Ok, this is gonna sound dumb, but seriously I know nothing about wheel fitment. Someday I'm gonna get new wheels for mine, not sure what yet, but they'll come. I know we have 5-112 bolts, but what is offset, and is there any other brand of car that uses this pattern so I can check different one. VW seems close. The staggered is what's hard. They make nice rims in 18's but no 19's etc. I'm planning on 275-35's in the rear, stock in the front when I change tires. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Mark

PS I've been in contact with wind restrictor and I know that somebody has a coupe with a wind restrictor. I'm trying to get to a place where the open windows at speed don't create this horrible buffeting so I'd like some feedback there if possible, but at the least I will be trying a cardboard cut out to fit as a test and then go from there. If it works I'll be doing a clear acrylic behind the seats, maybe buy a WR

 

https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ment-tool.html

 

Thanks Nox for the fitment guide. But what I was asking was if any other maker other than MB would fit our cars, and what is meant by offset. This is a great tool to use to get an idea of the fitment on the tires. The sizes and types of tires I've already pretty much determined, but it was the wheel patterns and offsets that I was trying to understand.

 

Thanks for ask'n this. I too don't understand offsets. How much offset is too much, how much is too little? I hope a wheel jock answers this.

 

Offset = backspacing


In your mind, stand a wheel up on edge. Draw a line down the dead-center of the wheel's width. If dead-center is zero, any movement of the wheel's offset towards the face of the wheel (the finished side) results in a positive backspacing. Any movement of the wheel's offset towards the axle results in a negative backspacing. The smaller the numerical value of the offset, the deeper the wheel appears to be.

Front-wheel-drive cars often have a very flat face, meaning the offset is high (normally +45mm, or greater).

Our cars, as you know, are staggered. Our front wheels have an offset of +35mm, and they are 7.5" wide. This results in a fairly flat wheel face, allowing for more room for the suspension to extend away from the center of the vehicle, facilitating articulation. The rear wheels of our car are 9" wide, with +22mm offset. Not only does this shorten the axle length (thus making them stronger) but it allows for a wider track in the back than if a shallower offset were used with the same wheel width.

Remember this when choosing wheels. You want to remain as close as possible to the factory stagger, so as not to upset the car's handling characteristics, as well as to preserve the aesthetics of the car. Nothing looks sillier than having the rear wheels inset too far because the incorrect offset was chosen.

If the offset is too deep, however (lower numerical value than factory) you risk damaging the fender during articulation, and you will also sling gravel/road debris up against the rear body panels.

You want the rear wheels to be as flush as possible, yet still allow for suspension to freely travel so the tire can tuck (ever so slightly) inside the fender under full load. Same goes for the front, and using too shallow an offset on the front (higher numerical value) will bring the inside rim of the wheel closer to suspension components, AKA the massive control arm nut that is already dreadfully close to our tires, even in OEM stagger.

Bolt spacing (5-112, 5-114, 5-120) is the bolt count PLUS the diameter of the "circle" of holes. More specifically, the distance between each corner of the pentagon, bolt-center to bolt-center (in mm).

This is why we must be SO exact in our search for wheels...

Hope this helps! If you need to know anything more specific, let me know.

 

Go to rims and tires or tirerack and search for wheels by vehicle. You can figure out what fits and who makes rims that fit from the results. On rims n tires they show lots of 19's and some 20's too. On the front they range from 7 1/2" to 8 1/2" width and on the back from 9 to 10". They show the different offsets that will work as well. The offset is the distance from the centerline of the wheel. On our car it's 35 mm front and 22 mm rear. (the greater the offset the deeper the rim is towards the inside.) On the front with the stock rims and tires we have more or less 5 mm on the inside and 15 mm towards the outside to play with. If your lowered maybe not as much. On the rear it makes a big difference if the car is lowered. If it's not lowered there's lots of room. The best thing to do is visit the websites and see what they guarantee will fit.

Les

 

Custom rims, wheel tire packages for your ride - RIMSnTIRES.com

Play away!!

 

Ok thanks guys. This is some good info. Now the only thing I need to know is...........Which wheels do I buy? I want gloss black centers and polished lips. I don't want my car to look stupid. It's just a standard limited (not lowered) with 285/30/19 rear tires and standard fronts. so what offset to I look for?

 

Wow! Thanks.

 

Yes, that really helped John. Thanks so much for taking the time to do that. In other words, if the "Hubcap" style was a full wheel, then you'd have positive offset most likely, correct? It's hard for me to visualize geometry, like the unfolded box figures and stuff like that. But now I know that because primarily because of handling geometry you'd want that sizing to be as close as possible to the OEM spec. Goot that now with understanding as a result of your explanation.

 

based on what I just learned, I think my rims of choice are the TSW Nardo or Snetteron in the hypersilver

 

Glad I could help. Les and I posted around the same time, and there's merit in his response as well.

Per your rim choice, the Snetterton is a fantastic wheel. Looks very nice on our cars. Zolder is another good option, very similar to the SRT wheel but with a more robust lip.

Unfortunately, the deepest offset offered by TSW in the rear is +35mm. Still might need a 10mm hub-centric spacer, as the wheels will be marginally more inset than OEM.

The rim width increases by 12.5 mm, or 6.25mm per side; while the offset numerically increases (becomes shallower) by 13mm, all in one direction (towards the axle) for an overall effect that moves the wheel ~6mm deeper under the fenderwell than the OEM setup.

Barely noticeable, but some think the OEM wheels are tucked away a bit too much to begin with.

A TSW wheel (+35mm, 9.5" width) will look PERFECT with a 10mm hub-centric spacer added.

Fronts will pose no problem whatsoever, just don't go wider than a 235 tire.

 

I have heard that the back (side of the wheel) offset is stamped on the rims. I saw this on my Crossfire but have not seen it on the wheels on my Cobra. For the same purpose I called the maker of the wheels yesterday, ET (Team 3) to ask what the offset was and they told me you simply take off the the wheel lay it front side down on a protective surface. Lay a straight edge across the top most part of the wheel where it meets the tire then measure the distance from the back of the hub to the staright edge and that's your rear offset. Front offset is measured the same way, flip the wheel and tire over, lay your straight edge across the outermost part of the rim and measure from the back of the hub. Crossfire wheels are in metric. Hope this helps.

 

just for reference Audi/VW and Mercs run the same bolt pattern and comparible offsets on there vehicles.

 

My SRT rims are made by Ronal and are marked "Made in Poland". Heres a couple pictures of the back with the offset and size. You will find other numbers and markings as well.

Les

 

If you come up with anything good for the wind noise in the coupe, keep us posted. Thanks

 

I will Joe. As soon as it warms up, I'm cutting a cardboard block as a test. If necessary I may go to plywood. we'll see what happens JHM2k has already heard about my thoughts on venting from the cargo area to out under the wing. This is my gig, and an engineering project I need to do for my driving pleasure. I'll let you knoww, but based on results it may be awhile yet.

 

I'd love to have these wheels on my Crossfire.

Message - CrossfireForum.org Gallery

 

They would look great!



Here's a link to the post:

MBWorld.org Forums - View Single Post - Choosing a second (used) car under $10k....

 

On the subject of wheel fitment. Would these wheels fit our cars?

19" STAGGERED MERCEDES BENZ C CLK SLK E Wheels Rims - eBay (item 220733807051 end time Feb-09-11 12:00:00 PST)