I am currently looking at buying a set of rota grids and the guy said they are 40 offset...now I've seen wheels for a civic that are 43, 40, 42.. my question is what do these numbers mean and if you may know will the 40 offset fit a 4 lug 99 civic ex. thanks

 

it is how far the outer lip (where the tire meets the rim) sticks out past the center of the rim (area by lug nuts)

there are a few of these posts so search

 

i tried the search i got a lot of people asking the offsets and if they will fit FWD and RWD cars...but as one said 40 should be ok i guess i will just go with it but i did want to know what it was...i kinda understand what u mean thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civictildeath &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it is how far the outer lip (where the tire meets the rim) sticks out past the center of the rim (area by lug nuts)

there are a few of these posts so search</TD></TR></TABLE>

the amount of lip is rim specific, offset has something to do with it but on alot of wheels a smaller or larger offset will not affect lip.
this is a good friend of mine's car. his rear wheel is a 17x9 and around a +12 offset (i could be wrong on these numbers)

as you can see there is virturally no lip to speak of, thats because of the rim design.

offset is a measurment of how far away from center the hub is.

0 offset means it is directly in the middle of the wheel. +32 means its 32mm away from the centerline of the wheel. etc etc.

here
http://www.discounttire.com/dt...s.jsp

 

i stand corrected

*calls ******* that told me this incorrect info to bitch while he is sleeping

i apologize on me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civictildeath &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i stand corrected

*calls ******* that told me this incorrect info to bitch while he is sleeping

i apologize on me</TD></TR></TABLE>
no worries
its a realy common misconception.

 

Offset is how far the hub mounting point of the wheel is from the center of the wheel.

For example, assuming the width of the wheel is the same, a +25mm offset on a Honda would make the wheel stick out past the fender line, and just look plain stupid.

On the contrast, if the offset was +60mm, the wheel would tuckand most likely rub the fenderliner and would almost be impossible to make a full turn.