dvs_dave

So my Sunday evening muse has me wondering if popping on some 20mm spacers all round with my factory fat-fives would make the car look any better? I like the look of the fat fives as they are a classic Audi wheel, just on the A8 the wheel faces look too far inboard for ideal optics.

So is anyone here running stock wheels with similar sized spacers, and if so any pros or cons in the long run?

TSHong

I think a lot of people are running spacers with their factory wheels. I'm probably going to run somewhere in the 12-15mm for the front and 20-25mm for the rear when I get my replacement W12.

Galco

Running 20mm in the rear on fat fives. I too like the look of the old school, fat fives and it works for me on the D3. Had 12mm (i think) on the fronts but took them off as there was some vibration in the steering on occasion. Since then have changed the tires but never got the front spacers back on.

The flusher to the fender looks much better from the side view. However, be aware that from the rear the look seems a bit odd as the tires are out wider than factory and seems just a bit out of balance. 95% of time no one, including yourself walking up to the car will notice, but its there.

Cheers,

dvs_dave

Did you fit hub centric spacers? Also any before/after pics, and the rear view aspect you reference?

MP4.2+6.0

I run 12 front, 20 rear, which I think is just the right balance for the factory 20x9's w/ 275. With the 20x9's, it's a judgment call whether you run 15's up front; 12 to me fits the fender lines just a bit better in the upper front area of the tire. Aggressive in back would be 25 with my 20x9 OE wheel set up, but in my judgment it looked a bit aftermarket so I backed it down 20 mm and concluded that was the just right buttoned down but still can pass for stock look.

When you work through the math of the offsets and the 255's--assuming those are on your fat fives at 18x8.5--you will find you can run those up a size quite easily to get the same general fender to outer sidewall of tire look/consistency, which means 20 front, 25 rear. 30 rear would be aggressive there.

Definitely run hub centric. I run H&R DR's, which have hub centric starting at 12mm. In 12mm H&R, there are both hub centric and non hub centric, so you need to get the right part number. H&R DR outer diameter also matches exactly to the outer rotor hat and inner wheel hub mating area. Makes them almost invisible when you look for them. Do not assume that's an automatic by the way; some spacers don't match up like that and look like an obvious add on if you have this bigger diameter hunk of metal between the smaller diameter (approx. 150mm IIRC) wheel and the brake rotor hat, including even H&R DRA's in some widths. Similarly if it has a good aluminum silver finish it blends in well, vs. some kind of black or dark anodized finish.

MP4.2+6.0

A forgotten Reader's Ride article on a D3 A8 with just a spacers mod. IIRC the 19 wheels there are another of the 8.5" set ups with the 255's, so it uses the "other" spacer width defaults I referenced in my prior reply. Has a few pics too. Reader's Rides: SMA8L's 2006 A8 L (Sports Package) - AudiWorld

Old thread discussing that Reader's Ride article, plus a reply I included there with some more info on the spacer sizing differences for stock wheels depending on whether you are 18, 19 or 20 and 255 vs. 275. https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...ckage-2614194/

dvs_dave

Interesting on the reader car. 30mm on the rear rear I think is a bit OTT and aftermarket looking. Using this tutorial from ECS on spacer selection methods (which incidentally features a D3 S8)


I think 20mm all round would work well for me. The tyres I have have a 10mm lip on them so could stick out too far if I'm not careful.

In the long run have you had any wheel bearing failures earlier than expected, or does the steering feel any different?

MP4.2+6.0

You can do 20 the 255's on 8 ½ factory I think and have it look good. Agreed 30 seemed a bit much; 25 makes more sense for clean but more aggressive than stock. What you could do is just buy one 20mm set and try it on both ends to see what you think, or even start it in back and see if it looks meaty enough.

No, no bearing failures, and I've owned it since it was only about a year old and 15K miles on clock at the time. Steering feels no different to me, at least anything negative. No apparent effect on tires either. Car's power and capabilities are frankly way beyond what can be used in a built up metro area. Increases track/width at margin of course. I also know on the C5 from the 2.8 on the one hand through the 4.2, first RS6 and especially the original allroad derivative, they varied factory effective offsets by approximately 30mm, so it's not like the factory doesn't do it either when you get underneath what happens with various fender treatments to change styling involving the same general platform.

Especially with my recent upper arm replacement at around 110K miles, steering feels really crisp and much like new again. I also use S8 sway bars on mine; W12's start with sport suspension level bars, even though air units are standard/non-sport ones.

My upper suspension arm wear/miles to replace also seems consonant w/ other D3's, especially when I throw in W12 weight and power. I think that it much more twisting force related anyway from starting and especially stopping, plus under engineered parts with much lower design weights to start--all the way back to A4's.

Net, while I also have heard all the supposed worries, I've experienced none. The only downside that might be legit and is hardly ever mentioned is if you or others (the wifey...) drive multiple vehicles and are used to a different position of wheels compared to view out and fenders, it could be vulnerable to more curbing of wheels. FWIW, I plan to use them in future vehicles as well if not already factory set up similarly.

dvs_dave

I finally got round to doing this and 15mm front, 20mm rear hub-centric spacers worked best.

For what it's worth I tried 20mm on the front but the wheels stuck out too far so I dropped it to 15mm which was perfect. The factory "fat five" wheels that I have are 18x8.5 ET35, running 255/45 Goodyear Eagle F1 A/S.

For less than $100 (off ebay, with longer bolts) the spacers make a nice subtle difference to the stance without it looking aftermarket.

Couple of pics of the old gal with the spacers fitted.

Cboogie

never looked into spacers before, but I like the look.

I too have the fat five style wheels. classic look

do you have a link to the spacers you bought