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A8L Staggered Low ET 21" Help and Suggestions please!
Hey guys, I"m often a reader here but have not posted much.
I have a D4 A8L and finally ready to get wheels. I have my eyes set on a set of staggered BBS LM for the A8L.
Staggered setup and a great deal, however the offset has me abit scared.
The staggered deviation is under 1%, so it should be fine, but not sure about fitment. I hope to be flush but no poke.
Tires can be swapped, but will the wheels fit?
Really appreciate any guidance I can get on this topic.
Ok, I'm going from memory as I'm too lazy to research.... but I think the stock wheels are somewhere in the mid 30's in offset. (35mm-37mm). So, I'm gonna say going with 13mm offset is going to push (almost an inch) the wheels too far out.
You might be able to machine a little off of the inside of the flange to reduce the offset, but then that could lead into other fitment issues. It might be better to just acquire a set of wheels that are the correct fitment and go from there.
Also, a 265/40 front tire should really be a 265/35 or 275/35 so you might be going too tall with a 40 series tire. the 40 series tire is .4 inch taller. That's .2 of an inch above the axle and of course .2 below the axle. I'm not sure how .2 of an inch closer to the fender will work on these cars. Certainly the taller tire combined with the extreme offset would be an issue with clearance.....
Staggered is a performance subtract on most any (gas) Audi save the R8. Why they are all square to start with. They want to push in front at the limit given their pig heavy front end and the drivetrain layout. Motor completely in front of front axle center line in the Quattro set up is the issue. As in, the wide ones actually go on the front, not the back. Citroen limo style. Then everyone laughs of course if you stagger it technically better. Or, for those of us who know, we laugh when it has the rear stagger some just can't avoid imitating from other German or other rides. Net, it is not a BMW or a Merc....with the motors farther back compared to axle line and body better balanced. BTW, some specific specific proofs are either go back to old first gen Quattro films and watch Michele Mouton or others push it routinely all the way on asphalt. No stagger and 400 to 500HP as they wind it out.. Or recent Golf R (and maybe S3) in optional fitments with same pig heavy front and push issue (though transverse motor). Factory there DOES stagger, and sure enough in FRONT for wider. Only about 10mm of extra tire in front IIRC, presumably to try to not have the "laugh" appearance factor.
I've run 265/40/21 with stock wheels on the front and back with no issues. The front was close, you dont have much room up there. Use that as a baseline
MP4.2+6.0: I've been researching everything high and low about D4's, and as usual, your posts are very informative. As long as this one is about wheels, do you have any pictures of your S8 with the 20" wheels? I am not sure which ones they are. I do like some of the S8 wheels, but I really like the 10 spoke (twin fives) that are on the facelift A8L sport models. I would also like a 20" wheel to make it more comfortable.
I found your post with the Vermont Brown interior, I passed up at least one 2015 with very similar options to your car not knowing it was Vermont Brown, it looks like the carbon fiber is super nice, but I do wish it was on the center console also.