Trying to buy 15" aftermarket rims for my '85 GSL-SE. What size does it have to be to fit properly?

 

38

 

what you mean by 38? Treat me like a 10 year-old and break it down. I'm getting 15" x 7" inch rims for front and back . . . WTF is 38??

 

Well your title was asking for rim offset. 38 means your wheels will need a +38mm offset to fit properly.

 

means 38mm (millimeters)

I stole this from tirerack.com...

The offset of a wheel is the distance from its hub mounting surface to the centerline of the wheel. The offset can be one of three types (measured in millimeters).*

Zero Offset
The hub mounting surface is even with the centerline of the wheel.

Positive
The hub mounting surface is toward the front or wheel side of the wheel. Positive offset wheels are generally found on front wheel drive cars and newer rear drive cars.

Negative
The hub mounting surface is toward the back or brake side of the wheels centerline. "Deep dish" wheels are typically a negative offset.

If the offset of the wheel is not correct for the car, the handling can be adversely affected. When the width of the wheel changes, the offset also changes numerically. If the offset were to stay the same while you added width, the additional width would be split evenly between the inside and outside. For most cars, this won't work correctly. We have test fitted thousands of different vehicles for proper fitment. Our extensive database allows our sales staff to offer you the perfect fit for your vehicle.

*Backspacing, similar to offset, is the distance from the hub mounting surface to the inside lip of the wheel (measured in inches).

Although when I put in my info for a 85 gsl-se, tire rack quotes me a 44mm offset so I don't know if its 38 or 44. I believe this is because they're quoting a 6 inch wide wheel. Aren't the factory wheels like 5.5 inch? I guess to compensate for a wheel thats 1/2 inch wider, they shifted the offset 6mm.

 

Never tried +38, but I've had 3 sets of wheels that were 15x7 and all +7 offset, always looked great. Ran 205 50 15s on all, here's a shot:

 

i dont know if you have the -se swap but the gsl-se is 38 and all others are 15 i think

 

Yes I have the -SE Swap

 

wewt! -SE FTW!

on topic: anyone know a good set of 15-16" wheels lighter than 15" Konig Reasons with the correct offset? I'm looking for some AutoX wheels I can put slicks on and use as my swap set for the track

 

Diamond Racing Wheels should be lighter.

 

You don't need to have the exact perfect offset, just as long as it clears the brake and suspension components on our cars (which isn't hard) and doesn't hit the inside of the fenders (which I don't think applies to our cars) the offset is good.

 

They're all in the 20lb/wheel range, but they look ugly...

I'm all for function over form, but I think Enkei has a featherweight rim that comes in at 15lb/wheel and actually looks decent.

Now if I could only find it again...

 

found 'em!
1010 tires has an awesome search engine that you can actually put weight in the search parameters

http://www.1010tires.com/wheel.asp?w...eather+-+Black

 

how much do the vert bbs wheels weigh?

 

i'm running a 15x8 +15 wheel with a 195/50 stretched over it and it fits like a hero.

 

Is that lowered at all? or stock height? cause those are sexeh. what brand/model?

 

its been lowered a heap but its going lower in the summer. the rims are sportmaxx 501's

 

SICK!!! Im going to be going with 16x8 sportmax's....should I run a 195/45 or 205/40? 205/45? Or 195/40 lol

 

depends how much sidewall or stretch you want. how low you want the car...etc etc.

 

Is it possible to run a +0 offset all the way around with 16x8's? 195/45 or 195/40 tires....how big of a spacer would be needed?