treyh

Hey all, I'm in a new-to-me Q5, and I've found that big tires stuffed under cars are great for ripping around the mountains. Does anyone know what the tallest tire I can fit in a '14 Q5 TDI is?

I've got 20" S-Line wheels mounted now, but I'm thinking of sizing down to 18" or 19" and a larger tire ratio.

Thanks!

mswanson65

I have been using 255/50 19 on my 2015 Q5 TDI. I think a good compromise with performance and cost. I find them used as take offs from BMW X5

Bob Petruska

You need to watch the front suspension control arm to tire clearance. Just go look in your front wheel well, you most likely will hardly get your finger between the control arm and tire. Thus you need to carefully
determine your max tire width and wheel offset or your tires will rub.

Adjuster

On the stock wheels, and offset, about a 29" total diameter tire will fit fine.

Go much larger, and your upper control arm clearance will be tight.

Go much smaller, say 27" and your speedo will be showing 95mph when your going 80ish. (This is fun around town, as it "lowers" the gearing in your Q5, and makes it VERY fast off the line, and more responsive, but your fuel mileage will suffer some at highway speeds, since you are turning more RPM for the same actual vehicle speed.)

Use a GPS on your phone to monitor real speeds, the "Stock" tires for the 20's are 29" give or take a few tenths of an inch. (mm's.) And it indicates slightly faster than actual speed, so you could in theory, go up to about a 29.5" tire, and get more accurate speedo readings, and perhaps even better fuel economy on long runs. (And if you use a fuel saving LT tire, on a smaller rim size, say 18" with LTX tires that are designed for highway mileage? Might get the best fuel economy ever, while still being LT rated, so some off road ability.)

Then again, LTX tires are not designed for more than dirt roads.

uncleiggy

I've got this sticker on the driver's door, this is a 2009 2.0T Q5 and I'm on 18" wheels (235/60/18) and it helps big time for terrible roads and some off roading: