A7_TDI

Killing time as I await the arrival of my A7… I was talking with the 'regional' tire shop here in the NW (no prizes for guessing the firm's name) about winter wheels/tires and they suggested 17" rims if they'd fit on the A7 – tires would be cheaper and have more sidewall flex for rough winter roads. But does anyone know if this is possible?

BTW, I did search forums for "winter 17" and also for "A7 17" but saw no obvious hits. There's an active thread on the C7 section with a comment about 17" on the A6 https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...ight=winter+17

So I checked Audi USA’s site and saw following as wheel on base ($43k!!!) A6…
17" 10-spoke design wheels with 225/55 all-season tires... So would that OEM option work on the A7 too? Thanks in advance for your answers!

DennisMitchell

This might help:

http://microsites.audiusa.com/ngw/13...2_Brochure.pdf

tenspeed

I was thinking about starting a thread about the TDI's, rotor sizes, caliper types and snow tires. I am considering the TDI engine option and since I drive on snow tires around four months per year, I too was interested in what the smallest sized rim would fit. It may be possible but not advisable. Generally, the 17" rims are narrower (8") than the 18's (8.5" - 9") so you could be compromising the handling and load charistics.

The A6/A7 TDI uses the smaller sized rotors that are found on the A6 2.0L (13.6 inch - 345mm). The TDI has a different caliper than the one found on the A6 3.0L. I couldn't get a good look at one when I was at the dealership. All the A6 2.0L cars at the dealership were Premium Plus and had the 18" wheels.

Since the base A6 has the 17" rims, I would think that the 17" rims would fit on the A6 and A7 TDI's. If you do try a 17" rim, mount it on a front wheel for clearance check before installing tires.

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!7" rims that are supposed to fit A7
Motegi MR118

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...=Sport+Package

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...1#post24388963
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A7 rotor sizes
https://www.audiworld.com/wp-content...S7RS7_tech.pdf

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A7 wheel sizes
https://www.audiworld.com/wp-content...S7RS7_tech.pdf

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A6 wheel sizes
https://www.audiworld.com/wp-content...ifications.pdf

looking@audi

I think I'd rather keep my A7 in the garage and walk rather than use 17" rims.

A7_TDI

Thanks tenspeed! Will definitely try that in the fall... Good to know 17" is at least a possibility and if not I can always go with 18".

tenspeed

You're welcome - glad to share what I have found.

Please update about which wheels fit.

uberwgn

I'll suggest two other places to check:

Gary at Tire Rack seems to know this stuff. He was able to identify 16" wheels for our C6 A6 that will clear the calipers. (There are very few 16" wheels that work.)


If you open your Owner's Manual and head to the tire inflation page, you'll see the various size wheels available around the globe. The Owner's Manual for our C6 A6 car shows the following sizes fitted as OE: 16", 17", 18" and 19".

Phoenix1

I have the 19" sport package on my 2014 and for my snow setup downsized to 18" Enkei Rajin wheels from Tire Rack with Michelin Xi3 Ice tires delivered for $1500. Very happy with decision - still had good looking rim/tire combo with excellent snow/ice traction - but dry performance does suffer.

Not sure if going down to 17's would save that much $?

Dave

tenspeed

Thanks for the info Dave.

Assuming the cost of the wheels remained the same and buying the same brand tire in the 17" size would result in a $184 savings for a set of four.

A smaller sized tire is less expensive and there is a wider tire selection but less than $200 spread over a couple of years of snow tire use may not justify the decrease in handling and increase in braking distance.