19hole

I doubt that the roads in Cincinnati are worse than those in the Greater Boston area. I have has 30 and 35 aspect ratio tires on my last 5 cars (3 911s, and S5 and my current S7) and can say I have not have any issues with pothole damage to either tires or wheels. Although now that I say this, you know I will!!

CompleteNewbie

I'm in agreement with Mark; the 35's are prone to damage. Cincinnati roads will eat them up. Boston is no different either; the non-highway arterial roads will chew them up too. I've lived in both cities with first hand experience of bent rims on our last 4 Audi's

markcincinnati

Why the product planners and marketing types can't (or won't) offer wheel options that are within the standard wheel size makes no sense, unless of course, the thought is that a customer who wants to have the LOOK of the 21"'s would not pay an upcharge for a "more premium" 20". The S6 comes with 20" wheels and 40 series tires. If you like the looks of the car as it is typically shown in advertisements and in other marketing pieces, you ONLY are afforded the option of going with 21" wheels and 35 series tires. Pick a number, $700 (?) and offer standard wheels and optional standard-sized wheels for a premium. Folks like me -- and that may be the issue, there aren't enough takers -- who would pay +$700 for the premium wheels in the stock size would afford Audi another source of revenue. I will not take the car with the 35 series tires. I have nearly 3 dozen Audis, 3 BMWs, an Acura TL and an Infiniti over the years. Without exception, at least ONE wheel per car that had less than 40 series tires got bent and/or the tire blew. On my Acura TL which was the "Advance" package with SH-AWD, the thing came with 19" wheels and lower profile tires -- 3 wheels bent. Acura paid for 50% of the replacement cost under a customer goodwill heading, but not before they aligned the car and turned the disc brake rotors THREE times in an attempt to quell the constant vibration caused by three ever so slightly bent wheels.

My 2009 A4 Prestige with the sport package, I hit a pothole on I-71 S after dark, blew a tire, warped the wheel. 35 series tires.

Conversely, I've NEVER had the problem when the tires were either 40 or 45 series. Given the number of cars and wheels and tires (and lions and tigers and bears, oh my) my wife and I have had since 1977, there's a clue. If you've never blown a tire or bent a wheel, congratulations.

Another thing, the tires at those skinnier aspect ratios are louder, don't last as long and they typically cost more. Triple bonus! Last but not least, the larger wheel adds unsprung weight, which I will grant is only a couple of pounds per wheel, but "every little bit of extra weight" hurts.

I've asked Audi to offer the +sized wheel's appearance in base wheel configuration -- and the response is always polite but they never actually do anything for the reason -- I must conclude -- that they feel the take rate wouldn't justify it. So, guys like me who have spent a small fortune in wheel and tire fixes can go pound sand.

gk1

I'm in agreement with mark...35 series in the widths we can usually fit tend to lend themselves to damage.
If we could manage a 295/35 then maybe it wouldn't be an issue, but at 255/35 the sidewall is too short and stiff.
I've bent more than four wheels on my C7 S6 with 255/35R20 in less than 30k miles and not a single one on my identically weighted SQ5 with 255/40R21 at over 70k miles.
I went with a 265/35 on 9" HRE for the S6 this time around hoping that the 3mm of extra sidewall (and hopefully stronger wheel) help a little since I was unwilling to go down to 19's to get a 255/40 to fit.

markcincinnati

Wow 295 x 35!

Sign me up for that.