# Let's talk rims and tires for the MK2 TT (OFFICIAL WHEEL/TIRE/STANCE THREAD)



## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

I talked to my friend that works at one of the major aftermarket wheel manufacturers today. He was trying to help a MK2 TT owner sort through an issue he had with his tires fitting strangely on his TT. He asked me to share with this guy whom we'll call Marvin (name changed to protect the innocent!) about my recent trials and tribulations concerning getting the correct rim/tire combo for this car. Marvin is frustrated and rightly so, that a set of Yoko Advans he bought are rubbing. I sent him this long email based on my recent learnings, and experiences and thought...why not start an information thread that we can all chime in on to help one and another avoid the costly mistakes that your old man Jason here had to go through. You'll see more in Webisode #7 which will be a wheel/tire and proper stance webisode. 

Anyhow, I hope this is helpful and if i have misstated something i'm not offended if someone wants to set it straight...


Marvin-
First off, congrats on your new 19"x9" et40 wheels. Now onto my horror story that is now nothing more than a distant memory. I just got a set of 3-piece rims on my TTS in 19x9.5" I made a big mistake and bought a brand new set of Goodyear f1's in 265/35/19. I then proceeded to drive from San Diego to Las Vegas and the damn things were rubbing constantly. Long story short, even though I figured in theory that a 255 or in my case a 265 would fit ideally I was wrong. I never understood the differences in "shoulder profile". Some tires like my Goodyears and your Yoko's have a very square shoulder which can in some cases balloon out and cause serious rubbing issues. Other tires like Falkens and Toyo's have a more beveled shoulder which can ride up inside the fender and avoid this problem. 

So what did I do about it? I sold my 265/35/19's and got a set of 245/35/19's. What really matters for traction is "width section" I researched those on tire rack and found that the 245 Goodyears were nearly identical to what our cars came with stock. I ended up taking a $100- loss on the 265's and sold them with only 600 miles on them. The new Goodyear 245's I got are killer. Bottom line, is that I should have done my homework on shoulder profiles and width sections as well as sidewall heights, beforehand. Lesson learned.

The offset you got should be spot on, so if you want to do this right, craigslist your tires before you put too many more miles on them so you can get top dollar. Then go with a slightly smaller Yoko width section like a 245. Remember not all 255/35/19 tires are the same. It sucks, but I paid to learn that lesson myself first hand only a month ago.

The next thing I did to resolve this issue is go to an aftermarket wheel and alignment shop and have them shave off the ill placed obtrusive tab at the rear wheel where the bumper meets the rear quarter panel. Thats what is rubbing I can almost guarantee it. If not your other options (of which I did all of these suggestions BTW) is to cut away the bottom 3/4" of fender liner. Its made of a felt material that can be easily cut with a sharp Xacto knife. Now, if you are rubbing in the front, you need to roll the front fender from the 10:00 position all the way to the 2:00 position and cut away a marginal amount of the felt liner there as well. 

My goal was for this car to be lowered on wider rims and still behave as stock even with an aggressive offset. If you follow these steps, you should be rub free in no time. Dialing your stance and wheels/tires is never a simple thing. You are altering the factory set up and that means some small tweaks must be made on your side. These changes should cause no harm to your car, and should be reasonable in terms of cost. I am at 2,000 miles on my new set up with all the above mentioned work and the car is rub free and still loves to be hucked into corners!


Jason


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## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

According to those in the know, within the industry the below table is a pretty safe way to buy tires. Again, this is researched information but I have not personally had experience with ALL of the below mentioned tires to either confirm or deny fitments. 

OVERSIZED (square shoulder tires)
-Dunlop
-Goodyear
-Michelin
-Yokohama
-BF Goodrich
-Continental
-Bridgestone

MEDIUM (beveled shoulder tires)
-Falken
-Toyo
-Pirelli
-Nitto
-Hankook


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

Ok, here's my 2cents as far as my personal experience goes.... 

For those considering going low with coils and playing with staggered wheels you should get some good info between me and Alva...

