Wheel Offset

[Joe1]

My Forester has a +48 mm wheel offset. I have been offered a great deal on a set of Subaru WRX 16" wheels that have an offset of +53mm. I don't quite understand the concept of wheel offset. The guys on the Subaru forums say I can use these wheels with or without 5mm spacers added. My wheels are steel and the alloys look much nicer, so I would like to upgrade. Is there any risk on my part if I use the stock tire size? Anybody know what 5mm spacers are?

 

[Blokey]

Offset is the distance from the hub mounting flange of the wheel to the center of the wheel's width, the greater the offset the more the wheel tucks into the fenderwells. I have a '00 Acura 3.2TL and wheel offset is a common issue with these 2nd gen TLs when owners want to upgrade their wheels, finding wheels with enough offset can be a challenge.

Anyway, you shouldn't have any problems using a factory wheel with slightly higher offset; the only problem I can see is that it may cause the inside of the tire to rub on the spring, but that is unlikely in your case. If you were to have interference, mount the spacer between the wheel and the hub to move the wheel out enough to prevent rubbing. The issue with that is that now your lugnuts have 5 mm less bolt to fasten on to. Again, that may not be an issue, it's only 5 mm, but when you start using thicker and thicker spacers, you then must consider replacing your wheel bolts with longer ones but preferably you would want to consider different (better fitting) wheels.

 

[Blokey]

Oh, assuming the wheels are the correct size (diameter, lol!) for use with your stock tire size, there's no issue. I'm assuming the upgrade wheels are a little wider, right? Most tires allow for about 2" or so difference between min. and max. wheel width so you should be within spec. but check the tire spec. for recommended wheel widths to be safe.

 

[rpn453]

If clearance isn't an issue, the only problem you might have is that the wheels might look too far in without the spacers (like most Saturns, but not nearly as bad since it's only 5mm!). Try them without spacers first and pick up some spacers if you think they'd look better being out another 5mm.

The stock tire size on the WRX is 205/55R16, so I'd guess the WRX wheels are 6-1/2" wide. That's perfect for a 215/60R16, which I believe is your stock size, so I'd probably stick with that.