Wheels and Offsets (Pics)

hatmeow

hatmeow

Turbo is the only way....
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Guys,

Something i couldn't quite figure out and need your help.

I have a set of RS4 reps for my A3 with ET43 offset. However, when I installed my Cayenne 6 pot calipers the wheel needed much more clearance and I had to use 10mm spacers to make everything work again.

Does that mean I can go for wheels with offsets that are ET33? Is ET43 + 10mm spacer the same as ET33 or are there other things that are different?

I am in the market for new wheels and would appreciate if you guys can give me some pointers.

Thanks!
IMG_0115_resize.jpg
 
ET33 will stick out MILES!!!! I have a set of 19" ET41 and they stick out a fair old wack so ET33 will be insane pokage!!!!!!!!
 
wow those breaks look great lol mahussive i want em ....

hatmeow said:
Guys,

Something i couldn't quite figure out and need your help.

I have a set of RS4 reps for my A3 with ET43 offset. However, when I installed my Cayenne 6 pot calipers the wheel needed much more clearance and I had to use 10mm spacers to make everything work again.

Does that mean I can go for wheels with offsets that are ET33? Is ET43 + 10mm spacer the same as ET33 or are there other things that are different?

I am in the market for new wheels and would appreciate if you guys can give me some pointers.

Thanks!
IMG_0115_resize.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Calliper clearance has very little to do with the offset of the wheels. The design is much more important. (Speak to anyone witha Leon Cupra R)

Unfortunately the cheap replicas are the problem, they are designed for normal cars with normal brakes!

Top aftermarket wheels from MTM, Speedline, BBS, Compomotive will all fit as they are deisgned for track cars.
 
Thanks for the comments on the brakes... they look super and stop on a dime, I luv them!

Nathan, I am thinking of changing the logo to a Porsche one as the original intention was to be super low key... Now it looks a bit too low key after 1 year.... Still debating..

Back to the old question. I have the 10mm spacers on the ET43 right now ans its just flush with the wing. No rubs... perfect. However is this ET43 + 10mm spacer set up equal to an ET33 rim? if its the same does that mean I can buy rims with ET33?
 
N8KOW said:
They are my cousin has the same kit on his TT. Did you pay about £1500 fitted for those boss? Porsche would have looked better than the Audi rings.
Click to expand...


Just under £1300. Got them brand new but cheap!!
 
Hatmeow - have you got any pics fm the side to see how much the wheel sticks out.

But judging by Mikeys ET41, Your ET33, Kevs ET25 - they all differ from wheel to wheel :S

Here's my offset 42 or 45 - it sits flat with the arch already...
DSC00816-1.jpg


BTW, do your rears rub. I have offset 42 (pretty sure its 42 but cant remember) but with people in the back, the rear scrubs something
 
My rears don't rub (no pun intended) and sits comfortably even with 3 in the back. I have lowered the car very slightly about 15mm with PSS10s. I have also added 5 mm spacers in the rear to make the rear look a bit wider to match the wing flush fronts.

More photos later...

I am not so sure if ET43+10mm spacers = ET33... Does it really just add up?
 
hatmeow said:
My rears don't rub (no pun intended) and sits comfortably even with 3 in the back. I have lowered the car very slightly about 15mm with PSS10s. I have also added 5 mm spacers in the rear to make the rear look a bit wider to match the wing flush fronts.

More photos later...

I am not so sure if ET43+10mm spacers = ET33... Does it really just add up?
Click to expand...

et43 + 10mm spacers makes it ET33 because your making the wheels sit further out towards the curb!!! trust me they will stick out MILES!! I have ET41 and they poke out around 5mm on the fronts, maybe a tad more.
 
Mikey said:
et43 + 10mm spacers makes it ET33 because your making the wheels sit further out towards the curb!!! trust me they will stick out MILES!! I have ET41 and they poke out around 5mm on the fronts, maybe a tad more.
Click to expand...

