Aftermarket winter rims?

BobbyWires

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2017
Location
Northern VT
TDI
2015 GSW manual, 1991 Syncro Vanagon, 2004 Audi A4 Avant 6man, 1990 Ford F250 351 "farm truck" 2014 Q7 TDI Sline
Any recommendations on rims for my Q7 do not like any tirerack stuff and not finding any local used Q7 rims. Do see some Audi replica rims online but wondering if any good. My stock rims are 21" so thinking going 19 for winter.
 

KevinGary

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Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Location
Long Island
TDI
2015 A6 TDI
I have been very happy with my Hartmann rims for the last 13 years. They are available at achtuning.com. They sell Audi replicas.
 

mech644

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Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Location
Blue Hill, Maine
TDI
'00 Golf, '14 Touareg
car_part.com
Searches wrecking yards everywhere, there is at least 6 salvage yards within 100 miles of Burlington.
Touareg and Cayenne wheels will fit Q7. A lot of the Touaregs and Q7 had 17 or 18 alloy wheels.
I run a set of 18” Q7 alloys in winter and the ride comfort is waaaay better than the 20”s that came with my Touareg. The SWS is also not evident with the 18” wheels. Smaller the wheel, tires become less expensive.
 

KITEWAGON

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Jun 29, 2009
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Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
I'm on the same search. I want 18's largely for cheaper tires and better ride. I have 20's on the Treg. I really want OEM, but cant' find any. I'll search carpart.

Of course buying them now I'll have to decide whether to run all seasons or go with snow's. Personally I want 18's over 19's because there are way more tire choices and its more common so they are less expensive.
 

mech644

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Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Location
Blue Hill, Maine
TDI
'00 Golf, '14 Touareg
If I could have found a decent set of 17’s I would have gone with those, more sidewall; roads up here are not far removed from a wagon trail.
These look a good deal, http://shop.achtuning.com/volkswagen-7P0-073-517-617-8Z8-oem-winter-wheel-tire.aspx
I’m planning on keeping Touareg for a while, and I’ve generally always had a set of dedicated winter wheels with blizzard or X ice tires. Difference between those and all seasons is night and day. 1st Touareg I had came with Michelin all seasons, it was helpless in snow or freezing rain (didn’t have it long enough to get a winter set, death by deer). My old golf with blizzaks would leave it in the dust. The Audi wheels I got for this Touareg came with a set of Vredstein winter tires, Craigslist pickup last December in Dedham. Huge difference, basically same car with better tires and it rocks. Couple trips down 95 to Mass in snow/freezing rain and the Touareg felt very controlled.
 

KITEWAGON

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
If I could have found a decent set of 17’s I would have gone with those, more sidewall; roads up here are not far removed from a wagon trail.
These look a good deal, http://shop.achtuning.com/volkswagen-7P0-073-517-617-8Z8-oem-winter-wheel-tire.aspx
I’m planning on keeping Touareg for a while, and I’ve generally always had a set of dedicated winter wheels with blizzard or X ice tires. Difference between those and all seasons is night and day. 1st Touareg I had came with Michelin all seasons, it was helpless in snow or freezing rain (didn’t have it long enough to get a winter set, death by deer). My old golf with blizzaks would leave it in the dust. The Audi wheels I got for this Touareg came with a set of Vredstein winter tires, Craigslist pickup last December in Dedham. Huge difference, basically same car with better tires and it rocks. Couple trips down 95 to Mass in snow/freezing rain and the Touareg felt very controlled.
Thanks I just ordered these! $800 for an OEM wheel and Michelin snow tire mounted and balanced seemed way too good to pass up.

Does anyone know for 100% sure that this wheel will clear the brakes on a 2014 Toureg TDI? I'm almost positive, but can't find anything definitive on the web. 18's definitely work, but VW/Tirerack doesn't explicitly list the 17" wheels as an option. This dealer link below says they will fit. Alternatively if anyone can tell me the diameter of the front rotors that should answer it.

These say "Fits Touareg with 330mm non-6-piston front brakes only.", but I couldn't figure out what brakes I have.

