What source / sources are you basing you statements off of???
Check Tire Rack, there's wheels that have an offset as low as +37 that they recommend for the speed3./
Here is one example that supports my staements, it was taken off of Sport Compact Car's website.
Dear Dave - Readers Letters
Q. Marketing vs. Physics
I've heard that wheels with incorrect offset increase steering kickback, torque steer and tramlining. Note the following, taken from your Evo vs. STI project:
"Counting on Prodrive's Subaru experience, we assumed the offset would be close to the stock 53mm, but these were 43mm. This is what people in the wheel business call an 'aggressive fit.' The wheels are pushed so far to the outside, they barely clear the fenders. This looks good, but die-hard perfectionist tech geeks like us call this kind of fitment 'doesn't fit.' Changing the offset by 10mm usually screws up steering feel and... because of the 43mm offset, the car now has noticeable torque steer."
If the 43mm offset used on the Prodrive wheels (versus the stock 53mm) made the wheels stick out by 10mm, didn't it act like a 10mm wheel spacer? My mind is saying: "wider is better for handling and these Prodrive wheels would be doing the same thing." Please educate me and tell me where my thinking is flawed.Samuel MathewPontiac, MI
A. The flaw in your thinking is where you take a marketing slogan and use it as an engineering principle. You're absolutely right that 10mm less offset is the same as a 10mm spacer, but who (other than the guy selling you the spacer) says the spacer will automatically make your car handle better?
The relationship between the tire centerline and the steering axis was pretty well worked out by the factory and changing it can have complex consequences. In simple, two-dimensional terms, the point where the steering axis hits the ground (The Dave Point-and don't you forget it) is effectively a pivot point. A front driver pulls the car forward with the tires, and does so, effectively, at the center of the tire's contact patch. The distance between this center and The Dave Point (a distance called the scrub radius) is effectively the lever arm with which the tire tries to steer the wheel around The Dave Point, yanking the steering wheel out of your hands.
Engineers balance this force with various other wheel-yanking forces coming from, say, the axles, and various complex three-dimensional suspension realities. Then deal with them through steering geometry, power steering valving, and strategic use of friction. Mess with this lever arm and you'll feel it in the wheel.
Does a wider track make a car handle better in spite of this? Depends on how you define handle. In terms of pure cornering grip, maybe. But if you consider the car's willingness to go where it's pointed on uneven surfaces, or how much you have to fight the wheel when hitting the gas or brakes (torque steer happens under braking too), then the answer isn't so clear.
None of this is a condemnation of wheel spacers, just the way they're marketed and used. If predictable, easy-to-control handling means more than looks, try to keep the offset within 5mm of stock. If the wheels you want are only available in a higher offset, use a high-quality spacer (preferably a billet, hubcentric one like those made by Eibach and H&R) to get the wheel where it belongs. If you use a bolt-through spacer (as opposed to the thicker ones that have their own studs) make sure the lug nuts engage the studs by at least the width of the stud. On a 12mm x 1.5 lug nut, that means at least eight turns of thread engagement; on a 12mm x 1.25, at least 9.5 turns.
