Wheel/Offset Fit?
 

Let me start this off by saying that I am very new to the scene and don't know much if anything about wheels/tires/offsets. I have been trying to study up on them and put in some research for modding my 2014 BRZ (Lowering and changing wheels) and found that it would be safest(although more expensive) to go with a coilover to lower the car. Based off reviews I think i have decided on the KW V1 COILOVERS.

For the wheels I came across a set that is supposed to fit my BRZ but has a +43 offset when I have read that stock is +48, will there be any problems/camber if I go with this set of wheels?

And when it comes to rear wheel size, I have heard a wider back wheel obviously provides more traction and was wondering how wide you want your back wheel compared to front?

Coilovers: https://www.ft86speedfactory.com/kw-...vers-1001.html

Wheels: https://www.fitmentindustries.com/bu...Z&trim=Limited

Thanks

someone was kind enough to put a ton of effort into a wheel calculator for us.
https://www.ft86motorsports.com/wheelitfit/

i use it for every potential wheel option i come up with. been looking at wheels for going on 3 years now!

18x8 +43 will clear fine on the stock suspension.

as for the wheel width question, it's personal preference, with almost no performance benefit. you're correct that a wider wheel increases the grip of that tire. it also increases your costs.

but unless you're pushing 400hp on a built block, and tracking the vehicle to it's absolute limits, you'll never get to that amount of grip requirement, but add weight in the process.

a second major consideration with running a staggered setup is not only initial cost, but also recurring costs. tire rotations become impossible without dismounting and remounting tires. exacerbated wear depends specifically on the driver(i'm extremely hard on my rear tires already), but a staggered setup can increase the frequency on which you're replacing tires due to not being able to move them from the back to the front.

even the more dedicated guy's that track their cars here(which tend to be way more into tire tech than people like me who just use the car on the road) will push you towards a 'square' setup, meaning equal dimensions front and rear.

even in more extreme situations like tracking the car, it's generally agreed you'll get more life out of the tires, and at the stock level of power, the stock tire size is the most competitive, just in a stickier model.

overall, a staggered setup is for those that need to prove themselves to others, waste money, and/or be on magazine covers. it offers no significant performance benefit over a square setup of better performing tires than what the car comes with-- the tires the car comes with are there to enhance some of the playful characteristics and increase driver feedback(this is spectacular to learning to drive the car more like a friend, instead of banging on it like a blunt object), but are not the stickiest, or cheapest tires to maintain on the car.

Gotcha, so a wider rear wheel is for the most part useless and just adds to the weight unless I will be doing a ton of tuning to the engine. I would keep the stock suspension but am looking to lower the car and heard that simply replacing the springs can be damaging to the car over time and that's one of the major reasons I am looking to go with coilovers. I have pretty much zero intentions of tracking the car at the moment and will mostly be used for driving around the city/town.

Would you suggest an LCA to fix a slight camber? I've heard that lowering the car an 1-2 inch can create a negative camber and heard an LCA is mainly the only way to fix it.

Also, with that link you sent, might be a stupid question but would my camber be a -5 considering stock is 48 and the rims I am looking at are a 43 offset?


Thanks for all the info!

I’ve heard springs damage stock struts if you have like a 1.2+ inch drop. You should be okay with quality springs from brands like RCE and Eibach that offer a 0.8-1.0 inch drop. You could also do lowering springs with some aftermarket shocks from Bilstein, but KW V1s are a great option too. The wheels in 18x8 +43 should be good on stock suspension or with aftermarket springs/shocks, but you can also do coilovers. You should do an alignment when you get everything figured out and then decide if you need LCA. Really depends on where you want to be.

I like the wheels by the way. Similar to the Oversteer, but I like the center caps better on this one

I have Konigs in 8" wide and 40 offset (pushes out more than your 43). Your wheels will fit fine.
You may find though that after you lower it they are too tucked in. I will soon go to a 9" wide and ~35-40 offset to sit more "flush". Im not talking about any stance/tuck/hella flush nonsense just fitting right with fenders.


Coilovers give you more flexibility as they are thinner than the stock spring/shock in most cases. I skipped lowering springs and recommend going straight to coilovers to which sounds like you are doing.

Camber is measured in degrees and references the angle of your wheel/tire.

