A6 Avant winter wheels

[iori]

Can anyone help me identify which 16 inch rims will fit my car?
A6 Avant Quattro 3.0L petrol early 2002 (on a 51 plate).

I want to fit winter tyres onto the car, having been caught by the snow again in North Wales and only just getting about on my summer slippers, and winter's only just getting started.
I would like to fit a narower winter tyre with a slighty higher profile than the 235 45 17 that I'm running on at the moment.

On the inside of the petrol filler flap it does mention 205 55 R16 M+S so there are 16's that will fit.

As for the tyre I was thinking of using one of these 3

VREDESTEIN WINTRAC EXTREME
VREDESTEIN SNOWTRAC 3
AVON ICE TOURING

I would love to hear your coments

[The Mk3 man]

Your standard wheels are 7.5x17, PCD 5x112, ET45. I've fitted a set of 7x17, PCD 5x112, ET35 wheels with 205/55/16 winter tryes and they fit perfectly. Have a look at this website http://www.willtheyfit.com/ to see how different wheel and tyre sizes will fit your car. If you pick too high an offset the wheel may foul the brakes and/or the tyres may foul the suspension. There is also a chance that even an Audi 5x112 ET45 wheel could still foul your brake caliper depending on the design of the spokes of the wheel. Ideally I would suggest you buy from someone local to you so you can trial fit a front wheel and satisfy yourself that it fits OK.

The grip on offer from winter tyres has to be tried to be believed. I have the same car as you - a 3.0 quattro avant. Last winter on summer tyres it gripped and went well enough, although the ESP did kick in to keep the back end in check. Problem was stopping - quattro gives you no advantage whatsoever when it comes to stopping. The winter tyres have been a revelation. The ESP hasn't kicked in once, despite trying to provoke it in an empty car park, and the ABS has only kicked in once when I had to make an emergency stop on an untreated road. The only thing that has caused me any concern with this years record snowfall has been a lack of ground clearance to follow in the tracks of chelsea tractors!

If you want to get winter tyres start phoning around now. They are in very short supply, and the prices have more than doubled in the last couple of weeks.

[iori]

The Mk3 man

Thank you very much for your informative reply, with hands on experience. :)
As these things tend to do your post has thrown up some more questions for me.

When sizing a wheel I take it that 7.5 x17 refer to the wheel width and diameter in inches (your 7x17 for the winter wheel should have read 7 x 16 ? or I'm getting it totally wrong - very good chance of that btw!)
PCD 112 refers to 5 wheel bolts on a 112mm diameter circle.
ET45 and ET35 I assume refer to the offset of the wheel in reference to the hub/wheel mating surface - what points are measured to give you the offset value.

I plan to do a trawl of my local Vehicular Dismantlers to look for some likely candidates off an Audi or VW - so knowing what to measure would be an advantage.

[The Mk3 man]

Your assumptions about the fitment figures are all correct. For a better description of offset read this - http://www.driverstechnology.co.uk/wheel-offset.htm As an example, your wheel is ET45. If you fit the same size of wheel with ET35 it will sit 10mm further out ino the arch whereas if you fit the same size wheel with ET55 it will sit further in the arch by 10mm. Jack your car up at the front and feel around the back of the tyre - you may be surprised by how little clearance there is between the tyre and the suspension.

Finding a 5x112 fitment is easy enough - all Audi A4, A6, A8, mk2 TT, mk2 A3, mk5 Golf, all 5 stud VW Passats, mk2 Skoda Octavia, all Skoda Superb, newer SEATs too. The offset and the design of the face of the wheel will make the difference between the wheel fitting or fouling. If the wheel has a cover that conceals the bolts you'll find the offset under that cover. If the wheel has exposed bolts you'll find the offset stamped on the back of one of the spokes. For what it's worth, when I was looking for a set of 16s for mine I tried a wheel off a colleagues 1999 A4 SE - it was ET45 and fitted perfectly. Ironically I had sold a set of identical wheels two years ago from my last A6!

On the topic of winter tyres, any winter tyre will be night and day compared to a summer tyre. If you were in the market for winter tyres a month ago you could afford to be choosy, but now I think you may struggle to find any in stock (beware of online sellers who list a selection but may not hold stock in the UK) so if you find any at a prce you're happy with then snap them up quick!

[iori]

Thanks once again Mk3 man.:beerchug:

I think I'm off to find some wheels in the next week.

Found an interesting resourse while looking around following your last post.

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg4.html

Some fascinating reading there.

[leosayer]

Problem was stopping - quattro gives you no advantage whatsoever when it comes to stopping.

I beg to differ. I find quattro makes stopping quite easy, provided you stay off the brakes and use engine braking instead.