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... Not enough of an advantage for me to deviate from a square setup. The tires are lasting only about 10-12K with rotation, a staggered fitment would be unacceptably short. Understeer is in the DNA of Audis - I guess after having had nine of them, I have adapted my canyon driving to that fact. The sport differential sorts out most of the issues in our S/RS-Cars. The open diff A6's are a bit of a handful, but they were never designed for such shinanagans. However, they are still fun.
It will be interesting to see if the tire wear issue is extreme in the S/RS3. My closest experience has been in VW-R's which can chew through an inner tread bar in a weekend. Less aggressing alignment helps, but I was sure glad to put them on the back...
Good luck
Eric
With the RS3 and TT RS not having the option of an active rear diff, and the Haldex system's forward bias despite Audi Marketing trying to convince everybody that this time around it's more rear biased, Audi Sport is resorting to trickery like putting gripper, fatter tires on the front axle to compensate for the front bias. For those who don't actually go canyon carving or take it to the track, that just means they are now prevented from rotating the tires.
With the RS3 and TT RS not having the option of an active rear diff, and the Haldex system's forward bias despite Audi Marketing trying to convince everybody that this time around it's more rear biased, Audi Sport is resorting to trickery like putting gripper, fatter tires on the front axle to compensate for the front bias. For those who don't actually go canyon carving or take it to the track, that just means they are now prevented from rotating the tires.
You are spot on with this. As a daily driver, you aren't going to really need/notice those wider tires up front.
Right now the only reason I'd pay the extra $400 is for the anthracite style rims. If you look at my original post, it seems the 235 / 235 setup is only for silver rims. I have yet to see a picture with those actual rims on them. All the rims I've seen are silver and black.
I've actually been thinking about getting a complete second staggered set of wheels, swapping them around to make two square sets and running the smaller ones as winter wheels. Of course part of me wants to get some super light weight blacked out summer wheels, but I'm actually looking forward to how understated it looks in "factory trim". The way I drive any additional attention is unwanted attention.
I've actually been thinking about getting a complete second staggered set of wheels, swapping them around to make two square sets and running the smaller ones as winter wheels. Of course part of me wants to get some super light weight blacked out summer wheels, but I'm actually looking forward to how understated it looks in "factory trim". The way I drive any additional attention is unwanted attention.
That's not a terrible idea. I might worry a little about brake clearance in the front on the winter set.
Goto 00:31 and 00:35 and I think those are the exact rims I'm getting. They don't seem too bad? Just so use to seeing that anthracite on all the promo RS3 pics. Thoughts?
I had the exact same question/dilemma as you but decided to stick to the square setup. I didn't think the $400 was worth it just to get a stagger setup (rather save it for an actual rim/tire setup I want). Having the car overseer a bit more would be great but to be honest I rather just play around with the square setup until I need new tires. At this point I'll look into powder coating the OEM rims or going aftermarket. The BMW I had was staggered and being able to rotate is a huge plus, my rears were gone way faster than my fronts. Since this is a new car and I autocross, I figure maybe I'll get use to the square setup first before going staggered. Plus I think being able to know the difference (and not just take what I read online) will help me figure out what I like?
The video you linked @ the 0:35 second mark... they actually look perfectly fine so yea hopefully this makes you feel better about your choice that you're stuck with lol
I had the exact same question/dilemma as you but decided to stick to the square setup. I didn't think the $400 was worth it just to get a stagger setup (rather save it for an actual rim/tire setup I want). Having the car overseer a bit more would be great but to be honest I rather just play around with the square setup until I need new tires. At this point I'll look into powder coating the OEM rims or going aftermarket. The BMW I had was staggered and being able to rotate is a huge plus, my rears were gone way faster than my fronts. Since this is a new car and I autocross, I figure maybe I'll get use to the square setup first before going staggered. Plus I think being able to know the difference (and not just take what I read online) will help me figure out what I like?
The video you linked @ the 0:35 second mark... they actually look perfectly fine so yea hopefully this makes you feel better about your choice that you're stuck with lol
Thanks for your input...makes me feel like I wasn't the only one going stir crazy deciding on this.
One of the bigger decisions was paint color which I opted in the end for the Nardo grey with the black optics kit and black exhaust tips/sport exhaust.
I think that grey looks different in different light which will add to the effect it has (explains why photos online make it look so different). Also from a washing perspective...it will be very easy to keep clean.
Are you in USA or Canada? Will be good once we all get our RS3's to hopefully organize a meet up.
Thanks for your input...makes me feel like I wasn't the only one going stir crazy deciding on this.
One of the bigger decisions was paint color which I opted in the end for the Nardo grey with the black optics kit and black exhaust tips/sport exhaust.
I think that grey looks different in different light which will add to the effect it has (explains why photos online make it look so different). Also from a washing perspective...it will be very easy to keep clean.
Are you in USA or Canada? Will be good once we all get our RS3's to hopefully organize a meet up.
With regards to colour, my wife and I could only agree on glacier white. So I ended up doing: glacier white, black optics package, sports exhaust and red stitch. I had white and black optics on my previous car so I am bias with that setup. I'm going to get it PPF + CQuartz/Opti-Coat.
I picked up my RS3 yesterday and it's actually one of the initial shipment 2017's. Regarding the wheels does anybody know the offset of the staggered wheels and has anybody gone wider. Both the front and rear could use to have the wheel well filled out a bit more....
The RS3 in my future will be a daily driver, so a square setup is my preference but my option choices will mean it will be equipped with staggered sizes when delivered. I'm debating factory wheels from another model (e.g TTRS) vs. aftermarket (e.g BBS SX). I've uncovered some specs at wheel-size.com that you all may find helpful. But since I don't have the car yet, it seems pretty tough to assess things like caliper and fender clearance.
Have you already solved this riddle? Make a new member's day and tell me what you did and how you like it!!
05-08-2017, 09:24 PM
