M3 J0N

I have a 2001.5 s4 wagon and was looking at a set of wheels. I have the sizes/dimensions of the wheels and I am trying to find out if they will fit and what size tire I can run. All the wheel offset gurus, I appreciate all the help! THank you.

Wheel sizes are as follows:

Fronts are 18x8.5 -
I can go with offset 35, or 45

rears are 18x9.5
Offset is 40

I know everyone has a different idea of what "fit" means. I plan to do a mild to aggressive drop and would like to run a proper tire for the rim. (i.e. a 225 on a 9.5 will not work for me)

Will these fit?

bingS4

I wouldn't run a staggered setup. Not advisable with quattro from what I've heard, and it makes rotating tires a pain. Stick with the same width in front and back.

For offset, stock is 45. I have OZ ULs with offset 35 and it's a noticeable and nice difference with the wheel sitting farther outboard. However, I haven't lowered the car yet so I don't know if there will be rubbing problems.

M3 J0N

I jsut LOVE the staggered look! I dont really care about rotating tires. what is the width of the stock wheels with the 45mm offset?

donromani

Ok "M3" Jon, it's time to leave the rear-wheel drive fetish behind.

Even if you like the staggered look, running bigger tires in the rear is not practical on the B5 S4. If anything, you need to put the wider tires on the front because the majority of the time the power will be going there. Just put the same size tires on on four wheels and make your life easier...

Width of stock rims are 7.5 inches.

bingS4

Wider tires in the rear certainly doesn't help with the car's tendency for understeer either.

M3 J0N

LOL yeah, coming from big power M3s, the s4 is definitely a new type of car for me. I just got a 996TT about 7 months ago, but its certainly not goign to be daily driven as this car will be. Coming from those cars with a big lip in the rear (or a deep concave look), there is something about the staggered setup that looks so appealing to me.

I was reading up on this. My mechanic raves about the stasis or JHM center diff that splits the power 15/85 for a more rear-biased car. got any opinions abotu that diff upgrade?

bingS4

Yup, new center diff is a good mod from what I hear.

donromani

Stock diff has a 2:1 torque distribution, the JHM is 4:1, thinks stasis is the same. The stasis one is more expensive but I've heard good things about both of them.

Heres the JHM link seeing as I have it bookmarked for the future:
http://www.jhmotorsports.com/shop/ca...fb98d25a6d91d9

M3 J0N

definitely going to be one of my first mods. Do you think that wider rear tires would be more beneficial once this diff is installed? I have been looking for some non-staggered sets of wheels and cant find anything that blows me away. Any suggestions would be great

Pete@ECSTuning

Why not buy matching width tires and just use wheel spacers to push the rears out to give you the look of a staggered setup without having to be putting down a different footprint to the pavement? That way you won't risk damaging your quattro system? I'd go with 10mm or 12.5 mm for that aggressive stance, but that is just my opinion.

In fact, if you hurry we have wheel spacers up to 25% off until 11:59PM on Jan 3, 2010. Here is a link to S4 wheel spacers.