kk's woW12

OK...what is the best loook once it is lowered Guys, the usual, age old question, don't know how my calipers look but am sure they are stock, maybe dowon the road brembos or some idiuanizedsuch, but i have enough on my plate at present,...how much more of a subjective,individualized,personal preference Q.(OUTDIDE OF SEX,ANYWAY) COULD YOU PUT IN ANY FORUM,AND NOT BE LAUGHED OFF THE ,AH, WHATEVERITIS,,,(just realizied i was shouting,,tut mir lied...quaint germanic,nordic/tribal, asking for your forgiveness for forgetting AGAIN, 3RD TIME TODAY...YES i know i'm yelling now and it pisses me off, this forgettin stuff) so don't you guys do it , EVER,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,! PLEASE? it'll be so much easier to go to sleep ,, and once you get used to it, well, you know,, so sleep well,, and oh, maybe post a few of your favs, in 18 und19, all seasons, polished, not ttoo blingo, et is 48... do i have to stick with that? would like 'em almost flush with the body tia,kk

skiracer

Look at these......<ul><li><a href="http://audiwheels.kjella.net/">Kjell's Wheel page here</a></li></ul>

kk's woW12

so changing the ET won't make problems with clearing brakes etc?

skiracer

No, as long as you don't go to a Higher ET. Lower ET (more offset) gives greater brake clearance.

kk's woW12

so, lower ET takes the wheels away from the car, good, good,, what does it mean when i hear people talk about certain wheels not 'clearing' their brakes... is that maybe the shape of the spokes, i.e., not enough curve in them to clear protruding parts or whatevers? thanks for the response, kk

skiracer

I'm not sure what brakes your W12 has on it, but I suspect that the majority of 18" or larger wheels made for Audis will fit.

DutchDoofus

ET35 will not only put too much load on the wheelbearings (yes i know, the A8's are strong but still).

But besides that it also screws up the geometry of the entire suspension. Brake-distance will increase. The car was NOT designed for this.

The absolute minimum ET for the D2 is 39. That's the max. it was designed to handle.
Better is it to go for ET43 or 42 with 9J wheels. Then they will look the same as ET35 8J wheels do, but the suspension-geometry will be within design-specs.

10000 people can now start telling me that they have ET35 or whatever under their D2's and say the car runs fine or even better but those people just have no idea.

People don't care about the technical side of the coin. All they want is looks and/or brake-caliper clearance.

Go into any *proper* German, Swiss or Dutch car-shop and tell them you want ET35 for your D2 and they will kick you out, stating they don't want any responsebility. Most of them will even refuse to sell you those kind of wheels or spacers to get to ET35. Why do you think that is...

A8's in Germany drive 125 to 155Mph (200-250Km/h) almost daily. The suspension etc. must therefore be very strong and it is. But it has it's design-limits.

Technically, ET42/43 with 9J wide rims is the best looking and "within specs" combo.

All i want to say is: start thinking about the technical consequences. And if you don't know that's okay, but then please ask.

pkrasusky

...I wonder if //S8's in the US do this too?

You know, theoretically and all.

and

figure I'll be the first of those 10000 people to respond here for ya

Not only have I run 40+k on my et35s putting my orig. wheel bearings now @ 127k and all's swell (and 80k on my UrS6's running same et35 putting orig. bearings @ 165k)... but... turn in is improved as are transitions.

Sorry, color me ignorant but I'm not buying it.

8-)

Would you be so kind tho as to edumucate me as to what exactly the "8J" and "9J" in the size mean, and what the differences are? I've always wondered - tx.



ps. increase braking distance? that one was rich

kk's woW12

good post dd, i am looking now and will go with your reco, and being in germany i am sure i will run into the guys at the shops that say the same, kk

DutchDoofus

8J and 9J mean that a rim is 8 inches or 9 inches wide.

If you have an offset of 48 and a 8J wheel, a 9J wheel will stick out half an inch on both sides.
(inch/2 = 12.7mm per side).

