bigger wheels for 52plate A4 Avant TDi V6 Tiptronic

[afox101]

considering replacing my standard 16inch alloys with 19inch alloys and putting set of lowering springs on (drop by 45mm)...does anyone know if this will affect the drive or auto gearbox change and if so what can be done about it?

[Anzee]

Im sure if you put them sets of wheel on the car will feel more smoother , handle the corners quite nicely... But be WARNED it will have an effect on your fuel consumption bigger tyres = more fuel being consumed.. Your Gearbox will feel smoothier no doubt abut that

But im not entirely sure abut the springs. Got to ask someone else abut that

[afox101]

Would you care to explain.
i take it you dont agree with last comment? one of the reasons i asked the question was that i had a bmw 528 tiptronic a few yrs ago, which had factory fitted alpina 18's and the car kept revving too hard before changing gear (if it changed at all) and all BMW kept saying was it was the wheels! The problem seemed to iron it self out eventually but im reluctant to go through all that again.

[sean red i]

while back put bigger wheels on and lowered a car (bmw) it looked good handled better but ride was sacraficed. more road noise off lower profile tyres than i was used to and you could feel the smallest stone on the road. if you are used to comfort etc beware.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

considering replacing my standard 16inch alloys with 19inch alloys

Why 19s - wanna join the Chav brigade 259? Any of the OEM 17s or 18s would be more suitable!


and putting set of lowering springs on (drop by 45mm)...does anyone know if this will affect the drive or auto gearbox change and if so what can be done about it?

A 45mm suspension drop will seriously **** up your steering geometery / wheel alignment. You would then need to find a specialist VAG tuner, someone like RSD, to completely re-do all the base settings - could be costly!

[Teutonic_Tamer]

:newbie: Im sure if you put them sets of wheel on the car will feel more smoother,

Hairy gonads! What a load of tosh!


:newbie: handle the corners quite nicely

Maybe, if decent boots are fitted too!


:newbie: ... But be WARNED it will have an effect on your fuel consumption bigger tyres = more fuel being consumed

Hmmmm, maybe if you went for a substantially wider tyre, aerodynamic drag, and maybe increased rolling resistance from stickier tyres, but not really a big issue!


:newbie: Your Gearbox will feel smoothier no doubt abut that

Another pair of hairy gonads! :***: exactly will happen then??


:newbie: But im not entirely sure abut the springs. Got to ask someone else abut that

Aye, and anyone with any sense will say noooooooooo!

[Teutonic_Tamer]

i take it you dont agree with last comment? one of the reasons i asked the question was that i had a bmw 528 tiptronic a few yrs ago, which had factory fitted alpina 18's and the car kept revving too hard before changing gear (if it changed at all) and all BMW kept saying was it was the wheels! The problem seemed to iron it self out eventually but im reluctant to go through all that again.

The BMW ******* must have thought you were a mushroom!

[Teutonic_Tamer]

the fitting of larger wheels can totaly screw up your cars handling causing light steering feel, tram lining ect.

Tramlining issues usually only come into play if you increase the tyre width. The more usual suspect though, is caused from not using the correct offsets, or usng spacers!


Once again wrong in the large part , larger wheels - lower profile tyres = same rolling diameter within 2.7 percent if you do your home work therefore having no effect on fuel consumption, the only point i can see to be made here is if you go wider, which of course you will;) therefore producing more drag but it would be so minimal i doubt you would even notice

If the OP had low rolling resistance "energy" type of tyres, and then went for super sticky high performance tyres, there would be a measureable worsening in fuel consumption, but only by about 5%.


Total poppy **** i will repeat larger wheels lower profile tyres resulting in the same rolling diameter how is this going to affect your gear box?

That is presuming the OP actually does the proper calculations! Whatever size he fits, though, it won't affect the quality of the changes.


Fitting sport springs (lowering) along with larger wheels can ruin your cars ride if not done correctly the lowering of a vehicle will alter your cars suspensions geometry greatly showing up any weaknesses that your cars shocks/ bushes /ball-joints may have although not felt now any problem will be highlighted by the above.

Abso-fcukin-lootley !

[Teutonic_Tamer]

P M S L Why don`t you just quote EVERYTHING ive just written :buttkick:

LOL, I think we must have both been hacking away on our keyboards at the same time! Great minds think alike, heh.

BTW, are you on DSL, or hamster powered dial-up?

