Has anyone had any experience with say, a 15x7.5" 43 offset wheel? Wondering if they'll fit on a '94 civic, and clear all suspension arms. Volk TE-37and Racing Hart CP-035's come in this size. I think they'd be great for some 225/45-15 Hoosier r3s03's...

 

I dont think TE37 make 15x7.5 w/43 offset for the civic or teg. At least not for the American market. However, I have a set of 15x7 w/43 offset and they work very well with 225 45 15 hoosiers. BTW, they're on a 92 civic hatch.

 

it's listed here... http://www.shopresponse.com/volk_wheels.html
you may be right though. It's not listed in some of the other sites. It really bothers me when websites don't have phone numbers

 

Most if not all 225s will fit fine on a 7" wide wheel.

 

I can tell you that a 15x7" with a 45mm offset will hit the rear upper control arms. A 15x7.5" would need a 40mm offset and would stick out from the fenderwells so you wouldn't be able to drop it too much.

But seriously though would your car be able to use all of that wheel?

 

The wider the wheel, the more contact patch there is. That's why I went with 7.5" rims for STX, and that's why the Street Prepared guys run 9" wide wheels. But, you should already know that


[Modified by Todd00, 3:31 PM 3/1/2002]

 

"...a 15x7" with a 45mm offset will hit the rear upper control arms."

Hits on the front or rear? Can the situation be remedied by shaving some metal on the arm?

" But seriously though would your car be able to use all of that wheel?"

The more contact patch, the better the grip right?

 

7.5" or even 8" width can be used in the front (and tucked in). 8.5" 9" wide as seen in autox cars... they'll stick out some.

wider contact patch increase the cornering limit. stretching the tires on wider rim also helps with shaper steering and better turn in response.

on rear to tuck under fender widest would be about 15x7 et 40.

i ran 15x6.5 et43 (with 10 mm spacer, effectively et33) with 205/50/15 BFG KD's and it rubs on the rear on hard transitions. rolling/cutting the lip would solve it. i have 2" wheel to fender gap and with 560 lbs/" springs I was surprised it compressed enough to rub!

 

Well i've done some calculations with the wheel sizes and offsets. I'm running a 15x7 38mm offset K1 with 205/50 15 Hoosiers now. Moving to a 15x7.5 43mm offset wheel with a 225/45 15 r3s03 will move the inner wheel face/lip inboard(toward centerline of vehicle) 11.35mm(.45"), and the outer wheel face/lip outboard 1.35mm(.05"). I'll have to get the car on a lift to figure out how much room there is to any of the suspensoin components on the back side.
I'm thinking the 15x7.5 43mm offset may not work. Mainly because I know the 225/45 15 quite a bit wider, and may rub with the outer wheel face moving out that 1.35mm.
hmmm....anyone have a wheel with the 15x7.5 43-45offset and 4x100 bolt pattern parameters that they want to send me for test fitment??? ...and maybe an old, crusty 225/45 15 hoosier they're going to throw out??? I'll pay the shipping to me and back!...
Thanks for the insight fellas,
Jeff-in need of a stupid amount of grip...


[Modified by jg, 6:00 AM 3/2/2002]

 

Wider is not always better: http://www.hondavision.com/showthrea...&threadid=2886

 

you don't think a narrower tire on the same diameter wheel will give less traction do you? We're talking 15x7 vs. 15x7.5 wheel, not 15 vs. 17. Thanks for the reading. I've never been to that board.

 

and the point in reference to that thread is? wider rims = wider contact patch = better cornering. nothing in that thread is really stating otherwise, unless you're refering to "Wider is better usually, but there is an optimum point for a given car. A car on 16s with 215 tires may be faster around a track than the same car, same driver, on the same track with 17s and 225 tires."

and FWIW, F1 have large side walls because of stupid rules. If there were no limits, they would be on low profile tires.

I just got back from buttonwillow. Tom who is a Toyo engineer was out testing. He had 215/40/17 on 17x7 vs 205/50/15 on 15x7, both Toyo RA1's. He said the 17's felt better. More info as I catch up to him later.