I've never run snow tires on our Toureg which is our first AWD vehicle. I can't wait to see what snowtires plus AWD will do in the snow!

https://parts.mollevwofkansascity.c...ter-Wheel---Silver/54562582/7P00714978Z8.html
 

KevinGary

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Location
Long Island
TDI
2015 A6 TDI
If I could have found a decent set of 17’s I would have gone with those, more sidewall; roads up here are not far removed from a wagon trail.
These look a good deal, http://shop.achtuning.com/volkswagen-7P0-073-517-617-8Z8-oem-winter-wheel-tire.aspx
I’m planning on keeping Touareg for a while, and I’ve generally always had a set of dedicated winter wheels with blizzard or X ice tires. Difference between those and all seasons is night and day. 1st Touareg I had came with Michelin all seasons, it was helpless in snow or freezing rain (didn’t have it long enough to get a winter set, death by deer). My old golf with blizzaks would leave it in the dust. The Audi wheels I got for this Touareg came with a set of Vredstein winter tires, Craigslist pickup last December in Dedham. Huge difference, basically same car with better tires and it rocks. Couple trips down 95 to Mass in snow/freezing rain and the Touareg felt very controlled.
Achtuning.com is a great site
 

mech644

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Location
Blue Hill, Maine
TDI
'00 Golf, '14 Touareg
14’ Touareg has 330mm rotors, 4 piston calipers.
All Touareg wheels fit all Touaregs except for the V10 and R5 models. V10’s are 18” and up I think. R5 (not available in US) has a 120mm center bore, where as all NA Touareg, Q7, and Cayenne are 130.

You’ll be happy with those.
 

cmc

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Joined
May 9, 2002
Location
seattle, wa
I got 18X8 polished RS4 lookalike wheels from ecstuning.com for $100 a piece back in 2014 without shipping. Don't remember what the shipping is like, but it was the best price I found and pretty nice looking wheels. I had to do a double take on the achtuning wheels to see if the price was for 1 wheel or for 4. They do include shipping though.



After that I got Nokian R2s from discount tire. Since they are also the distributor, they sell Nokians for less than most of the competing brands. $178 a piece if I remember right. Overall I was really happy with what I got for the money. (This was back in 2014)
 

KITEWAGON

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Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
14’ Touareg has 330mm rotors, 4 piston calipers.
All Touareg wheels fit all Touaregs except for the V10 and R5 models. V10’s are 18” and up I think. R5 (not available in US) has a 120mm center bore, where as all NA Touareg, Q7, and Cayenne are 130.

You’ll be happy with those.

Thanks and thanks for posting up the wheel and tire deal. I was undecided on whether to go with dedicated winters or brand new all seasons. I think the car is going to be incredible with the winter tires on it.

I'm going to stay on the lookout for some 18's for a new set of all seasons in the spring as well.
 

KITEWAGON

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Location
Seacoast, NH
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2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
Well, my bubble is burst. My order is being cancelled because they ran out of the tires that were part of the deal. Total bummer.
 

mech644

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Joined
Feb 7, 2007
Location
Blue Hill, Maine
TDI
'00 Golf, '14 Touareg
Bummer.
If you keep looking at car_part you can put together a set. There’s a pile of decent junkyards in NH and MA. Just saw some of the same 17’s at yards in Lancaster and Worcester; not brand new but price is rite.
 

KITEWAGON

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
TDI
2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
Any recommendations on rims for my Q7 do not like any tirerack stuff and not finding any local used Q7 rims. Do see some Audi replica rims online but wondering if any good. My stock rims are 21" so thinking going 19 for winter.
OP, I'm sorry I hijacked your thread. If you want 19" Audi winter rims then I'd see if these are still available. They've been on my local CL for quite a while so they may have sold. I've just been avoiding 19" rims so far because I don't like how limited the tire selection is in that size. I feel like 18's offer better prices and a wider selection.

In case that link goes dead they are OEM Q7 wheels for $400, probably about 3 hours from you.

https://nh.craigslist.org/wto/d/audi-q7-19-set-of-factory-oem/6660217679.html

I'm looking at a set of 18" Karthoum OEM VW wheels on ebay right now for $475 shipped which seems like a pretty good deal to me for brand new wheels. But if I buy them then I'll have to decide whether to put on winter tires or all seasons. Our Treg is riding on 20" wheels with worn out all season tires that are chopped and very loud. So I could do winter tires on the new wheels and put them on a bit early, then buy new 20" all seasons next spring (for $1+k easy for decent tires). Or I could just go with high quality all seasons and they'd probably be fine this winter with the AWD.
 

