Tyred of Bristols

[John Rolfs]

Hi Greg,
you're right, those alloys are UGLY, even on the Mercedes.

I think you'll find it safer and a lot cheaper to weld the three little studs to mount the Bristol hub caps to the Audi 15 inch steel wheels, without having to butcher the original wheels which may well have suffered corrosion where the rim is rivetted to the centre. This will provide a much wider choice of rubber.

Aftermarket alloys for big Audis come in a wide variety of styles, including the seven spoke Ronals which resemble 60's Minilites. The older Audi 200 model had some attractive twelve spoke and flat disc original equipment wheels that compliment the Bristol rather well.

I was fortunate to buy used Wolfrace original equipment wheels for my 603 from Brian Marelli, so if anyone needs a set of steel wheels for 410 and later, let me know.

[pasini s]

Hello John,


your post is very interesting for me as I want to fit new steel or alloy
wheels to my 409 (the original Dunlops are nice enough but they are actually
a bit warped) and it is quite difficult to understand which model would be
appropriate. The 5x112 mm measure is quite common, I gather. May I contact
you at a private address so that I can ask you some pictures of the car with
alloys? Mine is stefano@stefanopasini.it

You say 'Audi 200' so I gather that we are talking about quite old stuff. I
have found some cheap scruffy Audi A3 alloys and bald tires that are being
installed on the 409 to move her inside the bodyshop but, as you already
mentioned, the central hole is not big enough to clear the cap of the front
hub.

The real question is: it's easy to put the wheels (I mean the wheels that I
would eventually fit after the respray is completed, with good tires etc)
on a lathe and enlarge the hole so that the space is enough to accommodate
the central grease cap, but won't this weaken the wheel? I am inclined to
think that a few millimeters skimmed from inside the bolt pattern will not
change anything, but the experts' opinion on the matter would be greatly
appreciated. Thank you!

Cheers

Stefano

[peterg]

Stefano
The Audi A3 uses 5 x 100 mm spacings (same as my Skoda and some Golfs)
You need to find out what offset your wheels have. There are plenty of
tables on the net that will allow you to work out which wheels are suitable
for your car.
Regards, Peter >