Aggressive, yet functional offets
 

Hey guys. Im about ready to pull the trigger on ordering a set of wheels for my FD. Last time the car was on the road, I literally had half a dozen different sets of wheels within a years time. I can be very indecisive, and I dont want to be doing that this time around. Im ordering wheels where I can specify sizes and offsets to pretty much whatever I want. I do like very aggressive, low offsets, yet I will be tracking the car and dont want to go too extreme. Needing to roll fenders is a given, I own an eastwood roller and will make clearance as necessary, although dont want to get too extreme. Anyway, Ive decided I want to run a 265/35r18F, and 285/30r18R stagger. Keeping the look in mind I want, Im thinking of ordering wheels in 18x9.5 + 35F, and 18x10 +35R. My thinking is that its a bit more aggressive than the usual ~+45-50 offsets, but not so extreme where I can run a lowered ride-height and do aggressive driving. In the past Ive ran 18x9.5+45F with no issue whatsoever on factory unrolled fenders, as well as 18x10+50 with 285/30 with a slight roll, so I dont think the slight bit of negative offset should be that much of an issue up front. I sort of feel as if its a noob question, but I just wanted some more input before I pulled the trigger on the purchase. Any insight or suggestions would be more than welcome. Thanks!

Why do you want to order in those offsets? I'm asking because looks like you had the perfect offset in your previous set of wheels. Do the new ones you're buying have a wider lip or slight difference in design (concave etc.) in lower offsets?

You can still buy higher offsets and give yourself the option to use spacers and even stretch in the future if you want a more aggressive look. This is coming from someone who will be buying +45/+40 soon so that's my 0.02.

For the rear I'm pretty sure you might have to flare the fenders with those tires. I currently run 265s on 18x9.5 40mm offset and with my current suspension (eibach springs) set up I can put a 5mm spacer but my rear I still have a 2-3 finger gap. On my last FD I ran 18x10 44mm offset with 275s on tein flex. Even though it didn't rub, the cleareance between the fender lip and the tire was about 1mm if even that.

Personally i don't like 265/35-18 up front.... too tall for my tastes.

My current (soon to be replaced) track wheels are RPF1 in 18x9.5 +45 and 18x10 +38, 255/35 and 265/35 Yoko AD08s. See sig for fitment..... IMO almost perfect with stock fenders and zero rubbing. The rear is VERY VERY close, I don't think I could go another mm :lol:

For my new set of Fikse coming in, I ordered what I think is pretty aggressive sizing in order to get some nice lip: 18x9.5 +38 and 18x10 +32. Plan is to run the same tire sizes and roll all four fenders :)

^Rich by the 265/35 being too tall, is that just aesthetically speaking? Its only .3" greater in diameter than your 255/35. You must have a good eye ;) Haha, I guess I just never noticed, I ran the 265/35 on all 4 on my last set of 18x9.5 +45 SSR GT2s, zero rubbing issues and that was with Konis and RSR race springs,stock fenders. And the sizing Im asking about is 3mm more negative out front, and 3mm less out back.. so Im assuming by you telling me what you ordered you think Ill be ok with mine?

Aesthetics only, for the wheel being more "flush". Just going by previous experience, yes the last set of 18x10+50 I ran 285/30, and I suppose that is ideal as far as clearance goes, but that big tire still looked slightly tucked out back, and I want to bring it out a bit. Spacers I suppose would be an option, but I just view that as a band aid of sorts, and would rather not do that, especially at the track.

width and offset are similar, but i'm going to run 255/265 compared to your proposed 265/285. That right there makes a big difference.

Also, too tall relative to the rears..... I don't know about you, but 1/2 an inch taller in front compared to rear looks pretty goofy. I don't want my car to look like it's launching when it's just chillin' in the driveway :lol:

^ Haha, very true. I was running symmetrical sizing when I had mine, didnt really think about it compared to the shorter 285 rears.

[quote=GoodfellaFD3S;10395423]

My current (soon to be replaced) track wheels are RPF1 in 18x9.5 +45 and 18x10 +38, 255/35 and 265/35 Yoko AD08s. See sig for fitment..... IMO almost perfect with stock fenders and zero rubbing. The rear is VERY VERY close, I don't think I could go another mm :lol:

When are you planning to sell your RPF1's I am interested.:nod:
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OP, Are you willing to roll your fenders?

Also, what will you do with the car?

As I mention in the original post, I understand fender rolling will be a must and will do as needed. I just dont want to get too extreme with it. Car will be mostly a weekend street/trackday car.

If you want to run 255s all around good street tires (ADVAN AD08, Z1 Star Spec, etc)...I would be looking at high 30s for front offset, and high teens or a +20 for the rear offset. It depends on alignment settings and ride height but this is what I would be looking at. You can do this even with 265s even depending on profile, and a few things.

Those are offsets for a 10 inch wide front, and 10 inch wide rear. I like to run same size tire all around, so a low offset 9.5 in the rear, with a matching 9.5 higher offset front is not bad either.

Good tires and a proper alignment make all the difference in good handling and proper tire wear.

I'm with you here. I'm currently running a 275/35 on the rear with a 255/35 front on 9's and 10's (which is actually a near-perfect street combo). I'd go with a 285/30 rear, but I just can't get around the fact that the front will be taller (I can tell), and it'll screw up the rake of the car unless you jack the rear up a bit. I can't quite get around the idea of going down to a 245/35 in front, because then the degree of stretch on a 9" wheel vs. the 285 on a 10" will be off.

I'm seriously considering having 1/2 to 1" added to the back of my BBS, so I can run a 295/30 with a 255/35 front. That would be PERFECT.

Rich, what size tyres will you be using with your Fikse wheels?

Enkei RPF1s also come in 18x9.5 +38. If you had to go with RPF1 again would you go with +38 or +45 front?

I am asking because 18x9.5 +45F - 18x10 +38R has been one of the most popular set-ups. The rear in that set-up sits perfectly flush but the front has always looked like it needed to be a little more outwards (maybe needs something like a 3mm spacers with +45 offset).

I've recently crossed over to the darkside and got myself an Apple Mac so I can't open excel sheets atm which means I can't check wheel and tyre size calculator but I'm thinking the following set-up could do for an aggressive yet functional set-up; afaik no one in the forum has this exact set-up:

18x9.5 +38 235/40 (F)
18x10 +38 265/35 (R)

Has little stretch both in front and rear but nothing extreme and both tyre sizes have the same diameter.

Thanks guys. I ended up ordering a set of wheels a bit more extreme offset wise than I had ever planned on going with, but I will make fender modifications as neccessary while still running some decent rubber, and being symmetrical alll around. Ill post more pictures with results shortly :)

I was (and still am) considering picking up a set of RPF1s for strickly track duties. If I do, I will do the 18x10 +38 all the way around, with a 255/35r18. That tire size is still within the tire manufactures suggested sizing for a 10" wheel, so I dont consider it a "stretch" or performance inhibitor, and with a good tire like a AD08 the 255s should provide sufficient traction. Of course some front fender modification will still be necessary.