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Anyone seen these 19" A5/S5 wheels on a car? (With or without Black Optic).. seems Euro spec, but it also seems US dealers have them in their parts library (for a cool $500 each)
8W0071499BAX1
Yes, they were the first official factory option wheel for the A5/S5, meaning to order as second set of wheels to be provided with the car. Not as a primary wheel. They are Ramus design, and available in silver or black (black more expensive), and are also a winter spec wheel (means several paint layers to prevent corrosion in winter). Good looking wheel. Don't know who makes them for Audi. The 20" wheel the OP has are made by BBS. Of course you can buy a cheaper wheel, but as ArvX noted, a $500 wheel from Audi is actually cheap, and will be a high quality European made wheel. Not something made from recycled bicycle frames in a factory far, far away from Germany. Get the parts counter to price out the production wheel on an S5, and you will find they range from $750 to $950, each. A BBS CH-R 19 x 8.5 is currently $609 from TireRack.
I almost ordered these as winter wheels, but decided to just change tyres on the current wheels. Never had a wheel damaged in the process.
Hi there, we're taking delivery of our S5 Sportback in Quantum Gray with Black Optics package this week! Just starting to research, and discovering how incredibly difficult it is to find 265/30/R20 winter tires for the OEM wheels (which come with stock 20" Summer tires). Anyone here aware of a source for 265/30/R20 winter tires online? I've called Tire Rack, Discount Tire, local shops, etc...NONE in stock for the season!
I'd like to avoid going the route of getting new wheels AND tires for winter, but open to suggestions there as well. Ultimately, I wish Audi would have just stuck with the 19" 5-spoke cavo design on the Black Optics package...tons of winter and all-season options there.
Any help would be appreciated!
Unfortunately the German performance cars have such low market shares in the US it seems there isn't much inventory being held for winter tyres. It is very different in Europe, where they have much higher market shares and it is mandatory to change to winter tyres in many European countries. I'm always surprised the Audi dealers cannot access stocks of suitable tyres for the cars they sell.
Just looking at a local tyre reseller here, they list 4 suitable winter tyres for the S5, which I have shown below. Not too sure about Toyo, but the other 3 are good - I have Michelin PA4 on one S5, and Pirelli SottoZero II on the other, and they are both good (19" though). I would contact both Michelin and Pirelli and tell them you are trying to buy the respective model of winter tyre but can't find anyone that is stocking it. They should be able to help. The Continental on that list is an Audi homologated tyre, for the RS4/RS5, hence RO1 which is RS homologation.
As for Yasha's reasonable suggestion to buy a 275/30R20 from TireRack, they will fit okay but I think you will find these have a higher load rating, which means they may ride a bit stiff. The Michelin PA4 they are selling are Porsche spec, so likely for the 2 tonne Panamera, but you will find most 275/30R20 have a load rating of 97 rather than 94. Still, it is a viable option. Their price is pretty good for that tyre.
Yes, they were the first official factory option wheel for the A5/S5, meaning to order as second set of wheels to be provided with the car. Not as a primary wheel.Source: Audi.de
Ah, thanks very much, Glisse. So... 255/35 R19 which is even better (for snow) than the regular 19” (265/35 R19 wheel). This is starting to sound interesting.
Ah, thanks very much, Glisse. So... 255/35 R19 which is even better (for snow) than the regular 19” (265/35 R19 wheel). This is starting to sound interesting.
Yes, Audi AG like to use a 255 on an 8.5" wheel, 265 or 275 on a 9" wheel. They tend to be pretty strict on what constitutes a straight sidewall, but then in Germany the cars are potentially driven at sustained high speeds, and sidewall stress creates high temperatures which can cause a blow out. Undesirable at 150mph. But there is obviously some tolerance, given they fit both 245mm and 255mm width tyres on 8.5" wheels. But never 265 - not a a big deal, as stretching the tyre is more an issue than a bit too wide, which tends to cause more of a potential wear issue through crowning the contact patch and a slight loss of steering precision.
