So I ended up getting new wheels put on my Z after I got it because I thought the ones on it were hideous (they were not stock). The dealer said they would give me a set of the stock wheels if they find any, but they haven't yet so I doubt i'll get anything from them.

Anyway, when I went to get wheels at Les Schwab (I know some people hate them but i've had good experience with them in the past), they never even told me about offset or anything... Anyway I posted pics of my ride here and some of you guys said the offset sucked and the wheels where too far inside the body. At first, it didn't really bother me... But now that i've had the car awhile and have had time to sit and look at it, its really starting to bug me! I really wanna just get some proper wheels (want some Volk or Work wheels) but I can't afford that right now.

One thing to consider is I do autocross this car, so i've heard wheel spacers add a lot of stress and can crack causing horrible issues. Can you guys share experiences or problems with this? Should I do this? How much spacing should I add? I'm thinking 30 or 35 mm. but I dunno.

Anyway here are a few pics for reference:


Here are the rims that were on it when I bought it, I think they are ugly...

 

without question! u need spacers badlyyyyyyyy...and get a drop

 

Well can you give me more than that? lol... Are spacers going to cause problems for autocrossing?

As for a drop... yeah, I wanna do that, but its all money man. In a few months once the wheels and tires are paid off I might.

 

Definitely. Don't worry, I know a guy who goes to track and drift his Z with 30mm spacers on. You should be fine.

 

I probably wont run on them more than a year... but still its a concern.

Any thoughts on how far out I should go? 35 seems about right...

Are there any negatives to spacers? It will look a bit weird seeing the brake rotors further inside the wheel.

 

I wouldn't worry about how the brakes will look, because it looks weird'er the way it is now. It's hard to say how big you should go. Easiest way is to measure and go from there. Like I say hard to determine from pics what size you need, but I wouldn't go more than 25mm on the rear. 35 is close to 1.5" which is way to big and I'm not sure how many if any people make them that big.

So I would go with something like 20 or 25 rear and 10 or 15 front.

Another option is search for pics of wheels in your widths, with posted offsets and use spacers to achieve the same or close to same offset as what you see.

You don't want to push them so far out that you have to roll the fenders, right?

 

You have to get some spacers right away. If you break extended studs no big deal. At least you will look cool.

 

^^^what he said^^^

 

um, not to be an *******s but the new ones arent much better, let alone their small size and bad fitment..i think you just need to get some better fiting wheels

 

I suggest new wheels with the correct offset.

 

It's not even worth putting more money into. Sell them, count your losses, and buy some new wheels. It looks like you're driving on 4 blinging spare tires.

 

QFT.

 

Sell those monstrosities now.

Those were made for a 1998 corrola.

 

sunken battleship look is out, research sizes fitment before buying not after.

 

I wasn't aware of offset and how it worked before I got the wheels. I'm a newb to wheels and the guy knew that when I was purchasing, so he either forgot to explain it to me, or didn't want to just so I would buy wheels from them.

Needless to say I don't have money to get new wheels, and spacers would just be a temporary solution which sounds like what I might do.

I don't like these wheels much better but I made the mistake and i'm stuck with them now. I'll just have to deal with it for now until I have more money, its as simple as that.

Thanks for the replies and info guys... much appreciated.

 

spacers are fine.... you just need to give them more attention...be good about torque'n them correctly and stuff. if not then you can have broken stud problems on your spacers. do a search under my name and see what im talking about....

if you buy a extra set of spacers another words 4 total on the car and a 2nd set just in case you should be okay.


- j

 

Well I dunno after looking around I might be able to buy some new wheens then sell the TSW's I have now. I could hopefully get about $150 each for them on Craigslist, maybe sell the tires with them since the fronts are still pretty new andl, well the rears are at about 70% left so maybe add another $250 for tires included and just sell them locally. That would allow me to get new wheels and tires but i'd lose a little money... but it would be near the same amount just getting spacers.

Only problem is since I still don't completely understand how this offset works despite people trying to explain it to me I need a bit of help. I've found two sets of wheels that are pretty cheap that I like, and i'd like your opinion on them as well if you think they should have good fitment.

So....... what do you guys think of these?

Kazera KZ-F's:
18x18.5 and 18x10.5, 30mm and 44mm offset respectively.
This would run me about $716 just for the wheels.





Kazera KZ-A's:
18x18.5 and 18x9.5, 30mm and 35mm offset respectively.
This would run me about $716 just for the wheels.





Compared to the wheels I have now:

 

you want at least 9.5 or higher widths, and +20 or lower offsets.

 

Autocrossing a tubby roadster along with the heavy-*** rims you're looking at . . . FTL.

 

Not there to win, there to have fun... If I wanted to win I wouldn't get a Z, period.