I have some questions concerning wheel offsets.

I have the 16" stock wheels and I'm looking at some MSR 17" style 043 wheels with a 35mm offset. I'm going to get the gray wheels since my car is dark silver. I already had them beside my car and they go well. Here is the link for the wheels: http://www.msrwheels.com/auto_car_wheels.cfm?id=368#

Does the smaller offset actually stick out more and will they work with my car? Also, the wheel weighs 22lbs and I plan on getting non-runflat tires this time around. Is it possible to stay close to factory wheel/tire weight or will these wheels throw things off?

I'm not sure what tire I'm going to get yet. I've been reading about 215/45 series tires, but I'm not sure which one is the best for me.

I appreciate any suggestions.

 

A smaller offset will stick out more, but you do have some room to work with. Having wheels/tires that weigh less is a good thing. Don't worry about trying to match the heavy OEM run flats. I just got some wheels and snow tires (planning ahead) that that come in at a combined weight of 32 lb, so it sounds like you can beat that number

 

Where possible you always want to reduce the weight of the wheels and tires. This improves fuel economy, braking distant, acceleration and handling.

 

I'm not sure whether that offset will work. Usually, wheels with +40mm are used. 5mm, might not make a difference.

Your 16" wheels are probably a lot lighter than 22 lbs. The factory 17" are about that weight, and they are considered heavy. My 16x7 wheels are 16 lbs., and 18 lb. 17" wheels are easy to find. You should be able locate some that look very similar. That is a fairly common design.

I assume you are going for looks, rather than performance. If you want performance, you may not be gaining much by going to 17". Get a 16x7" wheel that weighs 14 lbs. or less, and put 205 or 215 width tires on it.

 

I ran 16's with 36mm offset....had plenty of room and no issues and loved the handling too. And ran only 195/55 Grids and they were awesome.

Prefer that over my current 18's with 42mm...........

 

I'm looking at 17s mainly for looks. The thing that I'm thinking about is the fact that putting springs on the car with different 16s should essentially give me the same look. I would also get non-runflat tires which should make the wheels (if I get 16s) lighter than stock.

What do you guys think?

 

Width is a very important factor when talking offsets.

The hub of a 6.5" wheel with a +42 offset is in the same location as a +35 offset 7" wheel.

Use this calculator when picking wheels.

http://www.bigcustomwheels.com/info_specs.jsp

 

How wide and what is the offset of the factory 16" wheel? Also, what is the tire size?

 

Look on the wheel, it will tell you.

Use the calc to determine proper tire size.

 

As far as tire size. If you go to 17s I highly suggest 215/45s width is a friend but also if you go less then that the ride will be horrible and you could run the chance of bending your rims. Trust me I did it when I ran 215/40/r17s.

 

I would say wheel quality would play more into that than aspect ratio.

Going from a 215/40 to a 215/45 is only 10mm or so (depending on manufacturers) more rubber in the sidewall.