Jump to content
XK140

Wheel Offset

Recommended Posts

Not strictly about a GT86,but some general principles will apply and I thought there will be a fair few on here knowledgeable on such issues.

THE STORY... By a perhaps rash decision I bought a set of new alloys at a very attractive price to serve as winter wheels for the family car I have on order (I won't be using the GT86 when the snow and ice is about!)...it's a Octy vrs 245 Estate.

Compared to the oem wheels they are the same diameter and width BUT have 15mm more offset.

(If you want to look at it in GT86 terms,wheels are 17x7 ET48,so it would be like fitting 15mm spacers or going to the same size rims but with ET 33.)

Leaving aside clearance issues,I'm confident they will be OK here,I'm starting to get worried about how the car is actually going to drive with this increase in the track...Uneven tyre wear? erratic handling?...lots of fwd torque steer?...Also,might the Insurance company disapprove?

Any thoughts?..or should I cut my losses and sell them unused?

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can’t comment on handling etc, but spacers would be a modification and would need declaring to you insurance company. I guess it will depend if your insurance company are mod friendly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, XK140 said:

Leaving aside clearance issues,I'm confident they will be OK here,I'm starting to get worried about how the car is actually going to drive with this increase in the track...Uneven tyre wear? erratic handling?...lots of fwd torque steer?...Also,might the Insurance company disapprove?

Any thoughts?..or should I cut my losses and sell them unused?

 

 

I wouldn't worry about it, you probably won't notice any difference in a car like that. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
2 hours ago, Lauren said:

I wouldn't worry about it, you probably won't notice any difference in a car like that. 

Lauren,many thanks for that reassurance.

I've never gone down the road of fitting spacers/more offset rims and when you do a search on that topic you come up with some dire warnings that problems as I mentioned could well happen.

On the other hand,you only need look at a few forums to realise that loads of people routinely fit spacers with no problems stated.

I will tell the insurance before I fit them.

P.S.Now I've driven the GT86 a bit more I'm feeling the torque dip from 3 to 4.5k...so the TD package beckons...maybe next year!

Regards,John.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Engineering explained on youtube is a good on the science of changing the offset but at 15mm your only going to improve the handling a little bit and pull the wheels out the arch a little which will improve the looks a little. I go snowboarding every year and on the mountains most people run winter tyres on aftermarket wheels and pretty much all of them have a bigger offset. Coincidence? I doubt it. 

As for the tuning developments kit, look out for black Friday offers as they have done this previously. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not sure on handling improvement .. most probably changes will be - slightly heavier steering due increased scrub radius and slight increase in wheel bearing wear due more load due increased lever length. Wider track gives little to no improvement (unless one can feel changes as little as 1-2% :) ) and it's positive impact on handling is often overstated. Also, as octavia most probably is FWD, imho there might be a bit more torque steer. As change is little, probably no impact on rubbing (most cars (including twins) are sold with non-flush recessed stock wheels/tires, probably due models being sold world-wide and requirement of being able to fit snow-chains for being legal in some of countries).

But as offset difference is reasonably small of just 15mm, impact shouldn't be drastic in any field there will be changes to care about. As i'm not from UK, not sure on is it really needed to register them on insurance. Some negatives list above may sound bad, but extent is too little. Many for looks/flush fitment purposes go much much further, and are fine with changes with steering changed not unbearable or bearings lasting long enough, so you should be OK with just 15mm imho. Torque steer .. not sure on that. In most FWD cars i had in past i usually drove just on public roads and rather sedately :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×