Our Wheels Won't Get Any Bigger, Audi Design Chief Says

Earlier this month, I was looking at the apparently large arch gap on a Porsche Taycan 4S. I wondered what dinky size rims had been fitted. On closer inspection, I found the answer: 19 inches.

Once upon a time, that would have seemed massive, but with cars getting larger and the wheels that go in at each corner growing in size to suit, that’s not the case any more. But there is an end in sight, at least for some brands. Audi may have fitted 23-inch alloys to the new RS Q8 super SUV, but it looks like that’s as far as the company will go.

“Package wise, I would say this is definitely close to the limit,” Audi’s head of design Marc Lichte told Motor Authority. To upsize any further “make no sense,” he added, as vehicle footprints have been pushed as far as they ever will be.

It’s important that this has come from someone like Lichte, as designers normally love to fit vast wheels on their cars, even if the end-user is going to suffer from the compromise made to ride quality.

That the wheel gigantification trend seems to be finally tailing off is good news. And for anyone putting in an order for an RS Q8 right now, it is worth pointing out that you can - and should - opt for a sensible-ish set of wheels measuring either 20 or 21 inches in diameter.