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snow tire size for D4 on 18" wheel
Looking for advise on tires for my 2014 A8L D4.
Current set up is 20" Audi rims (not stock, they are A7 rims) that were put on by the dealership before I bought the car cause the previous owner had beat up the original rims. They look great, perfect condition, but I want a softer ride. In December I bought some 18" D3 rims from someone here on this forum. Actually got 2 sets with the intention of using one set for winter snow tires, and the other for regular summer or all season tires. Had the tires removed, center hole bored out so it would fit my D4. Thank you to the member who posted a video showing this was possible! About to pick up the rims but I am not sure if it makes sense to have the snow tires that came with the rims remounted, or should I get a different size. Current setup 265/40 R20 with a 37mm offset If I reuse the snow tires, the new setup would be: 255/45 R18 with a 45mm offset But rims&tires web site suggests: 245/55 R18 would be a better fit. Not that the original tires won't fit, but the speedometer will be off by 4.5%. And my biggest concern is that the car will look a bit strange - too low to the ground or the tires will simply look too small. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks! |
First step makes sure the rims will fit. I didn’t think D3 wheels fit the D4 without modifications. |
Page from D4 A8 manual showing 235/55/18 104H:
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...e755ded7c1.jpg |
I missed that you had the rims modified. I have Goodyear 245/55R-18 on my aftermarket rims. I’m guessing tirerack didn’t want to recommend something wider for winter tires. I would try it. |
Yes I had the center hole bored out. Interesting that the machine shop only modified the back side of the hole. Front where the hub cap mounts needed no enlarging. Just dropped off the rims rims at the local tire shop and I think they are not very knowledgeable. Told me only tire that would fit was 245/45 r18. Anything else would “stretch” the tire. Thank you for posting that grid, showing 235/55 is an option. I’ll explore that some more. Starting to think a good all season is the way to go. Larger sidewalk should be softer and absorb the shock of hitting NJ potholes. |
I'm running 235/55/18 Blizzaks on my car.
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It looks like the 235/55/18 has very limited choices in the USA with the correct load ratings. Must be the reason they're shifting up one size to 245/55/18.
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Not a great time of year to buy winter tires. Selling season is more fall thru Dec. If you can wait and aren't finding what you have in mind to get, check the manufacturer's sites for actual sizes they make. Do NOT rely on TireRack in particular. A bone I have picked with them over the years is they just quietly delete a size and pretend it does not exist when they go out of stock on winters. Thus listed there in Sept and completely vaporized like it doesn't exist now. Throws people off who use the site as a reference point. Having looked at other winter applications, I'm seeing it on their site again this year---or rather not seeing tires I know are sold for a lot of higher volume fitments like both my Golf R and Q5. America's Tire, aka Discount Tire (or others) may still show sizes Tire Rack buried.
The D3 tire sizes were about an inch smaller in overall diameter in general--27.0 to 27.7 inches, while D4 is 28.3 to 28.7 depending on exactly which wheel diameter and tire width and aspect ratio. Why you are noting suggestion is the higher aspect ratio on the D4. While the bigger diameter crowds the wheel well somewhat more for snow and crud packing, also realize going the other direction insidiously drops the car ride height, by half the diameter difference or around ½". Technically you can run smaller (or bigger) tires as long as they all match and then it just throws off the speedo some. But for winters especially, I would be careful on reducing ride height meaningfully if you deal with anything real world besides just superficial road crud and ice and not a lot of potholes. Again, your double check is just look at the listed tire diameter, and land at 28.3 to 28.7 on whatever aspect ratio/width combo you settle on. Also, be sure the load rating is sufficient for D4, which is heavy. You see them listed in the posted size table in this thread. Again, D3's were somewhat lighter (except D3 W12 and S8) and I recall some of the load ratings would have been too low for D4 specs. |
Originally Posted by Twglasgow
(Post 25276215)
I missed that you had the rims modified. I have Goodyear 245/55R-18 on my aftermarket rims. I’m guessing tirerack didn’t want to recommend something wider for winter tires. I would try it. |
Originally Posted by MP4.2+6.0
(Post 25276305)
Not a great time of year to buy winter tires. Selling season is more fall thru Dec. If you can wait and aren't finding what you have in mind to get, check the manufacturer's sites for actual sizes they make. Do NOT rely on TireRack in particular. A bone I have picked with them over the years is they just quietly delete a size and pretend it does not exist when they go out of stock on winters. Thus listed there in Sept and completely vaporized like it doesn't exist now. Throws people off who use the site as a reference point. Having looked at other winter applications, I'm seeing it on their site again this year---or rather not seeing tires I know are sold for a lot of higher volume fitments like both my Golf R and Q5. America's Tire, aka Discount Tire (or others) may still show sizes Tire Rack buried.
The D3 tire sizes were about an inch smaller in overall diameter in general--27.0 to 27.7 inches, while D4 is 28.3 to 28.7 depending on exactly which wheel diameter and tire width and aspect ratio. Why you are noting suggestion is the higher aspect ratio on the D4. While the bigger diameter crowds the wheel well somewhat more for snow and crud packing, also realize going the other direction insidiously drops the car ride height, by half the diameter difference or around ½". Technically you can run smaller (or bigger) tires as long as they all match and then it just throws off the speedo some. But for winters especially, I would be careful on reducing ride height meaningfully if you deal with anything real world besides just superficial road crud and ice and not a lot of potholes. Again, your double check is just look at the listed tire diameter, and land at 28.3 to 28.7 on whatever aspect ratio/width combo you settle on. Also, be sure the load rating is sufficient for D4, which is heavy. You see them listed in the posted size table in this thread. Again, D3's were somewhat lighter (except D3 W12 and S8) and I recall some of the load ratings would have been too low for D4 specs. |
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