HPsauce]

It looks good Andrew!+++Thanks, but there are still some stubborn stains on the back that resist the solvents I have at home. :( Much better though. :cool:

[HPsauce]

All done; car cleaned, new wheels & tyres fitted, winter tyres moved to FL Avus 18's, PF Avus 18's stripped of rubber ready for a clean before sale.
Tyre man was here over 2 hours in total (Focus also swapped to summer wheels and 2 tyres replaced) and as a bonus there's a bigger storage space under the boot floor!
First snap, into the sun as it was going down, so not that good:

[Adrian E]

Great stuff :D

[HPsauce]

And many thanks for the spare tyre Adrian. +++

[briang9]

those wheels always make the car look so much better IMHO, great choice HP+++

still on winter wheels up here for a wee while yet though:(

[HPsauce]

still on winter wheels up here for a wee while yet though:(I would be here too as it's generally not much above freezing when I'm driving, but with Easter approaching I had to grab my tyre man when he was available.

[HPsauce]

those wheels always make the car look so much better(I'm surprised at how much better they fill the arches, especially when looking along the side of the car. :D
Given the tyres are only 10mm wider (255mm vs 245mm) I didn't expect anything noticeable. I thought the wheel offset was the same? :Confused:

[HPsauce]

PF Avus 18's stripped of rubber ready for a clean before sale.

Gave them a quick wash with the Karcher this afternoon. :cool:
Need to do a bit more cleaning of tar etc. and take close-up pics before selling. Any views on value for this lot?

[HPsauce]

The 20's with new Michelins had their first proper run today. :D

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. :cool:

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. :tuttut:

[HPsauce]

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.

[Professor Peach]

And I discovered that an S8 is faster out of a sharp corner than a older V6 RS4 Avant, probably due to turbo lag. :tuttut:

As much as I love my D2 S8 Andrew, I can't think of any situation where it's faster than my B5 was (if driven correctly) to be honest. :D

The wheels look really excellent in the flesh though! +++ And the breakfast was of course excellent too! :)

[HPsauce]

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. :tuttut:

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. :mad:

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.

[HPsauce]

The genuine centres (chrome effect, not brushed) were pretty tarnished so I've dismantled and fully refurbished them:

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq81/ourpcman/AllDone_zpsqi07tu3i.jpg

And they are a much better/flusher fit (cheap Chinese copy lying on the ground):

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/qq81/ourpcman/Refurb20_zpsfima1orq.jpg

[HPsauce]

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. +++

[Adrian E]

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!

[HPsauce]

you don't want them falling off at speed either
Indeed not!

Just looking again at the design of the copies you can see why they are difficult to fit:
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=10503&d=1429347817
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. :tuttut:

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. :mad: