Passing this along because it’s a sweet deal, but you can buy 255/40/17 RS4s, directly from Hankook for $145/per. Shipping isn’t free, but still way cheaper than TR.
Passing this along because it’s a sweet deal, but you can buy 255/40/17 RS4s, directly from Hankook for $145/per. Shipping isn’t free, but still way cheaper than TR.
I'm lowered 1.3 in, Koni sports with a Frankenstein spring setup, 17 x 8.5 45mm wheels, front camber -2, rear -1.5.
And yeah, they're much closer to 265 than 255. That's why I wouldn't sweat 255 40 17 RS4's.
If I were buying RS4's right now for tracking, I'd do 245/40 17, but not because I'm worried 255/40 17 won't fit. For tracking, peak g's are lower and the taller sidewall and weight of the 255 40 17 makes the car feel a little sluggish on turn in and under acceleration. I have tested the two sizes back to back, but I'm guessing on most tracks, the 245 will be faster and on all tracks, it'll feel better.
I'm lowered 1.3 in, Koni sports with a Frankenstein spring setup, 17 x 8.5 45mm wheels, front camber -2, rear -1.5.
And yeah, they're much closer to 265 than 255. That's why I wouldn't sweat 255 40 17 RS4's.
If I were buying RS4's right now for tracking, I'd do 245/40 17, but not because I'm worried 255/40 17 won't fit. For tracking, peak g's are lower and the taller sidewall and weight of the 255 40 17 makes the car feel a little sluggish on turn in and under acceleration. I have tested the two sizes back to back, but I'm guessing on most tracks, the 245 will be faster and on all tracks, it'll feel better.
245. Very slight stretching of the sidewalls helps a lot with the outer edge wear typical of strut cars.
I know from previous cars and many wheel/tire setups, RS4s feel like vague trash unless you stretch the hell out of them. I ran 195s on an 8in wheel and 225s on a 9in wheel.
When I went to RT660s I ran 205s on 7.5in wheels initially and when switching to 8in wheels it made a huge difference in steering feel if nothing else. Did not do back to back testing on that particular tire.
On both tires I had much less concentrated edge wear with wider wheels.
That’s a 225/45R15 RS4 on 15x9 up front, and 195/50R15 RS4 on 15x8 out back. You can see how much it still rolls over under load. It’s far worse on a narrower wheel.
That’s a 205/50R15 RT660 on 15x8 all around. The Falkens have a MUCH stiffer sidewall so I don’t think there’s as much noticeable difference overall vs a 7.5 wheel, BUT I got better overall wear from a set. Still predominantly outside edge wear but it wasn’t all concentrated in such a narrow spot on the outside,, resulting in better life overall(say an extra couple days on track, all with proper rotations and flipping regularly).
