genuine rs4's
- Thread starter rhyd4
- Start date
is this correct or is she talking porky's and they may well be aftermarket.
Skipton01
Admin Team
Nope!
The RS4 style wheels fitted to the A2 are not the pukka RS4 wheel.
The genuine article was actually an 18" wheel anyway and 8" in width as you rightly say. Also, the A4 (and hence the S4 and RS4) has always had a PCD of 112mm, as opposed to the 100mm of the A2.
The wheels advertised are not genuine RS4 wheels if they have ever been fitted to an A2. For proof, look for a part number in between the bolt holes (under the cap) which is raised and cast into the wheel.. Bet you don't find one!
Even though they are not genuine wheels, don;t be put off as the proper ones had a habit of bending, even more so than the A2 type. So much was with a problem, that Audi agreed to change the wheels every time they got bent, for the entire life of the vehicle, as long as it was with the original buyer.
Cheers,
Mike
The RS4 style wheels fitted to the A2 are not the pukka RS4 wheel.
The genuine article was actually an 18" wheel anyway and 8" in width as you rightly say. Also, the A4 (and hence the S4 and RS4) has always had a PCD of 112mm, as opposed to the 100mm of the A2.
The wheels advertised are not genuine RS4 wheels if they have ever been fitted to an A2. For proof, look for a part number in between the bolt holes (under the cap) which is raised and cast into the wheel.. Bet you don't find one!
Even though they are not genuine wheels, don;t be put off as the proper ones had a habit of bending, even more so than the A2 type. So much was with a problem, that Audi agreed to change the wheels every time they got bent, for the entire life of the vehicle, as long as it was with the original buyer.
Cheers,
Mike
lyndonbuck
Member
Interesting story about these wheels - the aluminium multi link suspension on the S4/RS4 isn't very strong - any largish impact could shear off control arms etc - so Audi (apparently) allowed a poorer quality wheel to be fitted as a way of limiting damage to the suspension - its a kind of sacrificial or "weakest link" in the system, hence the promise to always change the wheels for the original owner - its quite a famous piece of rubbish engineering that I use as an example of poor design to my students. Long live Audi! German engineering at its finest! They do look nice though, I've got a set myself.
I'm not sure if this is a good example of poor design. Like most designs there are compromises to be made and the story I heard was that Audi would prefer the wheel to distort rather than shatter - if you happen to run over something on the autobahn at 155mph for example.
Audi have the design capability to manufacture wheels with any properties they wish so they could have easily made running changes to material specs, heat treatment or even wall thickness if desired. They are certainly smart enough not to continue paying out warranty and policy claims on what you suggest are 'shoddy' wheels without good reason.
I don't think Audi are alone in their thinking - a friends BMW 325 has egg shaped BBS alloys in spite of the cushioning effect of 60% aspect ratio tyres - and his local tyre fitter says it's a common problem
Cheers Spike
Audi have the design capability to manufacture wheels with any properties they wish so they could have easily made running changes to material specs, heat treatment or even wall thickness if desired. They are certainly smart enough not to continue paying out warranty and policy claims on what you suggest are 'shoddy' wheels without good reason.
I don't think Audi are alone in their thinking - a friends BMW 325 has egg shaped BBS alloys in spite of the cushioning effect of 60% aspect ratio tyres - and his local tyre fitter says it's a common problem
Cheers Spike
lyndonbuck
Member
Spike I bow to your superior engineering knowledge
rhyd4
Member
maybe not genuine as they are 18's but A2 sport alloys. the ones i am looking at are 38 offset also, so these are the A2 sport alloys.
ive still got the TT alloys but have not got around to getting tyres for these as im a bit dubius, i understand about the quality of the rs4 lookers also but, my aftermarket alloys on my almera gti are bent from hitting a pothole, i dont think any alloy has a chance on the roads these days with elastic bands for tyres.
ive still got the TT alloys but have not got around to getting tyres for these as im a bit dubius, i understand about the quality of the rs4 lookers also but, my aftermarket alloys on my almera gti are bent from hitting a pothole, i dont think any alloy has a chance on the roads these days with elastic bands for tyres.
lyndonbuck
Member
Maybe we should ask Spike's tyre fitter what he thinks, he's a clever guy