Offset is the distance from the center of your wheel to the mounting surface and is typically measured in millimeters (some custom wheels reference backspacing, which is slightly different and typically measured in inches).

They are completely independent of each other.

Your wheels are very conservative. I added a 25mm spacer to my 18x8 +45 wheels to make them flush.

18x8 +15 to +53 will fit on stock suspension. I would suggest either a 215/40 or a 225/40 depending on the look you want. Don't get wider tires, they will kill your steering response, the tires will bulge, or be too tall. (unless you get wider wheels)

You want the natural negative camber in the rear from lowering. It helps the car handle better and tuck the wheels. You will get somewhere close to -2, this is a practical amount and shouldn't cause any abnormal tire wear. You don't need LCA.

1" lowering springs work well with the stock shocks. My shocks were still good after 65k miles with 1" springs, but then I swapped to coils. (side note- swapping back to different springs + bilsteins for a more DD friendly ride. pillow ball adds too much NVH for me)

If you get springs that drop more than 1"; this is when the shocks will degrade faster.


245/ 35/ rear tires 215/40 front tires. I went to 18x9 245/35 square right after this pic. I am lowered on 1" eibach springs and have one set of camber bolts in the front. -2 rear camber -1.5 front. No other mods in this pic.
https://i.imgflip.com/3r5tak.jpg

Alright, resident JDM hotboi reporting in--

I would spring for the KW V3s if you're going that route (fully adjustable), or I'd recommend the CSG TEIN Flex A, but yeah coilovers are the way to go IMO. I've found most lowering spring setups to be too bouncy, and I'm 25 and drive a low car so I'm not a grandpa lmao.

As others have said, those wheels will work fine functionally. HOWEVER, if you care about looks/fitment, those probably aren't the move. When you're lowered those wheels will be "sucked in" so to speak because the offset isn't aggressive enough. I think the sweet spot on these cars w/ stock fenders is either 17x9 +35 for a performance-oriented setup or 18x9.5 +38 for full hotboi concave-face tastiness. In my opinion people bemoaning wider wheels as "heavy/unresponsive" is largely overblown-- if you're on coilovers and have a proper performance alignment w/ negative camber, running wide wheels on 255s up front is still plenty responsive. I'm on 18x9.5s with coilovers and my 2018 PP BRZ does not have erectile dysfunction on the track. (Better driver mod will always make up more time than a skinnier wheel lol). & tire selection makes a much larger handling impact than wheel IMO. Definitely run square wheels & tires on these cars, don't even FW staggered setups, wider rears mess with the car's balance and turn in.

Here's my 18x9.5 +38 thicc boi for reference: https://ibb.co/MfXRNVM
And here's a car with your wheel specs (WedsSport TC105): http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121752

The 18x8 +43 don't look bad or anything, just not sporty/aggressive enough for my tastes.

I was looking to lower the car by about 1.25-1.5inches. Do you have any specific suggestions on spring/shock combos that could possibly support the drop without fully going for a coilover? I've heard with that much of a drop without coilovers it could be damaging but I may be completely wrong.

Thanks, I have been looking through a ton of wheels and thought these looked great for the car

So with the 8" you are having problems with the wheels fitting flush with the fenders when dropped? Would swapping out an LCA do anything towards fixing that or does the lowering just naturally ruin the flush?

As you lower the car it automatically pulls the top of the wheel into the fender (negative camber). This is good in most cases for traction and getting wider wheels to fit better.

Here is an original pic from a few years ago after I lowered with wheels. maybe not the best angle but you can tell from the shadow that its sunk in the fender
https://i.imgur.com/gfuU0zK.jpg

A lot of good information here, thank you! Also, I know you said that you can have problems with shocks if you decide to lower more than 1", how severe would it be? I am looking to lower 1.25-1.5" and that's the reason I heard to do coils, because that can be a harsh drop on stock shocks? I am still trying to figure out exactly how harsh that much of a drop would be on the suspension and is aftermarket shocks/suspension would fix it enough, or if I would need to do coils with that severe of a drop.

Ah, so a lower offset(30's) counteract the "sucked in" effect from lowering the car? Love the look of your +38's, would you suggest finding new wheels or could I put a spacer in place to make up for the offset on the wheels? Also, i'm curious what you think, do you think I will run into rubbing if I go with a 1.25-1.5" drop?

try to avoid spacers if possible