jheis

I recently acquired a second set of S4 wheels, so I now have 4 rear 8" S4 wheels.

I'm toying with the idea of running a "square" set up of 8" S4 rears all around on my '82. Anyone have any experience with running the 8" rears on the front of an early car.

OTR18WHEELER

...
I think some later years can run 8's on the front.
my 7's are right at the edge of the fender.

FredR

They will not fit on the front with a 245 section fitted- offset way too low at ET45 if my memory serves me correctly. You might just get them in with a 225 section tyre but why bother and that before you consider the NSR issue.

Regards

Fred

VT928

I ran 8" factory D90's with 245/45 16 on all four corners of my 1980 Euro S for years, and had no problems. The 8" D90 and the 8" S4 rim have the same 52.3mm offset. My car was and is still set up 15mm lower than stock both front and rear. As I understand it 245/45 16 tires are getting much harder to find and many people are going to 245/50 tires which are taller and could cause problems. My car currently runs 255/40 17 tires on wheels that are 9.5" wide 60mm offset with no problems. I did have to add a second rack bumper to prevent the tire from rubbing on the inside of the fender at full lock.

Paul

1980 Euro S Red/Blk Lea

FiveElements

Might work if the offset is 55mm or so.

jheis

ET is 52.3 on the 8" rears

Hilton

It will work - although the offset isn't great, you'll still have a couple of millimeters of negative scrub radius, which is what aids the car in pointing where you want rather than where the road surface/camber/holes want the car to go. Abolsute minimum front offset for a pre-86.5 car is 50mm, so anything higher than that is tolerable, although my experience is that ET65 still feels better.

For street use, I'd just stick with the correct front offset - but for track, I don't see any problem with it, although you'd have to make sure you didn't rub the guards with whichever tires you put on the 8" fronts.

FredR

I see the OP has an early model 928- apologies but missed that. Am I correct to understand the hub flange face sits further in on those models [by about 6 to 10mm either side]? The S4 rear wheel does not fit on the front of the S4 with a 245 section fitted, but the CS type wheels with 60mm offset and 245 section certainly do.

Fully support what Hilton says about killing the NSR albeit not sure I would want to drive without such be it on track or street, but definitely not on the street. I did try a front wheel with 52mm offset on the front- got rid of it quickly.

Regards

Fred

Nicole

A tire place once "rotated" the wheels on my first S4. The first bump left a nice mark on the front fender, down to the metal.

jheis

Sorry, I left that out. My '82 has S4 front suspension.

Hilton

Ah, my previous post assumed early suspension style. The later suspension I wouldn't go lower than ET55 for the fronts, preferably ET60.

Of course, you can always get two of the wheels machined down 7.7mm at the hub at your own risk

FredR

Then my original post stands- note that the nice Lady Nicole knows what she is talking about!

Trust me- it is not even marginal - Once used my rear 16 inch wheels on my late S4 to take the front load whilst I changed front tires - no idea why- they stood out like a "blind cobbler's thumb!".

Your options are very limited-

In 16 inch you can fit a Design 90 style with ET60 up front carrying a 245 section.

You could also go for a set of GTS wheels which can take a 235 section on the front and a 265 on the rears to give a bit more grip or you can do the job properly as I have and purchase a set of 3 piece 18 inch forged wheels with a 9.5 inch front ET68 and 10 inch rear with ET60 and then you do not screw up the NSR inherent in the design.

some of the Panamera wheels also have a half decent [ET60?] front offset.

When you do things like this you also have to brace the sway bar mounts and fit additional spacers in the rack, roll the front fenders, more front camber, less toe etc etc but worth it!

Regards

Fred

jheis

Thanks Fred.

I've got sets of Panamera wheels for both of my cars, but I've also got 4 sets of 16x7 inch flat dish wheels and just acquired a 2nd set of S4 flat dish wheels - just toying with the idea of using the 8 inchers all around - I think Nicole answered my question.

Brian (Iceman) used 8 inchers all around on the "Estate," but said he had to roll the fenders.

FredR

With the S4 suspension it is not vaguely close but with the early suspension that Brian presumably still runs on, I can well believe it is doable but I do not understand the geometry as I do with the S4. I believe the mounting flange is some 6 to 10mm inboard of the S4 and that opens up the possibility of using the S4 rear. No idea what it does to the NSR though-presumably not much.

Regards
Fred