Replica rims on Q5
03-11-2014, 02:33 PM
#1
AudiWorld Newcomer
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Replica rims on Q5
I have a 2013 Q5 2.0T Premium which I love. The only thing I don't like are the standard 18" OEM rims. I thought I could live with it but every time I walk back to my car, I think they look cheap and too small. (I used to have a TT in the UK which had 5 spoke RS 19" rims and looked sweeeeet)
I am thinking of replacing with a set of 20" rims. I like the Audi OEM 20" but I think I want to do a Kardashian (no, really) and murder it out with black gloss rims.
A couple of questions about replica rims...
- Does it invalidate my Audi USA warranty?
- Does it affect the quattro all wheel drive system? I live in LA but "it's good to know it's there" when it comes to rain and snow
- Will the TPMS still work?
I am thinking of replacing with a set of 20" rims. I like the Audi OEM 20" but I think I want to do a Kardashian (no, really) and murder it out with black gloss rims.
A couple of questions about replica rims...
- Does it invalidate my Audi USA warranty?
- Does it affect the quattro all wheel drive system? I live in LA but "it's good to know it's there" when it comes to rain and snow
- Will the TPMS still work?
03-12-2014, 12:49 PM
#7
AudiWorld Senior Member
Trending Topics
03-12-2014, 03:11 PM
#8
AudiWorld Super User
Welcome to America. You should know our federal and state warranty statutes say that your warranty stays in effect until and unless the warrantor (Audi) can actually PROVE that what you did, broke their car. So putting on different wheels and tires, which are replaceable items, cannot void your warranty unless Audi can prove they damaged the car somehow.
The TPMS system uses the ABS wheel-rotation-speed sensors, as long as they can sense your wheels are turning, that should be unaffected. I'd expect there's some point at which a third-party wheel might not be seen properly by the sensors, which could cause all sorts of problems, but the wheel manufacturer should know about that.
One thing that probably will be affected is your speedometer and any function ties into that. Unless the diameter of the mounted wheel and tire is exactly the same as it was on the original? The speedometer will need to be recalibrated. That happens on all cars, if your wheel change also means an overall diameter change. If you drop to lower profile tires to compensate, that can work, but that's also going to change the ride and handling of the car. Assuming you can drop far enough to compensate.
Since Audi makes 20" wheels, it shouldn't matter that you use third-party parts, they should be able to do the speedo calibration although I'd bet that means Programming for a fee.
The TPMS system uses the ABS wheel-rotation-speed sensors, as long as they can sense your wheels are turning, that should be unaffected. I'd expect there's some point at which a third-party wheel might not be seen properly by the sensors, which could cause all sorts of problems, but the wheel manufacturer should know about that.
One thing that probably will be affected is your speedometer and any function ties into that. Unless the diameter of the mounted wheel and tire is exactly the same as it was on the original? The speedometer will need to be recalibrated. That happens on all cars, if your wheel change also means an overall diameter change. If you drop to lower profile tires to compensate, that can work, but that's also going to change the ride and handling of the car. Assuming you can drop far enough to compensate.
Since Audi makes 20" wheels, it shouldn't matter that you use third-party parts, they should be able to do the speedo calibration although I'd bet that means Programming for a fee.
03-12-2014, 07:35 PM
#9
AudiWorld Super User
While there is a VCDS mpg mod I've done for compensating for varying wheel/tire circumferences, I've not not found any VCDS mod or heard of a dealer doing anything that can change the factory speedometer or odometer calibration. Probably due to legal issues.
03-12-2014, 07:44 PM
#10
AudiWorld Super User
Nor is there any reason to if one sticks to the OEM sizes, or at least the tire diameter of the OEM sizes. There's more than enough sizes to choose from which do not warrant any type of programming change.
