Best advice - SPEND TIME DOING THE RESEARCH.

The biggest problem is that there seems to be no real reviews about the outcome of a performance enhancement that are not biased. Most of what we read is written by those flogging their products to the market or having the monster budget behind them,and needing a good result to justify their expenditure.

So heres my unbiased approach to reporting the outcome of a wheel upgrade.

Firstly you could have almost any diameter wheel on your car these days. Whats practical seems to get lost in the looks department. We then have the love/hate scenario going on,the cars great to look at but not so good to drive on a daily basis.Remember for every action theres an equal and opposite reaction.Who was it that invented curbs ,not the guy that invented the wheel I hope.

Hence my choice for a set of TSW Energy 17 inch. Sort of a cheap mans Hamman Monoblock.

The decision on a set of Continental Sport Contacts is based off the fact that these cars are 4 wheel drives and to push the envelope in everyday driving rarely occurs.Quattro owners are one up already on everyone else as we have 4 paws,do you really need the softest compound? I believe in practicality after having wasted the dollars over the years.

So after wearing down the 16 inch Conti Sports(Factory tire here)I thought I'll go for the wheel upgrade.I spent the last few miles just pushing the car as hard as I could to get the front end to let loose(They told me that this happens first and they're right).I really wanted to see what happened when the tires were bald and how well the traction action worked.

So, one day I was sliding around and the next, sporting the new rims and tires with full tread.

The differences.

You wont appreciate this until you do it.Firstly the car has the factory sports suspension(businessmans idea of sporty,just a word, really). Secondly this is my first 4wd,and it's taken some time to get used to the unerving feeling of a car that I didn't expect to rollaround corners.

Two things learned as I have wanted to part with this car for awhile because of this feeling. Get stuck into that gas pedal when it starts to roll over and drive her through.

The upgrade of the 17's makes the sport suspension come into it's own.Immediately the rolly feeling disappears and so does the sense of wandering on curvy 70 to 80 mph roads.(I like flat attitude)The roads here,unlike the US or Europe are two lanes and really winding.There are minimal highways here so most of our driving is around corners day in and day out,country driving at good pace .The steering is more sensitive to driver input(all speeds),In fact this upgrade feels more like a spring rate or sway bar change.There has not been an adverse effect from this change.The ride quality is not compromised at all.

I have tried the old slide it around the tight corners on the way to work but the paws won't come loose.As they say the best single upgrade that one can make to a car is in the tire technology.I am extremely satisfied,this is quality for money and I would suggest 16 inch A4 cars try this before any other suspension mod. Ever wonder why the S4 has 17's,I don't!!!!!

The details.

The rims 17x7.5 offset 32mm.Try to keep the offset close to stock,makes life easier if you ever want to slam it.My next move,within reason.

The tires 225/45/17 Continental Sport Contacts.

I think that you have a few more mm's of rubber on the road. The track is only minimally wider.

Please drop me a line and we can discuss more.

Good Luck
Ben