I plan to get some aftermarket wheels in the near future, but the 5 spoke “Rotor” wheel is actually one of my favorite OEM wheels so I wanted to find a way to make them a little more exciting to hold me over. The issue with the stock Audi TTRS wheels is that they’re 19×9 ET52, an offset has them sunk in way too much to look aggressive. I’ve ran spacers in the past on my track-focused S4, so I tested out a number of sizes on my TTRS to figure out what the ideal amount of spacer was to balance looks and functionality. For those looking to do something similar, you’ll need the following:
- 5×112 spacers made for 57.1mm centerbore (hubcentric)
- 10mm here: http://amzn.to/2nMtHrt
- 8mm here: http://amzn.to/2nXF8NI
- 5mm here: http://amzn.to/2mZUt0G
- Extended 14×1.5 lug bolts – 35mm for 5mm-8mm spacers, 40mm for 10mm spacers
- 35mm here: http://amzn.to/2ovdXrk
- 40mm here: http://amzn.to/2nXI2C1
- A dremel to trim the rear tab (pics of tab to trim here)
Before: No Spacers
As you can see, total lame sauce at factory offsets of ET52 all around. The wheels hide inside of the fenders, and there is a ton of room for them to be pushed out. A wider track can help with handling, but also it just looks a ton better. How wide can we go?
5MM Spacers All Around
I started pretty conservative with 5mm spacers all around – no rubbing issues at all, but maybe still a little to be desired. This is a pretty good option for someone that wants a little more aggressive offset, but doesn’t want to push it. I don’t like to leave good enough alone, so I kept going.
8MM Spacers
Now we’re getting somewhere! The front is pretty aggressive at this point, but still no rubbing. The rear has slight rubbing over bumps, but very minor. I was able to trim the rear tab to eliminate 95% of rubbing, so 8mm is probably the maximum you want to go in the rear…but the front still has a little room, so let’s give this one last shot…
10mm front, 8mm rear
Here is where I settled, going for a little wider in the front, which should help a little with understeer too. Some slight rubbing here or there, but not bad in the grand scheme of things. Final offset of ET42 front, ET44 rear. The car looks great, a little leaner and a little meaner than stock combined with some lowering springs (more on that in a future post). I have no desire to try anything more (or less) aggressive, I think 10mm/8mm is probably the best option for those who can deal with a little rubbing here or there, or 8mm/5mm F&R for those who can’t. I think it came out pretty damn good!
Any questions? Leave me a comment.
That is definitely an ongoing issue with Audi; the wheels are always too far inboard. I put spacers on my S5 (rotor wheels like yours);12mm front and 18mm rear. Might be just a tad too much, but everyone in my car circle thinks that it looks perfect. Not a cheap upgrade, but I wanted to do it right with the best quality and better than OEM bolts, so I went through Achtuning for the 4 spacers and matched floating seat wheel bolts.
Here are some before/after pics I snapped of the rears installed:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/655477-Before-amp-After-pics-of-H-amp-R-18mm-rear-spacers?highlight=achtuning+spacers
Looks great Christian! If you’re going to keep stock wheels on a car, this is a must-do IMO 🙂
Actually, those are stockers, they are Hartmann reps. The 19″ wheel option on my S5 was the dreaded “peelers”, so I just ordered the car with the stock 18s, and then bought the rotor reps for a great price a few months after the car was delivered. Big fan of Hartmann Wheels, and when it is time to buy some, always ask them for any “blemish” wheels on sale. 2 of my 4 were blems, and I had to closely inspect the wheels for 10 minutes before I could find a tiny spec of dust that was embedded in the wheel finish. Fine with me, saved a bunch of money.
hi nick. great blog! were you lowered already when you did the spacers or did you lower afterwards?
Lowered already.
hi nick. any problems with vibration given that these spacers don’t have a lip on them?
A little yeah, they were really finicky. If you got placed them just right, they were okay, but other times they’d vibrate. I’d opt for something with a lip if that helps.
Definitely go with a spacer with a lip that it is fitted to your car/wheel package, I have zero vibration issues on my S5 up to about 120mph (highest I’ve taken the car since installing them).
(BTW – Nick, I’ll give you a call this week, I’ll be in your town 25th-30th).
did you guys need to use longer bolts on the 8/5mm combo? and what are good spacers with lip in your experience…new to this and want to do it right.
You’re safe up to 5mm spacer, 8mm is a little more questionable. I’d go with H&R and opt for titanium lug bolts while you’re at it!
I have a 2015 Audi TTS MK2 with the competition package. The stock wheels were the 5 spoke 19×9 on 255×35 19 tires and ET52 offset. I purchased APR 20×9 ET42 wheels with 10mm APR spacers and longer bolts. The tires are now 255×30 20. I am experiencing rubbing from the rear arch tabs. I am wondering if I took the spacers off, would the ET42 wheels clear the calipers and if so, would I still need to grind down the arch tabs?