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Oi, go and re-edit the quotes in post #13 so I can respond without to much f@nnying about! :D


Err did i not get my post in first :arms:

Yeah, that's what I said! My 56k takes about 10minutes to upload at this time of day! :aargh4:

[Eshrules]

LOL you two are going to send this forum into dis-array LOL

back to the matter in hand (oo-er) fitting large wheels, to the size of 18" is going to have a negative effect on the handling of your car, unless fitted by proffessionals and a suspension kit fitted, also by proffessionals.

for me.... 16/17" are plenty big enough on a golf. i think the bushes wear out quickly enough on these mk4s without putting more undue pressure on them, which as has been said, will be the resulting effect of poor lowering.

basically..... id say go for a nice set of 16" oem/replica fitments. i hate this current trend of pinching the biggest possible rim of an a4/a6 and sticking them on a golf without so much as a thought as to what it could do to your golf. these aren't corsas or any other generic little boy racer car, they are precision enginereed, as such, everything you do to it, has to be done with careful calculation.... be wary of fast mods..... they take 10 mins to do, a lifetime to fix :beerchug:

[Eshrules]

just realised - this is an a4 LOL so why bther changing the wheels?? and id defintley not drop it by 45 mm lol

[Teutonic_Tamer]

A mushroom is a nasty growth of fungi , you do know that don`t you?

Kept in the dark, and fed on Shi . . .

[skymaster]

On my old V5 golf I lowered the suspension (Koni sports Kit) and fitted 17 inch rims to replace the standard 16s. The only real advantage this gave was looks. It made the car look really lovely! The handling in corners was great! If the roads surface was super smooth. And lets face it, in the UK these days where you gonna get that.

On pot holed roads and the usual patchwork of filled in holes and semi resurfaced rubbish roads it was not so nice. Also had to get the steering geo done as well after the kit went on.

When I PX'd the golf the suspension made zilcho difference to it';s value. I would not do this again to a car, especially an A4 Quattro. The CV joints wore out pretty fast after as well. Having spent 80,000 miles resting at a certain angle while spinning at mega speeds they didn't take to kindly to the car being lowered. Best best is to save the money and buy the car you really want in the first place.

[afox101]

if i do still wish to go ahead with the 19's (mainly cos ve already bought them!) and lowering can you suggest how i can do it properly? I understand the ride will be firmer, feeling more of the road etc with the wider, lower profiles but what can i do to still lower vehicle but not upset geometry. Ive bought a set of springs from GSF but they could be easily returned if its not the correct way to lower the car?

[skymaster]

If you did lower it you must use a matched set of springs and shocks. Springs alone on this kind of drop will be awful.

There are some combinations on the market that I hear can be good. The Koni FSD's are meant to be an amazing shock absorber and can be used with standard springs (no lowering achieved). And also Eibach do good springs. The wrong set up will simply ruin the ride quality of your car. Who ever installs the new suspension will need to 4 wheel align the car after and make the adjustments.

On My golf I fitted the Koni sports kit from Awesome GTI. It cost around £300 I seem to remember. The shocks were great but the springs in the kit were pretty much just OK, nothing special at all. Maybe have a chat with someone at a tuning house like Awesome or AMD and get their opinions. There will be nothing more annoying than spending 100s just to find out that you actually preffered it on standard suspension

[Eshrules]

im totally against the idea of lowering an A4 45mm onto 19" wheels. not one part of that sounds "good" to me..... you won't just "feel" the road more as has been explained, you're going to increase the stresses and pressures placed on all suspension bushes and bearings. 45mm is quite a harsh drop, especially for an A4 as their not a naturally "high" car. why not save the money and just 'upgrade' the rims, rather than 'upsize' them... spend the surplus on a nice in dash dvd unit or some tasteful window tints......:beerchug:

[skymaster]

I agree! Or spend the cash on a remap! That will put a bigger smile on your face! Put the wheels onto ebay and send the springs back. An A4 is not a car I would ever think about lowering to be honest.

[Eshrules]

I agree! Or spend the cash on a remap! That will put a bigger smile on your face! Put the wheels onto ebay and send the springs back. An A4 is not a car I would ever think about lowering to be honest.

as above, i dont see the point, they're plenty low enough as they stand.... money well spent on some decent tyres and a decent remap would indeed bring a much bigger smile to one's face :biglaugh: