OK, I've done my research (both here and at Audizine), asked my questions and now I want to make a decision. I'm currently rolling on 16" stock rims with stock suspension on my 2005 1.8TQM. I want to upgrade to either 17" or 18" rims. However, I cannot lower my car at this point as it will void my suspension warranty. I have inquired at four different Audi dealerships here in Boston and they all say the same thing - unless I get the work done at an Audi dealership which will cost around $1500-$2000 to change it to the sport suspension. (vs. $1000 if I get it done elsewhere). Therefore I have taken the option of changing the suspension off the table until my factory warranty expires in 2009.

So with that in mind, I can either:

1) stick with 16s" for 2 years and get both my 18" wheel upgrade and suspension change at the same time (will cost approx. $1550 + $1000 for suspension = $2550 total)

2) upgrade to 17s" with stock suspension so the larger sidewall (compared to 18s) doesn't accentuate the sidewall gap (will cost approx. $1300)

3) upgrade to 18"s and make my car look like a Subaru Outback with the yawning wheelwell gap (will cost approx. $1500)

I added a poll to this to quantify any responses. Pics of my car are below, along with a pic of a car (KGB's) with 18s and stock suspension. I couldn't find pics of a car with 17"s and stock suspension (must not be very common ).

I'm leaning towards option #3 personally but the overwhelming majority of people on my earlier thread and this other thread on Audizine have suggested that it would look totally **** if I got 18s" with stock suspension. I'd hate to spend $1500 to still have my car look **** - maybe I should just stick with 16"s so at least it looks "ordinary" until I can get sport suspension?

Keep in mind that one of the constraints is that lowering the car/changing the suspension at this point is not an option as I want to keep my suspension warranty until the factory warranty expires in 2009.

I would appreciate any feedback. Cheers for your help!

Pic of my car with 16"s and stock suspension


Pic of KGB's car with 18"s and stock suspension

 

Fewthings...

If you're going to buck-up for an upgradedsuspension, you might want to do some Bilstien shocks/H&R springs (or coilovers if you've got the bankroll) while you're at it. Might be more worthwile than upgrading from the stock tothe factory sport suspension, especially if you're paying for the install. Otherwise, youmight want something better insix months and wish youhad done it right the first time. Just a thought...

From the last picture you provided, the 18s on the stock suspension doesn't look THAT bad (you sure thats not the sport pkg software in that picture?) so if you're planning on getting 18's at some point, just go for it now. If you pick a wheel that doesn't have much of lip, it will help minimize the monster-truck look.

Keep your 16's, use them for snow tires. Buy yourself a nice set of summer performance rubber for your new wheels, then you can swap them off and on at your leisure when the seasons change.

And screw the Audi suspension warrenty. If you're getting something new (like Bilstiens) they'll have their own warrenty on the parts. I suppose it would nullify your coverage of any problems with control arms or other steering linkage components....but if you want to make an omlette, you gotta break a few eggs

 

Yep, the non-Audi quote I provided for $1000 was for Eibach or H&R springs that would lower the car by about 1 1/2" 1 3/4". No point getting coilovers as I'm not planning to track the car.

I should mention that the reason I'm paranoid about warranties and things is because I've had a warranty voided on me in the past - for an Alfa Romeo GTV that blew its engine when it was less than 2 years old. The Alfa dealer (in Sydney) was charging me $16000 to replace the engine alleging that I had not maintained it properly (i.e. not topped the oil up). I paid $2000 for a lawyer to sue and another $2000 for an independent forensic specialist to examine the engine to determine cause of damage. This report determined that lack of oil was NOT the cause of damage, it was because a piston came loose and knocked a hole in the side of the engine. I informed Alfa of this (doubtless they already knew and were trying to pull a fast one) and they changed their story, saying that it was due to over-revving the engine and that the warranty was still void. Then they offered to settle - we would split the bill 50/50. I managed to negotiate 60/40 so they paid $9000+ and I paid $6000+.

So with my legal and field tech bills I ended up spending $10000+, and I didn't have my car for 5 months while this was happening. That's the reason for the paranoia - don't want that **** to ever happen to me again as it's not fun.

 

Any other comments?

 

anything but your stock 16" wheels is an improvement. i would go with 17"s, it is cheap and it will look okay......

 

Go with 18's for sure maybe even 19's if you find nice ones with a great deal. B6's can get away with a biggersize due to the bigger wheel well, and it still looks good with 19's. Hell Ive seen one with 20's and it looked good! And im not talkin about low baller all chrometo youdubs! For instance, look at the pic below, it has 19's


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Im leaning towards what these guys are saying, go for some 18s or 19s now, it will definitely give your car a better look, and hopefully you wont be a total monster truck. I am always impatient and cant have parts sitting around, I always put them on right away, so that could just be my mindset. Have you chipped your car already? You might want to do that and then do the wheels and suspension in 2 years...

 

I can't do 19"s, my wheels would get wrecked here in Massachusetts unfortunately.

You know, I think this whole "monster truck" thing is a bit of an exaggeration. I'm in a few other (non-auto) forums and just to get a different perspective I posted the pic of the Audi with stock suspension and 18" wheels and asked people to find out what was wrong with it. I got a total of 123 responses and only one person noticed that the wheelwell gap might have been too big (I confess I didn't notice it myself at first, but at Audizine they all seem to like the slammed to the ground look). Granted, they're not Audi experts but then again neither are about 90% of the driving populace out there. Besides, I'm getting the wheel upgrade to make myself happy first and foremost, though opinions are always useful (otherwise I wouldn't have posted this thread).

Basically, my criteria, in order of importance, is:

performance - 40%
comfort - 30%
cosmetics - 30%

I think I might leave the suspension alone for now and just upgrade to 18s - I like how they look and I don't really care about the wheelwell gap, and I can't be arsed voiding my warranty as well as ride comfort just to do what everyone else is doing. Thanks to everyone for their useful feedback.

 

just go for B6 S4 wheels, and lower your car 1.5 inches or so, or some new RS4 wheels would look very nice.......