THE CHALLENGE: Find a slick 17" wheel that has a sporting appearance, but enhances the classy appearance of the A4. Don't spend too much, but don't get stuck with low quality rims either.

THE RESULTS:

Appearance: The Lolas are a basic seven spoke design (like the stock sport package wheels that came with my A4). The big difference is that the spokes go all the way to the edge of the rim, rather than tailing in toward the centre of the car as they spread out. The spokes are also thinner. I really liked this look; it makes the car look much more aggressive and the wheels look larger than they actually are (people ask me if they are 18" all the time).

The Lolas fill out the wheel wells nicely, but not too much because they are the proper offset for an A4.

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Finish Quality: The Lolas are finished in a Light Silver finish that I was VERY impressed with when I first saw it. The finish is slightly lighter than the stock wheels, and easily as nice (read: glossy and metallic). There were no imperfections on any of the rims I received.

Strength: When searching for an inexpensive wheel, one has to worry that they will be recieving a product which is of substandard quality (at least I was). Ace alloy wheels are TUV certified (a German quality control standard), so this erased any fears I had that the Lolas might not stand up to the roads in my area. In fact, the driving situation in my locale is abysmal (Halifax - East Coast, Canada - wide temp variances & tons of road and sea salt), so it is a perfect test site for structural integrity of the Lolas. Also, other Aw'ers (LarryV and Jasyn) have had experience with adverse conditions (an accident and San Fran streets, respectively) and the Lolas have fared quite well. I presently have about 5000 miles on my Lolas and have had no trouble thusfar (even though they've seen some nasty potholes).

Performance: The performance gains to be had are a product of the upgrade to a wider 17" wheel, not the specific rim itself, so I'll skip this aspect.