Help with Offset

[Foxy]

Ok, so I 'know' what offset is, but I have no idea how to calculate the ideal offset for a particular wheel (I've heard stock offset - 1/2 the increased wheel width over the stock wheel), nor what the 'good' offsets are for a GA. What offsets should you get to prevent rubbing with the following wheel widths?

7.0"
7.5"
8.0"
8.5"

Also, I don't know for GA's, but WRX's tend to suffer from wheel bearing problems if you go outside of the preferred offset range..

6.5" ....... +53 to +55
7.0" ....... +50 to +53
7.5" ....... +47 to +50
8.0" ....... +43 to +47

Do GA's have that same problem?


I'm just trying to compile a list of wheels that have suitable lug patterns and offsets for the GA..

[Jaimerz]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS THREAD!!! I've been wondering this myself and have been scouring around here trying to figure it out and I'm just getting lost :( I'm looking into what rims would fit my car, and I wanna make sure I don't buy something that won't fit.

[dandragonrage]

Any car will have wheel bearing problems if you put more stress on them. Surely you've taken a Newtonian mechanics class - the longer the lever, the more the torque. I'd expect you to know that :P

I don't know what offsets are good for us though.

[Foxy]

Yes, but how durable are the GA's wheel bearings? On the Imprezas with 5x100 lugs, the wheel bearings are particularily delicate, and they beefed them up on the models with 5x114.3 lugs..

[Jaimerz]

hmm I've found a set of rims that I kinda like... problem is the offset on them is +40 for the rears.......... and +28 for the front... (that in itself confuses me) what I'm wondering is if +28 is too far off to work with a 99+ GA?

[Colin]

Originally posted by Jaimerz
hmm I've found a set of rims that I kinda like... problem is the offset on them is +40 for the rears.......... and +28 for the front... (that in itself confuses me) what I'm wondering is if +28 is too far off to work with a 99+ GA? stock is 42 , so 40 + = good , 28 = bad ..... :lol:

[Jaimerz]

Yeah I figured... I'm just wondering why such a big difference between the front & back (they were on a mustang)

[Colin]

Don't forget your car is FWD , Mustangs RWD . You don't want skinnys on the front and big uns on the rear .

[Jaimerz]

yeah... wouldn't make much sense... so the offset kinda also deals in how wide the rim is?

[DontPassTheFence]

I have +42 IIRC, and stock is very close to that, if not that exact same. GAs (4th gen anyways) look good (as far as fenderwell gap) with anything from +35 to +45, I would not know about getting wider wheels, since I havent found any significantly larger rims yet to necessitate a larger offset... Id say do not go below +30 (which means you can probably only fit 7.5'' or maybe 8'' under there without any rubbing, and I think the rims would being to look stupid (atleast in the front) if you went any more than +50ish, since they would begin to tuck in more than an inch and a half at that point.

I had a website to calculate offset perfectly for most cars, but I lost it or its on the laptop, either way I can not locate the link as of right now -- Ill look later on tonight

[Colin]

Originally posted by Jaimerz
so the offset kinda also deals in how wide the rim is? http://www.rsracing.com/tech-wheel.html

[DontPassTheFence]

that was the website! Your damn good, Colin, your damn good. I retract all negative statements Ive posted in reference to you. :D

Re bookmark`d - woo!

[Colin]

Originally posted by DontPassTheFence
I retract all negative statements Ive posted in reference to you. :D I must have missed some ... :shrug: :lol:

[RickHigginsHtbr]

so, to tie up officially for anyone like myself wondering if an offset is too large or too small.... On 99+, don't go smaller than roughly +38 or you may possibly hit the caliper on the wheel, but larger is OK, as long as it isn't too large, like a + (someone fill in the blank here)

['01GT]

Thanks for the info guys.