Hey everyone, have to finish placing my order tomorrow for new wheels for the VR4. Currently has 17 x 8 and I would like to go to 18". Can anyone tell me if I can go 18 x 8.5 without interfering with the steering or causing any friction in the wheel-well? How about 18 x 8's? There were a lot more 18 x 8.5 in the styles I wanted so that is the big question. What experience do you have with it?

Thanks!

Bret

18 x 8 or 18x 8.5 would be just fine. You may even go 18x 9 or 9.5 if you get the correct offset. The tire size for 18 x 8 or 8.5 would be 245/40/18. for 9 or 9.5 you would need 265/35/18 to keep the proper diameter for the speedo to work within spec.

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~Joe - aka spider gear destroyer
'94 Stealth R/T
-Lightly Modded ;)

what about offset joe?

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Bad decisions make good stories.
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I was hoping someone else would chime in with this as it is wheel specific. The place you buy the wheels from or the company who made them should be able to give you this information.

_________________
~Joe - aka spider gear destroyer
'94 Stealth R/T
-Lightly Modded ;)

We'll, this project is more difficult than I thought. The off-set on a 18 x 8 is a whopping +45. Most companies when they advertise "high offset" mean a +38. I had my wheel shop call about 10 different distributors and they had about six total wheels to choose from, none of them great. The offset only gets worse as you go up to 18x8.5 or 18x9.

Any thoughts? I am going to scour the internet a bit but any thoughts would help.

Can different calipers be put on to reduce the off-set?

Thanks,

Bret

Sure, but that won't solve that one I don't think. There are always spacers, but I think most of us would boo that idea. I thought stock offset was 46mm. Eric -- do you remember your offset?

SJ

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Check out these Verde Kaos wheels. Sharp wheels. I really can't put chrome back on, even though I want to as I live on a dirt road and I just can't keep them clean so thought I would go with black. Shame these don't fit, max +38 off-set.

http://customwheel.com/custom_wheels/pr ... ts_id/1365

you need to do more research on the offset of the wheels. IIRC, the smaller the offset, the farther the wheel will stick out. So, if you go with a 8.5 or 9 then the offset will have to be less than the stock offset or the inside will rub against your caliper or strut.

so, if the stock offset is +45 and you get a +35 on the same width rim the wheel will stick out farther than stock.

More info can be found here. http://www.miata.net/garage/offset.htm

A

I found this PIAA sport mesh in black that I liked. 18x8.5 with a 42mm off-set which I was told would be fine, but now that won't fit due to the bore diameter so there are more factors at work than I realized. I think I need to take a step back and do my home-work. Anyone with inside knowledge that can run me through VR4 wheels 101 that will be at the gathering, look me up and do a brain dump. I'd like to get some solid wheels that I can hang on to for years to come. Looks like I'll have to hit the gathering with my old, worn chromes. Anyone else have any insight for the thread, feel free to throw it up here.

http://www.piaa.com/Wheels/Wheel_SportMesh.html

I have 18x9's with a 38 offset...

I have learned through trial and error that each wheel will be different. Most of the problems came from the wheels not fitting over the calipers.

So I decided to use www.tires.com. They ship you the rim with free shipping, then as long as you don't "mount" the wheel to the car then you can ship it back for a full refund. You will have to pay shipping, which was only like $9 at fedex for me. YMMV

I never got around to trying these, but I still want too. It would be sweet to have a Hot Wheels rim.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direc ... %2FMinivan

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Superjfly
'92 VR4

Great link Superjfly, thanks. This was helpful also off that same site regarding off-sets, bolt patterns, etc.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoWheelSize.dos

I'm kind of leaning towards these Enkei RZ-5 in Gunmetal. I didn't like them at first but they are growing on me and they fit the car. Wish I could see them on a vehicle. I'm definately wating until after the gathering to see what others have on their vehicles.

http://www.enkei.com/Performance%20specs/RZ-5.html