The Ramus design is sold as both an individual wheel, a set of 4 wheels, and also as a set of 4 mounted with winter tyres. They seemed to be fitted with Continental WinterContact 830P at the moment. When I was looking a couple of years back, pretty sure they were Pirelli SottoZero 3 (AO spec and V rated, TireRack seem to be selling an H rated SottoZero 3 which seems very strange). They are charging around $280 per tyre, so probably not worth exploring with Audi parts whether they bring in these as a set. But part number is Z8W0073229 AX1 for the set mounted with tyres.
I see the Continentals are 96V rated tyres, so the OP should ignore my comment on the NO (Porsche spec) PA4 in 275/30R20 that TireRack are selling as potentially having too stiff a sidewall for an S5. Still, TireRack seem to stock an unusual range of tyres. In the 255/35R20 that could go on an Audi 8.5J x 19" wheel, the Michelin PA4 they have are BMW homologated tyres, the SottoZero 3 have a strangely low speed rating, as does the SottoZero II generic version, whilst the high speed SottoZero II they are selling is homologated for Lamborghini. Their view on what fits doesn't always mean fit for purpose, so I'd have a careful look at the various codes before pressing the buy button. I'd also be asking for the manufacturing date of the tyre, too, as some of these more esoteric versions may have been hanging around for some time. Particularly important with Pirelli IMO.
By the way, in the original Euro prices, approximate parts costs for some of these wheels are:
Ramus design 8.5Jx19 - €385 each
Cavo 8.5Jx19 - €750
Rotor (BBS) 9Jx20 - €940
You can effectively do a straight conversion to US dollars, as whilst the Euro is worth more than the USD, the Euro price includes 20% tax. But the US prices are higher, as Audi AG do not subsidise parts / accessory costs to Audi of America, who in turn seem to mark these up to cover freight and handling costs. Yes, the Ramus design is good value for an (Audi) OEM quality wheel. Audi have a history of odd wheel pricing, which I suspect often bears little relationship to their cost pricing.
As a complete aside, when I was looking on the German site to see what tyres they were fitting to the Ramus option wheels, I noticed that Audi have also released a 9Jx20" option wheel for the B9 A5 series, meaning as per the Ramus, not a production fitted wheel but an accessory wheel bought at the time of purchase as a second set, or as a later purchase (these wheels do not have to go through the new certification testing process). These wheel, which are called Falx design, are about a third or so more than the Ramus design. But what may be interesting to some is the limitations that Audi specifies for the wheel. Specifically that a steering limiter needs to be applied (presume these mounted with a 265/30R20 will contact something on full steering lock, and they are not available for sale in bad road countries. Which gets abbreviated to "bad countries" further on, which I found most amusing. No idea where the official Audi list of bad road countries resides.
These details were listed under the A5 SB configuration section, as the S5 is still not able to be ordered in Germany, or many other markets. So whether the same need for a steering modification exists, I don't know. It may be that the S5 already has a restricted range / larger turning circle than an A5, but am too lazy to try and look this up. I would assume that if there is no difference, when ordered with the 9Jx20" "black optics" wheel with 265/30R20 tyres as per the OP, the factory must adjust the steering limits during the production process. Never knew this before.
Oh wow. Did you get 19x8.5 ET 35, is that the exact same as the OEM cavo wheels? Would you mind posting some pics of your car with them, like one of the entire side of the car and a couple of angled ones showing how they fit in the wells? This is my top pick so far for next winter...
By the way, I had a set of Replika wheels before (replicas of Audi 19" rotor wheels) and they didn't come in exactly the same fitment as OEM. After a few years the polished metal parts looked noticeably worn out (from salt maybe). I hope the gunmetal finish holds up better.
My top choice right now is the 19" version, but the offset is 35 vs. 32. I hope that's barely noticeable but I expect them to look slightly more recessed.
My top choice right now is the 19" version, but the offset is 35 vs. 32. I hope that's barely noticeable but I expect them to look slightly more recessed.
I'd personally prefer 18" for winters. The tires are cheaper and a little bit better for winter driving?
Have you considered spacers?
I'd personally prefer 18" for winters. The tires are cheaper and a little bit better for winter driving?
Have you considered spacers?
Yea, but I'm afraid of having issues with spacers and I want the car to look its best for those 4-5 months of the year, we have a long winter season. Also since most of the winter driving is done on pavement I prefer wider winter performance tires.
02-05-2019, 03:25 PM
