# 18 x 8.5 or 18 x 9.5 VMR V702?



## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

*18x8.5 VMR V702*

Hey dudes! Ive been lurking on here for a long time now, but I decided I should start becoming more active on here. 

Anyways, here is the deal. This is my A3:

























Then, I plasti dipped the whole wheel black to get rid of the ugly silver lip. I then proceeded to take a picture of it with a potato:

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So that is how she sits right now. Unfortunately I bought the car lowered already, so I am not 100% positive on what suspension I am sitting on. So here is where I look to this community for help.

This weekend I am planning on picking up some new wheels. I have spent a ton of time looking into which wheels I want to run, and have decided on the VMR V702. I know that 18x8.5 will fit no problem at all. I have seen a few members on here running an 18 x 9.5, particularly here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6880055-VMR-v702-s

However, he is on air suspension, and I am not. At the moment, I don't plan on going a TON lower, but coilovers will be the next step in getting my stance right. I really want to run an aggressive wheel. I also like having a nice beefy tire. I was planning on picking up an air suspension setup this weekend, but decided that I can't make up my mind on what I want to do, so for now, I just plan on doing the wheels and tires until I can make up my mind on which route to go. 

Basically, if I were to run the 18 x 9.5, would I be able to fit a nice beefy tire on there (somewhere in the 235/40/18 ballpark), or am I stuck to stretching? As you can see right now, my car is low, but not crazy low. Or, if you were me, would you just play it safe and stick to the 18 x 8.5 and be able to safely run a nice big tire? The offsets I would be running on either wheel would be a +45. Judging by the earlier mentioned thread, it looks like the 18 x 9.5 wheel still fits inside the wheelwells, and being that I am not laying on the ground, should be able to still get a decent sized tire and run that setup. My other thought was that if the 18 x 9.5 just won't work for what I am doing, I could run the 8.5's and then make my own spacers to take up any gap there may be until the wheels are flush. 

As you can clearly tell by my post, my mind is all over the place on this. haha. I appreciate any and all info, and I will definitely keep you guys posted on the progress. I don't mind doing a little bit of work to make things fit if I need to. My last project was nothing BUT making things fit that weren't meant to fit:

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Anyways, thanks dudes!




UPDATE! Check the new posts!


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## tp.wannabe.s3 (May 21, 2010)

wat offset?

and u gona have to run 225 or 215

235 gona shread ur fender


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## skatevolcom2006 (Apr 18, 2008)

I got your PM but I think it may work better if I post on here.

The 9.5's are much more concave but are much harder to pull off. You have to have camber plates up front to run them because the offset has to be low. +35 just barely clears the strut, so without camber they would poke considerably. I have front camber plates and they are maxed out just to get the wheel inside the fender, I would not be able to do that with out them. 

225's would be your better choice in tires, I am personally running 215's only because I wanted to tuck all around.

Since you are not looking to go with an aggessive stance nor bags this would be my recommendation to you;

Pick up the 18x8.5's in +45 offset and run a 225/40 tire on them with the possibility of maybe running 5mm spacers on them to get them flush depending on your clearance.


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## DG7Projects (Jul 12, 2011)

rad_rob said:


> __
> Image uploading. Refresh page to view


Is that a RAD Ducati tail with a Yamaha MT-03 headlight?


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

skatevolcom2006 said:


> I got your PM but I think it may work better if I post on here.
> 
> The 9.5's are much more concave but are much harder to pull off. You have to have camber plates up front to run them because the offset has to be low. +35 just barely clears the strut, so without camber they would poke considerably. I have front camber plates and they are maxed out just to get the wheel inside the fender, I would not be able to do that with out them.
> 
> ...


I actually just now saw this post. haha. I ended up ordering the 18x8.5's with a +45 offset. I decided I should just play it safe since its my daily. I can always get crazy later if I wanted to. Thanks a ton for the info though, I really appreciate it!

Ill keep this thread updated once the wheels are done and on the car.


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

DG7Projects said:


> Is that a RAD Ducati tail with a Yamaha MT-03 headlight?



You have a very keen eye my friend. haha. I had that tail custom made for me by Radical and they did a great job on it. No joke, it took almost 6 months to get it once I paid for it because they make everything to order, but it was definitely worth the wait. Then the subframe was custom made, as well as the downtubes I made. Once all the was done, I machined my own subframe mounts to be able to put this tail on. The idea was not to grind anything on the frame and make everything a complete bolt on. Once the stock tail was gone, I had to machine my own tank mounts to hold the rear of the tank in place.

As for the headlight, it is an MT-03 unit. The brackets that came with it were hideous and the MT-03 has a different rake than my bike does. So I designed and machined my own custom headlight brackets, and machined them with an angled slot on the bottom mounting holes to allow me to fine tune the angle of the beam. Then I installed a Koso gauge and made pretty much my own wiring harness for most of the bike. It still has a little ways to go, but its just minor details now. 

