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03-20-2004, 10:58 AM | #1 | |
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: York
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Wrong offset - how serious?
From reading the posts here, I think I now understand wheel/tyre sizes, offsets etc - my thanks to the forum regulars However, I have a problem: when I bought my wheels, I was more ignorant, and I trusted the retailer to get it right. I will try not to go into (too much) unecessary detail - my car is a 95 Civic Coupe (EJ2) which came with 175/70-R13s, and I wanted to fit some 15" rims with 195/50-R15 tyres. I found a wheel/tyre package that I liked the look of, was cheap enough, and came with brand name tyres instead of the usual questionable quality rubber.
I knew the wheels were wider than stock, and it turned out that they were 7" compared to 5". When I fitted them to my car, they kinda stuck out quite a lot, which I thought was OK at first, but I soon decided it looked a bit wrong. The wheels stuck out about as much as the tops of the wheel arches (hence questionably legal). Anyway, according to the posts I have read on this forum (mainly those of CivicSiRacer) 7" should be fine on the Civic, but the offset should be 42mm for this size (at least for a 6th gen Civic, but I suspect this also applies to the 5th gen???). So, I checked my wheels, and they had a 35mm offset Now, I don't have any problems with the look of the these wheels, other than thinking they should be tucked under the arches more, but what I really want to know is the severity of this offset error (35mm compared to 42mm)... - Would this totally screw up handling? - Would this put a serious strain on wheel bearings/suspension/etc? - Was the retailer wrong to supply these wheels with a 35mm offset? I only used the car a couple of times before deciding to take the new wheels off (I just didn't want to drive on them if they were wrong). From the two short journeys I made, I can't really comment on the handling, other than to say it was different, and I may have noticed some kick through the steering on tight turns (but can't really remember). Thanks in anticipation! |
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03-20-2004, 04:22 PM | #2 | |
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Re: Wrong offset - how serious?
Here is a wheel offset calculator:
http://toy4two.home.mindspring.com/offset.html The offset of the wheels should be stamped into the back of one of the spokes. The offset changes as the wheel gets wider also. If you can get a copy of April 2004 Grassroots Motorsports Magazine they have an article about offsets, scrub radius and steering axis inclination. The article starts on page 167.
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03-20-2004, 08:02 PM | #3 | |
Civic Mod
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Re: Wrong offset - how serious?
Yes the retailer was wrong in ordering you that offset. Goes to show you should never trust anyone with car mods. Everyone is an idiot.
For a 15x7" wheel you need a 42-44mm offset with 205/50x15" tires. Your 195/50x15" tires are ok, but a 7" wide rim should be using a 205 width tire.
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03-22-2004, 01:13 PM | #4 | |
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Thanks guys, I will get on to the retarded retailer (but won't be holding my breath).
@THEOLDMAN: Thanks for the link. The Grassroots article sounds interesting, but I think it's just too much trouble to get hold of here in the UK. @CivicSiRacer Thanks for confirming my suspicions, although I had no idea the tyre size was also sub-optimal. So is there a general rule that tyre width should be about 1" wider than wheel width? (In which case the 195 section tyres would be good for 6.5" wide rims, which is what I should have bought in the first place). |
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03-22-2004, 02:34 PM | #5 | |
Civic Mod
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Re: Wrong offset - how serious?
There is a range.
Like my OEM Si wheels (15x6") come with 195/55x15". See the list below the middle is the more appropriate tire width. Where the others will fit the rim. 5.5" rims: 175 185 195 6" rims: 185 195 205 6.5" rims: 195 205 215 7" rims: 205 215 225
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Sponsored by: KAM Racing Sports, Falken Tires, Finish First Polish, Brady's High Performance, Taggart Performance Engineering, Rotora Brakes Autocross is: 90% driver, 5% car, & 5% CRAZY MOJO! Autocross Help Page Buy my Civic parts! |
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