Old Dog

You're welcome. I went with the hyper silver, the car is Quartz Grey, and yes, I am very happy with the results. VMR was very helpful in all aspects in choosing the right tire size.

Take care,

Garry

Old Dog

I don't disagree with what you are saying in the least ColoradoQuattro, other than to say, in our case with myself and my wife in the 55-60 age group we weren't looking for better performance. It was for the look. And as for them be heavier, true it may hurt acceleration, but if I arrive a second or two behind someone else, that's fine .

Your points again are well taken.

Old Dog

Say bradaudi, I was checkin' out Audizine and came across this thread that you may like. It shows Ibis White with many different wheels and finishes.

Enjoy!

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...nally-got-pics)

Garry

ColoradoQuattro

I'm not trying to talk anyone out of buying 19" or larger wheels. I think they look great. I'm quite happy with the 18" sport package wheels on my A4. I probably won't go any bigger because of the increased risk of wheel damage from potholes.

It just seems that people generally equate bigger wheels with better performance. Until I read the article in Car and Driver it didn't occur to me that wheel size would have much impact on acceleration.

Old Dog

I hear ya! I think Quebec is the pothole capital of Canada, lol. I learned my lesson a few years ago after hitting a pothole in another car with alloy wheels that were too low for winter driving. Damaged two rims/tires on the passenger side to the tune of $1,000. This is the main reason I stayed away from 19's.

Live and learn!

iflywoe

i got a set of hypersilver in 18's, they where nicely packed, they seem like a quality wheel only time will tell ( i have never gotten a wheel scratch i hope they last a long time) and if you need to get new tires, get them when you order the wheels, vmr got them from tire rack, did the mounting and balancing and only charge an extra 10 per tire for shipping.

i hope this helps i know its not a white car but it might help you.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...902&viewfull=1

bradaudi

Good idea - I like the idea of having VMR install the tires (good to hear they don't add a lot to the shipping costs).

I'm interested in putting Nitto Invo's (245/40ZR18) on the new wheels - Tirerack doesn't carry them - but I'm sure VMR could find them somewhere.

bradaudi

I finally placed the order.

I liked both the Hartmann's (252) and the VMR (v708 - GM) so it ended up coming down to availability. Both Hartmann and VMR were out of stock until June/July on these wheels. I spoke with a local tire shop and they were able to find a supplier with v708 in a 19x8.5. Also, because I was buying from the local guy, it only cost $100 shipping (didn't have to bring them all the way from VMR in California) and the price of the wheel was the same as direct from VMR ($270).

Only downside, was the centrebore size - the supplier only had a v708 with the smaller 57.1 vs the required 66.6. They agreed to machine the wheels to fit 66.6 and assured me this is not uncommon. Unfortunately, OEM centrecaps won't fit - but I guess I'll be o.k. with that.

My tire guys supplier has them coming in a container on May 13, they will machine them, and send them to my tire shop by May 20 to have the new tires installed. I'm going with Nitto Invo's 235/35/19.

So a couple weeks yet before I'll know how this is going to work out - but hoping for the best.

NickZag

I take it you went with the 19's by your tire slection which is good as they look sharp. I have 708's but in 19x9 and my tires are 255/35/19. It seems your wheels might be a little on the narrower side which is ok as I'm not sure what offset your working with and I honestly have no idea what the B8's is anyway so I'm not much help there lol. The 19's don't ride that harsh like people say and I'm happy with mine even with the sport suspension. They also perform decent on the track as the 708's are extremely light. Any lower then a xxx/30/xx sidewall and you start to really get into a rough ride and lose a bit of cornering smoothness. Unless your tracking your car constantly, your probably not going to see a difference in performance between the 18's and 19's (explained more at the bottom if you want to read).

You could have went a little wider with the tire though. I have 255/35/19 all the way around with no rubbing with a load or on track. I do realize that my wheels are .5" widder, but still you should be able to fit 255 no problems.

To everyone saying that the 18's are better then the 19's because of the C&D article, I ask this: What's the overall weight of the wheel plus the tire and are your increasing or decreasing the rotating mass and diameter? While the article has several truth's, you have to ask yourself what your trying to accomplish when changing your wheel and tire size. An increase of weight and diameter can have a negative effect on acceloration, but if your putting more rubber down then it's possible that the +'s our weigh the -'s. A pound or two increase and being able to run something widder for more grip and later braking in the corners might be worth the trade off depending how heavy or tall your going. The only real gain in increasing your wheel diameter is having smaller side wall for more predictable braking and initial turn in.

Lets be honest, most people just put a huge wheel on with a rubber band for a tire because it looks cool which is fine if thats what your going for, but if your going with a wheel to actually modify the car by decreasing weight and putting down more rubber, then 18's probably are a better option like the article says.

bradaudi

NickZag - thanks for the info. A couple questions for you - you mentioned you have the v708 in a 19 x 9. According to the VMR site - http://www.velocitymotoring.com/wheels_v708.html the v708 only come in either 18 x 8.5 or 19 x 8.5. I don't see a 9" option.

But - having said that, my tire shop said that they were told the wheels coming in for me were 19 x 9. After we checked the VMR site, we both decided this must have been a an error and they meant 8.5.

Because I'm going with a 235 tire, I am a bit concerned that on a 9" wide wheel, the wheel might stick out too much beyond the tire. I agree that a 255 might be a better width for a wider wheel.

By the way, how does the 255 fit? Does is stick out beyond the wheel well on the front at all? I wonder if a 255 (rear) and 235 (front) might be a good combo.