As far as me, i have Koni coilovers valved by Stasis with adjustable dampening to help improve ride since it gets rougher with a drop and running low profile tires.... My setup is 19" DPE's with 8.5" wide front wheels on 225/35/19 Nitto 555 extreme tires which have good grip from what I've seen so far and a 10" wide rear wheels on 245/35/19 Falcon 452's... The Nitto's are more expensive but I've been told they wear down slower and have better grip than the Falcon's... 

As far as rubbing goes im good in the front, but in the rear i do rub under heavy load, heavy acceleration and hard turns but thats because i've completely dumped the car to the point that im tucking tire... I already know that all I have to do is change to 235/35/19's in order to rid of the rubbing because its only making contact at the very inner tip of the fender, im just waiting til these tires wear out to do so...

As far as thickness of tire, Im happy because its thin enough for the low profile sport look i want and also not so harsh on the ride... I have my father's A5 dumped on coils tucking tires as well on 20" DPE's 11" wide all around (because of quattro) and tire-wise he's on 275/30/20's. The ride isn't bad but it's noticeably louder than my tires thats for sure... 

I hope this info helps the cause:thumbup:


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## TT412GO (May 14, 2009)

Thanks to Jason (as usual) for stepping forward to share his modding experiences (both positive and negative). 

Having also switched out the rims, tires, and coilovers, I went through the same research path that Jason describes (and also didn't get it quite right the first time). 

The starting point is OEM wheels which weigh about 28-29 lbs, are 19" X 9" with a 52 mm offset and mount 255/35 tires. 

Although the "optimal" tire width size for a 9" wheel width is 255, for a 8.5" it's 245, and so on, you can go up or down a size or two with variable effects on looks, weight, performance, and handling (e.g. the superstretched look that's popular in some mags). 

For the track, weight is critical and most would opt for 18" rims which are lighter and offer slightly better acceleration - however I think the 19"s look the best - but regardless of 18, 19, or 20" - less weight is always better. The problem is that lightweight wheels are often forged rather than cast and are much more expensive. Lightweight 19 X 9 wheels include Advan, Neez, HRE, and Champion (through Stasis). One weight compromise is to go to 8.5" wheels (BBS, Volk) with 245 tires or even 8" wheels from O.Z. But in the end less rubber = less traction for starting, stopping, and turning. How much these differences matter on the street is another question. 

Next is the question of offset. Lower numbers move the wheel out. For example, the 40mm offset described above moves the wheel out 12 mm = 0.5 inch. Most people who want a more aggressive stance think about moving the wheel out (lowering the offset) by 5-10 mm - often done with spacers. This is usually not a problem UNLESS you also want to lower the car. Most lowering springs or coilovers have a minimum drop of 1" - which in my case (Eibach coilovers with 47 mm offset HRE's) resulted in some rubbing in the front in hard cornering at the ride height I wanted. The solution was to rasie the ride height 5 mm - no big deal, but still not exactly the stance I was shooting for. 

You will also note that in OEM form, the fender-tire gap in the front is greater than in the rear - if you want equal gap, you will need to lower the front about 5 mm more than the rear. This gives the stance a slight tilt (I personally like it because I think it makes the car look a bit more aggressive, but again, tastes may vary), but does raise those clearance issues in the front because the wheels have to turn. I am not qualified to even mention issues like camber and toe-in, but be sure to have your wheels aligned after completing your adjustments.


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## NeverOEM (Dec 17, 2007)

I dont feel like doing a lot of number crunching right now, but I can tell you that if you want a wide stance, you can easily house 9.5" at all four corners. If you want a nice flush fit, look for et45 up front, and et40 out back. If you're low enough to make tire size important, 245s are probably best. Even 255s may be possible if you're not too low. I'm running 235s for some stretch, but that's purely a preference thing.

Wide wheels, however, can effect turn in response if they're up front. Now the simple response is do staggered sizes. But the problem with that is that the Haldex system our car uses tends to freak out with different rotational masses front and back. That is only what I've heard, but I opted to go with staggered offsets rather than staggered widths and I think I made it out okay.

In reality though, unless you have a high horsepower build, you will not likely need anything more than 235s. I guarantee you that Jason isn't spinning his 245s through anything more than first gear, if at all. So grip will only matter when it comes to cornering, and the post above mine has plenty of information on that so I won't be redundant.

