offset?

[wee-one]

In terms of rims/wheels, what exactly does offset refer to...and how would/should that affect the choice of rims for my car?

[Simon]

Re: offset?

put in laymans terms, offset is the distance from the brake to the wheel. the smaller the offset, the further out the wheel sits. so you can go as small an offset you want, but never have an offset higher than the stock wheel, as you'll most likely not clear the brakes.

ie. on my car, i have 35 offset fronts, and 13 rears. so my rear is basically a 22mm spacer built in, because its spaced 22mm further out compared to the front.

notice how my rears sit out further than the fronts.


so for your car, find out the stock offset and go from there.

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: offset?

For a MK3 the standard is around 35. You should not get anything more then 40 or you will have brake clearence issues and once you get into low offsets say around 20 you may have fender issues. Width also has to be considered once you start getting into widths around 8" you may have fender issues.

I am going to be running 17x7.5 with an offset of 32 all around and with a drop that means my fenders need to be rolled.

[wee-one]

Re: offset?

why would you want your rear wheels to be further out?

[Canadian Turbo]

Re: offset?

In rear wheel drive cars it can be for perfomance for us it is all looks!!

[Kor]

Re: offset?

In rear wheel drive cars it can be for perfomance for us it is all looks!!

Except when you do it for looks, people look at you funny because they know its not RWD... ;

[Simon]

Re: offset?

Except when you do it for looks, people look at you funny because they know its not RWD... ;

what are you trying to say? ur dead.

[1.8Trip]

Re: offset?

Also, comparing offsets between different rims is only really useful if you are comparing rims that are the same width.