So if the wheel is wider to begin with and sticks out half an inch on both sides, you gain the exact same optical effect on the outside as putting in spacers that are 12.7mm wide when the ET was 48.

You do need wider tires ofcourse. 8J goes well with 245mm tires, 9J needs 255 to 275mm tires on a D2.


Now about the increased braking-distance:
A wheel is basically something on a stick. That stick is the axle and it protrudes and runs outside the bearing-housing.
The further the wheel is (a lower ET) from the bearing-housing (which must be seen as a horizontal rotation-point) the bigger the force (arm) is on the center of the wheel (center as in "wheel-with in xJ +/- the offset).
The "arm" forces become larger when the wheels sticks out more.

When braking, the wheel wants to tear away from the axle. The wheels actually want to flex out- and backwards. The strength of the axle prevents this up to a point. That "up to a point" is the design-limit. The axles and wheelbolts are strong enough to withstand the really enormous force the wheel puts on the axle and wheel-bolts etc when braking real hard from very high speed.
If you put the wheel outwards too far (a few mm can make a difference, than the tires will deform more because they are not "pointing straight ahead" anymore as much.
This causes grip-loss and therefore an increase in braking-distance.
Tests have shown that a 10mm spacer can cause 3 to 4 feet more braking-distance (was not done on a Audi A8 but another heavy luxury-sedan).
I find that quite schocking for something that seems so trivial.
I never knew this, or cared either, until i started digging in to this, talking to real professionals etc. (not your average "joe garage at the tire-shop" guy).

You don't have to believe me. That's not what i'm asking.
Believe the specialists in Germany and so on. In Germany and even more so in Switserland, they are very keen on these kind of modifications because they know the risks on a larger scale than just one car-owner's personal experience.

Audi designed the D2 with a minimal offset of 42/43. This can be seen in wheels that have been designed for, or homologated for the D2.

To elaborate:
In Holland, Belgium and much more so in Germany and Switserland, the rules are very strickt.
Cars 3 years of age or older are very thouroughly checked/inspected by technical specialists each year. It's mandatory and enforced by the governments.
They look for *anything* that can be a safety-hazard of some sort. Wheels that are too much outwards (outside manufacturers specs) are a reason to dis-allow a car to leave the garage.
ET35 is outside Audi's specs and is not allow here. In Germany the TUV sees to this, In Holland it's the RDW, in Switserland it's the Cantonal Verkehrsambt.

In my perception: in the USA these rules are much more relaxed. In fact, i've been to the USA more than once and each time i'm astounded by the very poor condition some cars are in. Some really are driving wrecks to European standards. Over here they would never ever be allowed on the roads.
But then again, the traffic is different. People don't drive as fast compared to Europe.
90 miles/h is standard here. In Germany 125 mph or much faster is a normal and allowed speed on the long stretches between the big cities. In fact, driving-students learn to drive that fast :-)
Yes you've read it correctly, they *learn* how to safely drive 125 mph. Germany is a petrolheads heaven :-)
You see all kind of cars do this but the big Mercs, Beemers and Audi's etc. drive so fast most of the time (in the zones where it's allowed).

With these kind of speeds you can image the stresses the components of the care are under at those moments. Moments i say... ?
They can last for hours. I drive 130mph for four hours straight on a weekly basis. It's normal in Germany. I need to cover 650km (400miles). I'm not gonna do that on a snails-pace (70mph...)

It's a different world over here in Europe. It's more hectic in traffic. Rules are very strict but they must be to force a measure of safety in the hornet's nest called daily traffic.
Ever been to Italy or France ???? They are the biggest idiots in traffic you have ever seen.

I find the traffic in the USA and Canada very relaxed compared to what i'm used to. You can take that as a compliment ;-)

Every time i get an American in a car over here, they sometimes are scared to death by all the cars flying by at high speeds on the freeway.
(Others just think it's cool ;-) )