PaperLion

My 18 S3 rides pretty rough on stock magride and 19" P Zeros with the amazing triangle/pizza wheels. Er these:

I'd like to get a different set of wheels and tires that rides a bit more like an A3 because I'm getting old but still want to pretend I'm young.

I don't care much about weight but I want something I can go on a road trip 1500 miles and back no problem.

I don't want to go less than 18" and would prefer something all-season but "looks" low profile. Does that exist?

Is there a specific spec of tire and wheel I should get?

Flying Scotsman

What tyre pressures are you running on 19".....I/2 load, up to 3 people no luggage, use 39F and 36R psi and mag ride in auto for suspension makes a huge difference to full load of 44 psi for front and rear. Mag ride in comfort suspension mode is too bouncy for me.

Spinnetti

I went down from 19" to 18" and comfort is definitely better with no loss in perceived performance. I've been happy with Dunlop and Conti for street duty, and had Firestone Indy's on my 18"s until this month, but they ride a lot harder than the General's I just put on which are top ranked by Tire Rack. Running a wider tire gives more volume to take up the hits too. I'm running the RS3 stagger of 255 up front and 235 in the back on 9" wide wheels and really like how that's working both for ride and handling balance (the stagger really helps chassis balance).. PS, I keep the car in Dynamic and on 034 springs and front camber plates. I'm just up the road in Dallas, and the roads are surprisingly choppy here. Coming from the mid-west I expected a lot better roads! I've actually got two sets of 18" - 18x8.5 ET35 and 18x9 ET30. Firestones on the 8.5 255s all around and the stagger on the 9"

Spinnetti

I went down from 19" to 18" and comfort is definitely better with no loss in perceived performance. I've been happy with Dunlop and Conti for street duty, and had Firestone Indy's on my 18"s until this month, but they ride a lot harder than the General's I just put on which are top ranked by Tire Rack. Running a wider tire gives more volume to take up the hits too. I'm running the RS3 stagger of 255 up front and 235 in the back on 9" wide wheels and really like how that's working both for ride and handling balance (the stagger really helps chassis balance).. PS, I keep the car in Dynamic and on 034 springs and front camber plates. I'm just up the road in Dallas, and the roads are surprisingly choppy here. Coming from the mid-west I expected a lot better roads! I've actually got two sets of 18" - 18x8.5 ET35 and 18x9 ET30. Firestones on the 8.5 255s all around and the stagger on the 9". Unless you are really trying to corner carve, the 8.5 wide would be plenty.

PaperLion

That's probably a good way to handle it temporarily but I would wager dropping pressures will increase wear. So sayeth John Cadogan anyway.

I'm going to try it for the short time I have left on the crazy stock wheels. I curbed the shiz out of the right rear pretty early on going into the ramp at work going the opposite direction from what I'm used to. No idea if that multi color wheel can be repaired. I imagine they are about 800 or 1000 each.

PaperLion

Thanks very much for input. I like the stagger on paper but I'd rather be able to rotate them around instead of just left right. The other stuff is gold, exactly what I was hoping for.

Still taking opinions please keep em rolling in!

morris39

My criteria for street use is comfort and wear. I don't see a difference in handling. For wear I look how uniform the wear is across the tire width. So I have been inflating 2 psi less than the manual recommendation both front and rear and for the last few cars. It is possible that my pressure gauge ( a good one) is off by 2 lbs or that recommendations are usually a little high, on the safe side.

Flying Scotsman

I have no issues with wear with 39/36 and most of the time I am the only occupant and that is the Audi recommended pressure for that load factor. I also check my tyre pressures every two weeks and the 44 psi on all four corners would result in possible undue centre tyre wear. 44 psi I suggest is for people who never measure their tyre pressures and leave it to techs to check at service intervals. I do increase my tyre pressures to 44 psi for a full load and I also have an expensive calibrated analog dial 3" tyre pressure gauge and a 12V air compressor in the trunk and measure my tyre pressures when cold. A bit OCD I know but I have peace of mind.
Take your curbed wheel to a professional wheel repair specialist, not a mobile smart repair dude. The wheel specialist will remove the the tyre put it on a lathe to remove the curb rash and paint and clearcoat to original factory finish and then balance the wheel at a cost of about 200-300 bucks and that is way cheaper than a new wheel.

PaperLion

That's definitely a compelling argument. I'll go do the tire pressures in the morning and see. I've heard a lot of people say the p zeros are less than ideal.

I guess my concern about the wheel repair is 2 fold--
1 I have my doubts about matching the paint on these wheels. It's 2 tone and has lettering; all this detail it seems like.
2 I dont have much confidence in repair shops here where I live.

I'll ask the dealer for a recommendation I guess. I was planning on doing that after I got the new wheels to see what they would say about it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.

Spinnetti

You can get an aftermarket wheel - might even be the same factory wheel under another name. Fixing wheels rarely comes out the same as stock. I think of a curbed wheel as an opportunity for a new set of after market wheels!