mountainsurfer77

Never really understood what the offset of a wgeel really does. I have heard it can change the handling of your car for the good or for the bad. Is there some standard that is determined by the size of rim you want to go with? I have searched offset for a 18 x 8.5 wheel and have seen offsets at 30,32,35, and I believe one in the 40's. How does one know what is best for there vehicle. I have a A4 01.5 right now with the stock 17" Celebration wheels and want to go with a 18 x 8.5 wheel, what is the correct offset to go with and is there a benefit to a lower or higher offset number?

SouthboroAudiGuy

Go to the tech section of www.tirerack.com -- they explain lots of wheel stuff like this.

mountainsurfer77

for a given car.

jprice@CPS

The offset defines where the back of the wheel mounting area is in relation to the barrel (outside round part) of the wheel.

Your celebrations are ET43 (IIRC). The lower the offset goes, the further out the wheel is. I also have an 01.5 1.8T and have found that ET35 is perfect. (I have 17x8 ET35 wheels for summer, and 16x7 ET35 wheels for winter)

If the offset is too low, the tire will stick out and rub on the fender. If the offset is too high, the tire will rub on suspension components on the inside.

ET35 gets the wheel out a little further to fill up the wheel well nicely, and doesn't rub as long as you have 225 width or narrower tires. (225/40/18 for 18s). Some 235/40/18 tires will fit, others may not.

mountainsurfer77

thanks, this will help me out

Reggie

Don't do something stupid just to be different unless you are prepared to deal with the issues that can occur from not knowing:

rubbing, premature wear on bearings etc

mountainsurfer77

exactly, hence why I asked the original question