So I guess I could have simply said, yes, you are correct. haha


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

So this weekend I got my tires mounted on the new wheels, and the wheels mounted on the car. In my excitement, I completely forgot about my TPMS sensors, so Ill be headed back down this weekend to have them installed. :facepalm: Anyways, super stoked with the new look, and now realize that its time for coilovers to get the stance a little bit lower. I have a very slight rubbing issue in the rear, but I am pretty sure its just rubbing on the fender liner. Anyways, on to the pics!



















































































Once the weather clears up, Im going to detail the whole car, then do a proper photoshoot. I have a few other plans in mind as well, so I think Ill just keep this thread going as my "build" thread. haha


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## skatevolcom2006 (Apr 18, 2008)

Looks good! 

Any rubbing on the rear bumper tab?


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

skatevolcom2006 said:


> Looks good!
> 
> Any rubbing on the rear bumper tab?


Thanks! :thumbup:

I do have a slight rubbing issue, but it sounds like its only coming out of the passenger side on the rear. You think its the bumper tabs? I haven't had time to look into it, but I may look into it tonight if I dont get stuck at work. Other than the slight rub in the rear, so far everything seems good. I just need to go a little lower now. haha


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## BeeAlk (Jun 3, 2013)

I swear everyone's A3 rubs on the rear passenger side.

Looks good


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## nelius (Jun 4, 2011)

skatevolcom2006 said:


> Looks good!
> 
> Any rubbing on the rear bumper tab?


Ugh that bumper tab... I tried shaving it down a little but i wanted to make sure it'll still hold my rear bumper into place. Have any of you guys found an alternative to that? I rub mostly on the passenger side running a 18x8 et. 43 with a 225/40 tire.


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

nelius said:


> Ugh that bumper tab... I tried shaving it down a little but i wanted to make sure it'll still hold my rear bumper into place. Have any of you guys found an alternative to that? I rub mostly on the passenger side running a 18x8 et. 43 with a 225/40 tire.


Once I get a better look at it tonight Ill let you know what solution I come up with if that is the problem. Sounds like it is though. haha


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## skatevolcom2006 (Apr 18, 2008)

rad_rob said:


> Thanks! :thumbup:
> 
> I do have a slight rubbing issue, but it sounds like its only coming out of the passenger side on the rear. You think its the bumper tabs? I haven't had time to look into it, but I may look into it tonight if I dont get stuck at work. Other than the slight rub in the rear, so far everything seems good. I just need to go a little lower now. haha


Yeah it will be the bumper tab then, I shaved mine completely and haven't had any issue with my bumper coming loose. When I air out it pushes on it just a little bit, pushes it out maybe an 1/8 inch. You could get away with leaving it intact and just shaving a bit off the inside. Its a common issue if you haven't noticed, haha.


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## VMRWheels (Aug 11, 2009)

*Looks great!*



rad_rob said:


> So this weekend I got my tires mounted on the new wheels, and the wheels mounted on the car. In my excitement, I completely forgot about my TPMS sensors, so Ill be headed back down this weekend to have them installed. :facepalm: Anyways, super stoked with the new look, and now realize that its time for coilovers to get the stance a little bit lower. I have a very slight rubbing issue in the rear, but I am pretty sure its just rubbing on the fender liner. Anyways, on to the pics!
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/NEKuLzU.jpg[IMG]
> [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/kjI9AQU.jpg[IMG]
> ...


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## DG7Projects (Jul 12, 2011)

rad_rob said:


> You have a very keen eye my friend. haha. I had that tail custom made for me by Radical and they did a great job on it. No joke, it took almost 6 months to get it once I paid for it because they make everything to order, but it was definitely worth the wait. Then the subframe was custom made, as well as the downtubes I made. Once all the was done, I machined my own subframe mounts to be able to put this tail on. The idea was not to grind anything on the frame and make everything a complete bolt on. Once the stock tail was gone, I had to machine my own tank mounts to hold the rear of the tank in place.
> 
> As for the headlight, it is an MT-03 unit. The brackets that came with it were hideous and the MT-03 has a different rake than my bike does. So I designed and machined my own custom headlight brackets, and machined them with an angled slot on the bottom mounting holes to allow me to fine tune the angle of the beam. Then I installed a Koso gauge and made pretty much my own wiring harness for most of the bike. It still has a little ways to go, but its just minor details now.
> 
> So I guess I could have simply said, yes, you are correct. haha


Right on my man. You have very good taste in cars, bikes, and wheels. :beer::beer::beer:

I was gonna build a RAD bike with my old Ducati S4 but ended up selling it to a guy who then got rear ended 2 weeks later, rendering my old bike totaled. 

Here's a few pics of my last build: 





And the day the new owner picker her up: 



Next bike will probably be another built Monster, but a 796 this time. That or a Brutale 800. 

:thumbup:


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## rad_rob (Mar 6, 2013)

DG7Projects said:


> Right on my man. You have very good taste in cars, bikes, and wheels. :beer::beer::beer:
> 
> I was gonna build a RAD bike with my old Ducati S4 but ended up selling it to a guy who then got rear ended 2 weeks later, rendering my old bike totaled.
> 
> ...



Nice! That Brutale is a gorgeous bike!


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## 2006_A3_2.0T (Jan 11, 2013)

nice bikes and wheels.. last pic FTW


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