Top Cat: Will probly go back to 18's
N8KOW: useful post!? 
My post wasn't, but I was demonstrating that Top's Cat was spot on and common sense never goes a miss.
With wheels you can't have your cake and eat it. You should either aim for 'Go' or 'Show'. I've had both. My A3 was a nice looking diesel and ran 19"/20"s with air. I would run 19x8.5 or 19x9 (215/35/19) or 20x8.5 or 20x9 (225/30/20). The skinnier a tyre you run, the more clearance you'll have = less rubbing. Although I think the A3 8P's arches are slightly wider than the Mk5, even though it's the "same car". You can run the car lower with mega looks BUT ride quality goes out the window, certainly with cheap rubber anyway.
So the "show" approach has gone out of the window now I've got myself an ED30. A quick car IMO should have proper size tyres if you want to drive it "properly", I'm running Pescaras with 225/40s and the ride quality is sublime. I was going to get 19" CHs, but I'm just going to stick with what I've got and eventually add V3s, I won't bother with spacers either
