18 inch alloys on an audi a3 sportback -

frank gallagher

Will it give me much hassle, and will I be sacrificing comfort for looks ?

Matthewjohn

It definitely would effect the ride of the car but its up to you which is more important.

bazz26

Yep they will effect comfort and ride as most likely they will be fitted with thin elastic band tyres. They will be even worse on bad roads and you could be replacing tyres regularly.

Supergurrier

Depends on profile mainly anything below 40 will be a major pain in the backside

JoeA3

Should be fine really, but unless the car is the sport (ambition) spec it will sit too high, up, won't look right unless you also get it lowered a tad. I've had 18's on a Golf GTD and GTI before it which is essentially the same car underneath and the ride is fine. The tyres aren't that low in profile - 225/40 R18 I think.

Supergurrier

225/40/18 are about the sweet spot, lower profile are more expensive and more hassle than they are worth

RedorDead

Dont mind the uneducated replies above the car runs fine on 18's - no real noticeable difference in comfort. Sports suspension makes much more of a difference.

I ran this car for 6 months and it was fine. Enough rubber above the wheel too.

tossy

!8's will be fine if done right i.e OEM wheels and good tyres. Suspension ride height is the main concern afterwards. No offence to the poster above but the A3 above looks like a 4x4, it could be justthe angle of pic though.

lafors

tossy wrote: »

!8's will be fine if done right i.e OEM wheels and good tyres. Suspension ride height is the main concern afterwards. No offence to the poster above but the A3 above looks like a 4x4, it could be justthe angle of pic though.

It does look very high!
I've 18's (OEMs with Good Year Eagle F1s on them) on the wifes A3 sportback. Its s-line so suspension is very stiff already and with 18's is an even harder ride. I'd say don't do it if you've got s-line/sport suspension on it.

Donnelly117

I put up a lot of milage on a 3 door A3 with 18's. It was very loud, harsh over bumps and the tires rub on the arches over 80% of bumps. Looked bad ass tho :pac:

ian87

My mother has an a3 with oem 18 inch wheels and the s line suspension. I didn't notice much difference between it and my old se a3 with 17s. In fact my non m sport BMW with 17s rides harder than her car and thats without run flats.

Esel

bazz26 wrote: »

Yep they will effect comfort and ride as most likely they will be fitted with thin elastic band tyres. They will be even worse on bad roads and you could be replacing tyres and/or wheels regularly.

FYP

tossy

Esel wrote: »

FYP

You obviously have no real world experience of running decent quality 18" wheels and tyres ...

I'm running 18" BBS rims on my S3 and did so on my Bora too for over 2 years and never once have i had to replace a tyre or wheel due to bad roads/low profile,and i drive on some bad roads. The key is not to drive like a flute and don't engage in the false economy of crap tyres

mfceiling

RedorDead wrote: »

Dont mind the uneducated replies above the car runs fine on 18's - no real noticeable difference in comfort. Sports suspension makes much more of a difference.

I ran this car for 6 months and it was fine. Enough rubber above the wheel too.

Off topic but....does anyone know the name of these rims and where they can be bought reasonably? Would like to get them for the wife's A4 estate...would improve the look of it immeasurably.

tossy

The are Audi RS3 alloys,widely available as a replica (unfortunately)

bazz26

tossy wrote: »

You obviously have no real world experience of running decent quality 18" wheels and tyres ...

I'm running 18" BBS rims on my S3 and did so on my Bora too for over 2 years and never once have i had to replace a tyre or wheel due to bad roads/low profile,and i drive on some bad roads. The key is not to drive like a flute and don't engage in the false economy of crap tyres

I've been running 18" OEM rims on my car for the last 2 years and I've had to replace one tyre due to damage from a poor section of road. They are Vredesteins too at €190 a corner too. So maybe not to you but it does happen.

tossy

bazz26 wrote: »

I've been running 18" OEM rims on my car for the last 2 years and I've had to replace one tyre due to damage from a poor section of road. They are Vredesteins too at €190 a corner too. So maybe not to you but it does happen.

Of course it does,i'm not naive but if you were to believe the (steel rims,plastic hub caps) posts here you would think as soon as you go to 18's you will be constantly in quickfit and ordering replacement wheels. Its such an Irish response.

bazz26

tossy wrote: »

Of course it does,i'm not naive but if you were to believe the (steel rims,plastic hub caps) posts here you would think as soon as you go to 18's you will be constantly in quickfit and ordering replacement wheels. Its such an Irish response.

True that.