Mikey - I have ET42 with 225mm width and they dont poke out at all.

If yours poke out 5mm, shouldnt mine poke out 4mm ?

Im pretty sure the width of the tyre has something to do with this too as you have 9.5 IIRC.
 
The tyre manuacturer makes a difference too. My contis have a much chunkier profile that the Pirelli P Zeros I have on the rear!
 
I'm a bit relieved to read this thread as my new wheels come tomorrow and I have gone for ET35 on an 8x18" wheel.....I was a bit worried it may be too much but if yours are effectively et33 now with the spacers and dont rub, even though it is lowered then I feel more comfortable now about my order!

The brakes looks brilliant, I'd love them but dont think I'd fit them behind the wheels I've ordered.......

4748284653a9884252566l.jpg
 
SMc said:
I'm a bit relieved to read this thread as my new wheels come tomorrow and I have gone for ET35 on an 8x18" wheel.....I was a bit worried it may be too much but if yours are effectively et33 now with the spacers and dont rub, even though it is lowered then I feel more comfortable now about my order!

The brakes looks brilliant, I'd love them but dont think I'd fit them behind the wheels I've ordered.......

4748284653a9884252566l.jpg
Click to expand...

look good mate - do post up pics when they're on!

wanna see the poke :p
 
I found this site useful when i was going through the same thoughts.

http://marksink.com/tire_wheel_offset/

You can punch in your original wheel stats and the new wheel you're going to replace it with and it works out the difference between the two (how much further it sticks out etc.)

There's also a tyre calculator so you can see what effect wider/lower profile tyres have.
 
ET43 with 10 mm spacer will be ET33, BUT REMEMBER; wheels often change design in lower offsets. Therefore, a ET33 rim might have spokes that have another angle towards the rim centre.
 
if you add 10mm spacer to a ET43 rim it will be ET33..

but when it comes to caliper clearance, design i s much more important..

one more thing, i dont think ET33 is a good idea on an A3... you should keep ET max 45-40...
 
as said on here, its not to do with the offset its design. alloys like OZ MTM BBS will work because they are designed to be used with big brakes such as yours, and et 33 will poke out a lot, the standard a3 runs an offset of ET55 i have fitted rs6 alloys and they are ET45 and they are flush with the wings. yours best off paying for a set of really good alloys such as

http://www.performancealloys.com/de...sizes='18x8'&price='315'&permission=778809047

http://www.performancealloys.com/de...sizes='18x8'&price='350'&permission=778809047
 
The offset ET value is the distance between the rim's center line and its
mounting surface.
WheelOffset.jpg

So if you buy a wider rim it will stick out more while still having the same ET value as your previous rim.

Found an ET calculator here
 
Last edited:
on most setups the tyre is wider than the rim, so the width of the wheel doesnt make any difference to where the outer edge of the tyre is - only the offset makes a difference unless you go for a big stretch with a wide rim and narrow tyre, then the metal rim edge is the widest part.

so a 7.5 x 18 et54 a3 rs6 oem wheel with a 225/45/18 will have the same tyre outer edge as an 8 x 18 et54 copy if such was available.

however, a tt 9x18 or 19" et52wheel with a 225/40/18 streched on will have the metal rim much further out and might seem to stick out, but the streched tyre will be mostly in the arch and probably wouldnt catch because the height of the tyre wall keeps the metal rim well away from the arch

an 8x18 et45 copy wheel with a 225/40/18 is going to be approx 9mm further out than an oem 8x18 et54 with 225/40/18 but that should fit ok without catching unless you modify the camber. even a 235/40/18 on et45 should be ok but thats about it.

in general a high offset wheel is deeper in to the arch, and a spacer is directly additive to the offset, and a big offset with spacer is going to clear a big brake/caliper better than a low offset wheel of the same size.

low offset wheels however usually look better due the bigger natural dish towards the centre.....
 
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