There's the stance side of it :thumbup:


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## Stevelev (Mar 4, 2004)

Great info here ! How about pics of the stances including fender to ground height ?


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

Stevelev said:


> Great info here ! How about pics of the stances including fender to ground height ?


Ask and you shall receive 

*First off... Coilovers on the stock 19's but not dumped all the way down*










































*Now on the 19" DPE's staggered & dumped*

































I recently dropped the rear even more by completely pulling all the adjustable pieces and left it only on the springs to even out with the front:thumbup:


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## Stevelev (Mar 4, 2004)

^ Very nice. Can you provide the before and/or after ground to fender heights ? I'm quite famliar with the A4/S4/RS4 ground to fender heights and wheel/ tire specs that may or may not work - no clue about the TT though ...

TIA !


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## alva8193 (May 13, 2009)

great thread once again Jason, ill have a big write up for this hopefully really shortly. My friend is a distributor for Rotiform and to help get publicity im going to wear his 19x10 MIA's et 35 which will be KILLER! but im sure its going to rub like no other


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## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

alva8193 said:


> great thread once again Jason, ill have a big write up for this hopefully really shortly. My friend is a distributor for Rotiform and to help get publicity im going to wear his 19x10 MIA's et 35 which will be KILLER! but im sure its going to rub like no other


Oh, that sounds sick! I made a video for Rotiform a couple months ago with my buddies B8 A4 Avant on 19" MIAs. Thats a good wheel, and a very cool company with the right mindset.

Here is a before and after of a set of 265s on a "test fitment" rim at the HRE factory, and also here is the car with the 245's and a tiny bit of stretch . The whole wheel webisode is going to be #7 so you guys will get to see the new shoes then, but I love the way this thing sits now. Holla.


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## cootscoot5 (Jul 19, 2002)

DgonzTT said:


> I have my father's A5 dumped on coils tucking tires as well on 20" DPE's 11" wide all around (because of quattro) and tire-wise he's on 275/30/20's. The ride isn't bad but it's noticeably louder than my tires thats for sure...
> 
> I hope this info helps the cause:thumbup:


Pictures of the A5 Please!


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

cootscoot5 said:


> Pictures of the A5 Please!


will take some this weekend:thumbup:


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## jamminman (Mar 21, 2010)

DgonzTT,

Did you roll your fenders at all and trim that ridiculous prominent seam between the rear panel and rear quarter that encroaches into the rear wheel well?


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

jamminman said:


> DgonzTT,
> 
> Did you roll your fenders at all and trim that ridiculous prominent seam between the rear panel and rear quarter that encroaches into the rear wheel well?


Did the trimming but not the fender rolling because the back bumper makes up so much of the rear wheel well so it'd look rediculous with about half of the upper arch rolled only


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## jamminman (Mar 21, 2010)

DgonzTT said:


> Did the trimming but not the fender rolling because the back bumper makes up so much of the rear wheel well so it'd look rediculous with about half of the upper arch rolled only


Your original 19x9's had 255/35-19 with a et52 offset. Did these rub any with the coilovers? What's the offset on the DPE's?


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## Fissues (Nov 6, 2008)

Thanks Jason!
I was wondering why my GY F1 255/35/19's were rubbing in the rear. After I went with the GY's it started, no rub with the factory Contis.


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

jamminman said:


> Your original 19x9's had 255/35-19 with a et52 offset. Did these rub any with the coilovers? What's the offset on the DPE's?


DPE doesnt give out their offsets... and my stocks never rubbed actually, only when i threw on spacers in the rear


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## iMod.:R (Nov 14, 2005)

BTW, the car is looking amazing Danny! Good stuff dude:thumbup:


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## DgonzTT (Oct 8, 2009)

iModTTS said:


> BTW, the car is looking amazing Danny! Good stuff dude:thumbup:


Thanx bro.. she's still a work in progress... I need to pay off a few things so i can start getting to work on changing the rear valance & muffler & continue with the performance mods (DSG flash, hpfp, ect):thumbup:


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