Johnny Bravo

This question would be equally at home in the Wheel forum, but due to the Quality of the responses found here - I decided to post in this forum.

Im in the Market for After market wheels, Ive basicaly set my sites on ssr brand wheels.

They are all really light.

Im looking between the Integrals , and the GT1's.
But I dont know what size to run?

Its comes down to 18 vrs 17.
They weight with in 1 pound of each outher.
18" Integrals = 18.2 pounds
17" Integrals = 17.07 pounds
18" gt1 = 18.7 pounds.

The tires I plan to use are the so2's, My personal fav.

So what would you get?
18 inch wheels, or 17 inch wheels.

The roads are not terible here, but they aren't the best. Im More into PERFOMRANCE and I really dont care for looks(Maybe a little).

Which wheel would give me the best handling possible 18" or 17"

things to consider:
the new A4s come with 17's too
the 330 has 17's.

Are bigger wheels, better? The RS4, M3 = 18".

would i get less perfomance from an 18 vrs 17.

And why did
Clark and James go for 17", Is there a reason, why not 18.

oh ya.. 17's are alot cheaper after tires.

KrautRice_A4 atl-atl

For overall performance with the size tires you can fit 17s are the best!

WClark

I am running Michlein Pilot Sport 225/40 and drive in New England. This combo weights a pound or 2 less than the stock 16" wheel/tire combo.

The 18" SSR seem to be up to taking what the 40 series tires cant absorb but I do avoid road hazards where I can. I find the Pilot Sports filled to around 35 pounds are more comfortable on the road than I thought they might be, although nowhere near as soft feeling as the stock sizes (I have the stock wheels mounted with Blizzak WS22 on the car now).

As for performance. The 17" Integral with a similar tire may perform better, I dont know, but I am sure the setup I got performs better than the stock 16" setup. Acceleration times are equal within my ability to measure and the responsiveness to input, cornering and braking are much better.

Perpetual Novice

So...does quattro help you stop in snow?

jussnb

I've been thinking about the same thing, and here's an answer for you.

In theory, 17's will give you better performance. If only because they're a little lighter. But 18's are still going to be excellent wheels - performance-wise they'll be almost identical to 17's, but they're going to look better on your car, IMO.

Chances are, you aren't going to race your car competitively, so the extra one or two tenths in the quarter mile that the 17's MIGHT give you won't really matter. Both 17's and 18's will handle like they're on rails, so it's really up to you as to how important a little extra straight-line speed is worth.

But this was the make-it/break-it point for me. I just ordered a set of 18x8 Oettinger RE's. I thought about a set of 17's, but I decided to go with 18's. Why? Simple really.

I plan to replace my A4 with an S4 Avant some day, and I know I will not be satisfied with 17's on an S4. Factory is 17", and it would be hard to justify putting another set of 17's on the car just to save a few pounds. An S4 will never look right with 17" aftermarket wheels.

And if for some strange reason I don't get an S4 Avant, I'm going to need/want to sell my Oettingers. Believe me, you're going to have a much easier time selling a set of 18's second-hand to an A4 owner than 17".

So...I guess for me the deciding factors were in this order:

1)economics
2)looks
2a)performance

Hope this helps in some way.

KrautRice_A4 atl-atl

Maybe it you downshift to slow instead of just braking.