Pat Dolan

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Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
I am the Q7 newbie here, but I HAVE slept at some kind of motel last week, and I have been around ice racing and tires for a half century+.

I see/hear the comment "should only need All Seasons with AWD" very often, and it simply is not true. IF you have snow and ice, dedicated snows are far better than ANYTHING else. Personally I run Bilzzaks, but you can also get a Nokian/Hakka studless that does similar (uses grit in the tread compound - similar to what Green Diamond pioneered years ago). These tires are simply in a class by themselves. Even "All Weather" tires are not in any way in the same league, and "All Season" really means NO SEASON at all!
 

KITEWAGON

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Jun 29, 2009
Location
Seacoast, NH
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2014 Touareg Exec, 2014 JSW
I know I know, we always have run winter tires. I think I'll go that route again.

I bought the 18's and discovered they are actually from TDIclub friend Bora parts now known as Cascade German. I think they were a great deal. One set left if anyone wants to scoop up a set. Now time to pick out some tires. I've used Michelin X-Ice 2 and I've used General Altimax Arctics. I've certainly heard of the Nokian, Hakka and Blizzaks but never run a set.

I need to decide between the 255/55/18 and 235/60/18 sizes. I've always heard narrow is better for snow, but I think either will be fine and a huge improvement.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-EURO-G...rentrq:cbd09de71650aa1a0171291bfffb900f|iid:1
 

Pat Dolan

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Joined
Apr 19, 2002
Location
Martensville, SK
TDI
2003 A4 Variant, 2015 Q7
I need to decide between the 255/55/18 and 235/60/18 sizes. I've always heard narrow is better for snow, but I think either will be fine and a huge improvement.
Depends on what kind of snow you are driving on, but in general, the narrower the tire, the better it works on ice. Our club racers use compact spares (with bolts through them) so that the studs get through the snow to the ice, but that is a bit extreme for street stuff. Wide tires only work if you want to stay on top of some loose surface, but that can't happen in snow. The REALLY big consideration is slush - where tire width = aquaplane speed.

Oh, of course, I forgot to mention THE most important consideration re the 2wd vs. AWD condierations - they both have the same number of brakes - so AWD can get you further into trouble than you can brake your way out of (sic).
 
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BobbyWires

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Apr 27, 2017
Location
Northern VT
TDI
2015 GSW manual, 1991 Syncro Vanagon, 2004 Audi A4 Avant 6man, 1990 Ford F250 351 "farm truck" 2014 Q7 TDI Sline
Always run snows up here in Northern VT it's a must. Winters are long and snows all the time. All season tires esp in neg temps suck even with AWD/4WD. I run Nokian Hakka 8's and trying the 9's this year. Best so far and I've tried them all. Bridgestones were decent but I need studs and the factory studded Nok's are killer.
 

cmc

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May 9, 2002
Location
seattle, wa
A lot of the traditional thinking is that you only need snow tires when there is snow on the ground. Well I beg to differ. The newer winter tires offer better grip, safety and confidence even when there is no snow on the ground. For example here in Seattle there isn't very much snow, but it rains a lot. I can share that during the cold and wet months (which is about half the year), the Nokian R2s studless that I have are much better than the stock Contis M+S all seasons.

Also the economics are not as bad as they appear. If I have 2 sets of tires and if they both get used roughly half the time each, I get roughly doubling of their lives. The only added expense is (in my case) the extra set of rims. Plus even a minor crash due to snow/ice will easily pay for multiple sets of tires and rims.
 
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lml999

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Feb 18, 2016
Location
Boston
TDI
2010 Touareg V6 TDI
I'm running OEM Cayenne wheels on my Q7 for winter use. Bought them for our Touareg, kept them when we turned it in. You can find 18" Cayenne takeoffs for short money on both Craigslist and ebay. I think I paid $100 per wheel, maybe less.



Tires are Nokian R2 235/60/18 SUV model. Recently updated to R3. Very good in snow, and both handling and ride are excellent. Highly recommended.
 
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