I'm looking to upgrade the wheels on my stock 2004 Enthusiast. Three days of research here and everywhere else leaves me informed but still confused.

I'm looking at 18" Kazera KZ-Fs with Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS tires.

My first thought was to go with 18x9 +33 with 245/40 up front and 18x10 +38 with 275/40 in the rear, but it seems to me that +38 may be a little too high of an offset, based on this chart.

So then my question becomes, do I just go 18x9 +33 all the way around? Will there be any issue still using 245/40s up front and 275/40s in the rear? They both fall in the rim width range (albiet at the top and bottom of the range, respectively).

Or should I just get spacers for the rear? What size spacers (5, 10, 15mm)?

I'm leaning towards the spacers for now, as I'm assuming the tire widths I'm looking at will fit better on those rims. I don't have a desire to do any fender modification either.

Any help is appreciated!

 

A 10" +38 is more aggressive than a 9" +33, so I would definetely get the 10" wide rear. I would run a 10mm spacer front and 15mm spacer in the rear, effectively giving you +23 front/rear.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, your suggestion sounds like it's the best way to go with this setup.

 

Use a offset calculator to compare your current wheels to the new wheels. With the new dimensions, check the car with a tape. Do you clear the suspension, brakes calipers and fenders? Reference: http://www.1010tires.com/WheelOffsetCalculator.asp

 

Front: Go with the 9 +33 w/5mm spacer
Rear: Go with the 10 +38 w/10mm spacer

That would be perfect.

Run a 275/35/18 up front, and a 295/35/18 rear. Those are the perfect tire sizes for those widths as well.

I am recomending a more conservative 5mm front spacer becasue with a 9"
+22 offset I rub up front.

JET

 

Camber, ride height, etc will also play a roll in how agressive you want your setup to be.

 

I went ahead and pulled the trigger on 18x9, 245/40s up front with 5mm Ichiba spacers, and 18x10, 275/40 in the rear with 10mm spacers. I'll be sure to post before and after pictures.

Rickdogg: I'm running stock suspension, etc for the foreseeable future.

JETPILOT: Thanks for the suggestion on the spacers. The Potenza RE960AS tires I was looking at on tirerack.com don't come in the wider sizes you suggested, and I looked around but didn't find any other brands that I wanted to buy that came in those sizes.

Thanks guys! I can't wait until the weather is a bit more condusive to cruising around. Up next: tint and blacking out my lights.