goethe6889

Been reading about this on the forum but never thought would happen. Never had more than 18" rims before, so in having the 20", as much as they look great, over the weekend, going 35 over a pothole I did not see, both my left set of front and rear tires got clobbered. Had to have them replaced. $1,000!! Yikes! Just food for thought when you decide on options. Luckily, the rims were not bent, and Audi service was great!

keithl

I feel for people in the mid-west and NE this year, they were showing how bad the roads got beat up with this winter. That said if I live in an area with potentially bad roads I never would have gotten 20 inch wheels. Probably would have found some nice 18s or maybe 19s at worst.

Maverick61

Yes, I learned my lesson with my previous vehicle (which only had 18" wheels but used low profile tires and had a number of blowouts) I eventually switched to 17" wheels in that car due to the blowouts and ride quality

When I looked at the A6, I calculated how much protection I would get from each tire with 18, 19 or 20 inch rims and immediately ruled out the 20" rims. The 19" (even though I did not like the Audi design and replaced them with nicer aftermarket wheels) were a good compromise and provided more protection than my old vehicle with 17" wheels

You do have to watch if you live in an area with not the best roads, especially those impacted by winter weather

u2jrmw

There were days in the summer that I lamented having the dealer swap the 20s off my CPO because I live in Iowa (the car came from CA). But I know I made the right decision.

Saying that, after driving my wife's minivan around on Blizzaks, I am tempted to get a set of winter rims and tires anyway.

Maverick61

Yea, I never used Blizzaks myself although I do have a winter wheel (Michelin xIce3 / tire setup on my A6). But recently sold my old AWD vehicle which my wife was using this winter, and since my daughter is using the 4WD vehicle she has used past winters, well she was left to her FWD Jetta. I ended up buying a cheap set of Blizzaks off of Craigslist and put them on her Jetta - and she just raves about the performance. No issues at all and we have a hill coming down our driveway she needs to get up to go to work before the crack of dawn. Before the Blizzaks she could not get up the hill with the Jetta unless she threw a bag of cat litter down on the snow / ice. Now, no problem at all - snow, ice do not bother her.

gatorguy7

I guess I really need to stop complaining about Orlando roads. Not only have I never had a flat due to a pothole but I don't think I've ever met anyone here who has. I always wonder what these potholes look like that can destroy rims and tires.

Maverick61

Gatorguy - well it all depends on how fast one is going, the angle you hit them at, etc.

But these are typical potholes in this area:







then of course sometimes you have hole roads that look like this:

DeerHunter

"Hole roads". That's funny, inadvertent or not.

looking@audi

I understand your frustration - I had to replace a tire on my 19" A7 rims last week.

You may want to look into claiming this under your insurance if your deductible is significantly less than the $1000 it cost you to replace the tires.

gatorguy7

Thanks for the pictures. I definitely understand why you guys hit so many potholes now. It is practically impossible to avoid them. I definitely understand about the angle and speed.