[duncaroo]

Hey All,

I am looking at upsizing the wheels on my 2010 Outback 2.0D Premium.

I am looking at some TSW Nurburgrings, which come in two offset options, 35 and 45.

TSW Alloy Wheels Australia - NURBURGRING Alloy Wheels

OE wheels: 17 x 7inch w/ 48mm offset.
OE tyres: 225/60/R17

New Wheels: 18 x 8inch w/ 35 or 45mm offset
New tyres: 245/50/R18

I have done some research regarding the change over using some online calculators and the new tyre size comes to within 0.1% of the OE set up, so no problems there, however my question is with how offset of the new wheel will effect performance and wear.

With some help from a calculator I found online:

- the wheels with the 45mm offset would have: "10mm LESS clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 16mm"

- the wheels with 35mm offset would have "THE SAME clearance on the strut side, and the outside edge of the wheel will EXTEND an extra 26mm"

Can anyone advise which of these set ups will have best performance benefits, or which will have a negative effect on performance, tyre wear, hub stress etc?

Thanks

 

[mparker762]

I've got the TSW Nurburgrings with 45mm offset on my 2013, with 235/50-18 size tires. Mine are flush with the side of the wheel wells. I suspect the 35 offsets will stick out like Dumbo Ears.

 

[idosubaru]

agreed. i believe those wider ones are going to stress the wheel bearings more too. a little won't matter but i wouldn't go ape nuts.

 

[subiesailor]

Wider wheels will strain the ball joint for sure common issue for all the jumbo tire truck guys they go through suspension parts like they are chewing gum

 

[duncaroo]

I've got the TSW Nurburgrings with 45mm offset on my 2013, with 235/50-18 size tires. Mine are flush with the side of the wheel wells. I suspect the 35 offsets will stick out like Dumbo Ears.

Got any pics?

How does it drive? Any problems with clearance on the inside? Why did you go with 235 as opposed to 245?

Thanks

 

[Euchre]

To really answer this correctly, you'd need to know something about the scrub radius of the suspension setup. Essentially, you want the king pin axis to pass through the center of the contact patch of the tire. In a stock suspension, this may not be the case, so changing the offset slightly might actually help improve it.

 

[mparker762]

Got any pics?

How does it drive? Any problems with clearance on the inside? Why did you go with 235 as opposed to 245?

Thanks

I've posted pics on this forum somewhere. search for nurburgring and you should find them. (edit see post http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...ot-super-sport-2012-outback-3.html#post461507)

It drives fine. Hard to tell how much of the handling change was due to the bigger wheel, and how much was due to the awesome rubber (michelin pilot supersport).

I went with the 45mm offset because it was about the least objectionable offset I could find on a wheel that got me into good wheels.

The problem is threefold - this car already has a large offset, very little room between the wheel and strut, and very little room before the wheel extends beyond the fender (illegal in my area). This leaves us with very little room to upsize things - every mm counts.

Adding an inch to the width of the wheel reduces the gap to the strut by about 13mm. The 45mm offset was pretty close to the factory offset, though in reality the extra wheel width needs a bit of extra offset as well - 50mm would probably have been about right. But the 45mm gives us back 3 mm of that gap and should be close enough to not cause a problem. The 35mm offset gets us a lot more room but then the wheels stick out which would unduly interest the cops, and look really idiotic to boot.

This is the same logic that drove me to 235 over 245. 245's are closer to the stock diameter and get a bit more rubber on the ground, but are a bit wider and more likely to rub (may be fine with some combinations of wheel and driving styles, may rub with others).

Upshot is the 235's on the 45mm offset look great, are flush with the body, and just miss the struts even under the sort of heavy lateral loads that the MPSS's can generate.

 

[cardoc]

Same here. Just lowered the car and installed 18x7.5 with 45mm offset, 245/45/18 treads and realigned afterword. Handles great, tires run smooth without noise. I can feel the difference in the extra contact patch.

.

 

[mparker762]

Got any pics?

see this post:http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...ot-super-sport-2012-outback-3.html#post461507

 

[duncaroo]

mparker762, Thanks!

Great detailed info, very useful and much appreciated.