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D2 - Wheels and Tyres Refurbing, center caps, tyre brands, tyrefitters - discuss it here |
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#1
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Tyres for a smoother ride on bumpy roads
Afternoon all
I've recently moved to a road full of pot holes and bumps. It's a bit rough on the S8! I wondered if swapping out the tyres for something with a bigger sidewall might make a reasonable difference. I'm currently running 255/35/20s. Is it worth considering an alternative tyre size to smooth the ride out or is 90% down to the stiffness of the suspension and therefore tyre size is going to have minimal impact. Many thanks
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2002 S8 Aqua Pearl, entirely original apart from FE 20" OEM wheels and Milltek exhaust. |
#2
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Downsizing the wheels to 18s will have the biggest impact as you will have considerably more sidewall to soak up the bumps. 255 40 20 probably wouldn't fit in the wheel arches and would mess up the speedo while being unlikely to have much effect.
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#3
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18" will be a lot softer but there is a lot of difference between different tyre makes as well. 255/40R20 should fit fine as well as I have 255/45R19 and instead of messing up speedo it actually sorts it out. Instead of being 74mph with stock size (245/45R18) when it shows 80 on speedo it's more like 78-79 now.
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Currently 8less 2011 Q7 S Line 3.0TDI, 2016 Tesla Model S 90D 8 history: 2006 A8 Sport 4.2TDI quattro SOLD, 1997 S8, reached end of life with gearbox failure |
#4
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It might be cheaper to pay someone to fill the holes...…
You might, at the extreme, also find some 17" wheels that will go over the brakes. My old PF S8 had genuine Audi 17" Avus wheels for winter, I think from an S4 or S3, but there was about a 2mm clearance at best to the Brembos when I moved to the FL model. That meant no internal balance weights or use spacers which I didn't want for winter. (The obvious economical solution was to buy a set of FE 20s for summer and use the factory 18s for winter, then sell the 17s - might even have been Ainars that bought them?)
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions and extended leather. Ski hatch retrofit. Aftermarket reversing camera. DVB-T and XCarlink now removed as redundant. 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". (Even rarer than a D2 S8!) 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. Agate Grey/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. Added Auto-dim mirror, Leather seats, 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; 24th September 2019 at 05:54 PM. |
#5
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I have factory Avus 18” wheels for winter and these are a much smoother ride
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2002 Final Edition S8. Ebony black with Silver Grey leather and myrtle wood trim. Current mods: solar sun roof, 20mm rear spacers, 15 mm on front, red brembo callipers, 6k headlights, rear view camera, engine remap, alloy dash dial rings, alloy navi rings, tt/phaeton pedal upgrade, (and custom matching foot rest) dension ipod interface & parrot hands free kit (both fully hidden), av input, tv in motion switched thro' PF switch in blanking plug right of steering column, Audi 'quattro' sill covers, repositioned centre console switches, radio clock, .Planned mods: auto-dimming rear view mirror, dash cam (as steamship's), fit the ski hatch, refit philips drl's (or maybe not - nope, definitely not - horrible botch!). |
#6
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Quote:
No, don't have them any more. Turned out that tyres were a bit too big for A6 ( I think it was 225/55R17) and doing very little mileage on S8 I did not need separate winter set so part exchanged them for some 20" which I used while my 19" were off for refurbishment and then sold 20" later.
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Currently 8less 2011 Q7 S Line 3.0TDI, 2016 Tesla Model S 90D 8 history: 2006 A8 Sport 4.2TDI quattro SOLD, 1997 S8, reached end of life with gearbox failure |
#7
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The 17" forged fat fives from the comfort model actually just fit over the FL S8 Brembos, as long as you use knock-on weights rather than stick-on, but they're a bit too wobbly on sport suspension really. |
#8
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Thanks everyone.
I ended up buying a set of D3 18s with 235/50/18 tyres from our esteemed forum sponsors. Good value and have certainly made a difference. Bit bouncy around the potholes but out on the roads it’s like driving on silk. Will this change make a difference to the speedo calibration? Thanks all
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2002 S8 Aqua Pearl, entirely original apart from FE 20" OEM wheels and Milltek exhaust. |
#9
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Very little, I had to guess wheel width and offset but that would not make any difference to speedo reading https://www.willtheyfit.com/
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Currently 8less 2011 Q7 S Line 3.0TDI, 2016 Tesla Model S 90D 8 history: 2006 A8 Sport 4.2TDI quattro SOLD, 1997 S8, reached end of life with gearbox failure |
#10
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Quote:
Basically at 70mph on your speedo you'll in theory be doing 71.5.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions and extended leather. Ski hatch retrofit. Aftermarket reversing camera. DVB-T and XCarlink now removed as redundant. 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". (Even rarer than a D2 S8!) 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. Agate Grey/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. Added Auto-dim mirror, Leather seats, 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! |
Tags |
bumpy, ride, sidewall, smooth, tyres |
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