From 15x6.5 +45 to 15x7 +42 & +33

[Dustin]

My setup is currently 15x6.5 +45 offset front and back... with those wheels, my fronts are pretty close to flush with the fender, looks good.. the backs however really should come out 1/2 an inch or so (maybe more, I'd have to measure), they look kind of narrow compared to the front

I've been looking at new/wider rims, especially since I've seen the one set I've been eyeing in person.. very nice

Anyway, they're available in 15x7 in +33 or +42, and I'm wondering how it would look if I went +42 up front and +33 rear. The offset calculator I was looking at gave me figures to think about, but it's not as easy to imagine with calculations

Front (+42):
The clearance from stut housing to the inside of the wheel will be 3mm LESS
The outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 9mm

Rear (+33):
The clearance from stut housing to the inside of the wheel will be 6mm MORE
The outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 18mm

That sounds like it will bring out the rear a good bit, but the fronts might come out too much..?

Also.. 225/45R15 about as big as you can get on a 15x7, or is it too big?

[EL PAALO]

Nitsud!
you can go bigger than the 225/45 on a 15x7 but I dont' know that there's anything that'll work as far as overall diameter besides maybe some race rubber.

you understand the width/offset thing just fine. now it's just a matter of measuring your current setup clearances to see if the new ones have the look you want. same width with lower offset in back will get you the desired effect, you just need to nail down the exact change you want. I'll hopefully be measuring a mki on Sunday, but not positive.

[Dustin]

Thanks man! I'll have to measure up and do some quackulations.. sure aint a lot of tires available though.. damned 15s

Edit: There ARE a few good ones in 225/50/15, and even though it's about an inch taller than stock, it looks like I wont be setting my speedo off too badly (maybe 3mph)

Yokohama AVS ES100 or BF Goodrich g-Force Sport... I wonder how different the car will feel with a staggered tire size (225/50/15 rear, 205/50/15 front) compared to 205s all around

Edit2: You were saying I could get larger than 225 on a 7" wheel... Could I fit a 225/50/15 on a 15x6.5? Or would that be too much of a squeeze

[EL PAALO]

6-8" for the 225/50 15 es100. should be about the same rec'd wheel width for any tire that size.

[Dustin]

Ooh, maybe I wont need new rims after all

[RePete]

I had staggered tire sizes on my SC in two flavours: 205/40-16s, 225/40-16s and 205/40-17s, 215/40-17s. Originally I had 205/50-15s all around. All 3 sizes were ES100s.

The fatter rears increased understeer marginally but you just end up tossing the car around in a different way to get that 4 wheel slide.

[Dustin]

Did it feel any different in general driving? Say for example, on the highway (cause you know what the freakin roads are like out here) or whatever

I've heard that staggering a car that wasn't staggered from the factory kind of gives you a weird road-feel.. but who knows how true that is

[RePete]

Felt the same on the freeway. Maybe that weird feeling is from staggering both the wheels and tires and differing them by 2 sizes.

2 important things:

- get the wheels balanced on a Hunter Road force machine, which is very accurate (you can google it for locations - Volco's got one)
- make sure your '2 has a recent alignment

If both those are good then the staggered tires I noted shouldn't affect anything including highway use except for a slight dash of understeer during cornering as I've mentioned.

Staggered tires are one thing, I've never deployed staggered wheels on an MK1.

[Dustin]

Guess we'll see how long it takes to destroy these h-rated Falken 512s.. First autox of the season on Sunday!

When it's time to replace em, maybe I'll consider staggering then