ok so it would seem like wheel spacers would do both, give you a wider stance and give a more aggressive look. but also seem a little dangerous i am not sure they look too legit???

 

Under a certain size, they can help help performance, just as stated for a wider stance. However, a wider stance is not really needed on our cars a lot, esp if lowered.

Where they really help is if you want to run some nice, light wheels with crazy offset to stack nasty rubber on them and a big honkin brake caliper that may hit the wheels due to offset.

Other chime in, I'm no expert.

 

yes, they help in where you would have a bad/ low off set, but you would also have to be running a wide body. just get the right off set and you'll be fine. oh, and if you mean on stock tires, them you could rub and you dont want jacked up fender.

 

the car will handle a little differently as well. Less responsive

 

^ why? wouldnt be more responsive becuase of the wider stance

 

my guess would be that it shifts the unsprung weight out further causing the steering components to work that much harder to move the car making it less responsive

 

I have spacers... The car is not less responsive. A 15mm hubcentric spacer is not going to create much unsprung weight with the car on the ground.

My car does handle better now... But that could be due to the extra 10mm's of rubber I also put on the car and the fact they are new tires.

 

I ran with 1" spacers on stock wheels for a few years. They fit perfect, improved the handling and apperence period. There is no negative that I ever experienced. Make sure the rear are hub centric, the front you can get away with generic. No they will not cause handling to become sluggish haha, it is the opposit. Think of how a car that is short and wide would handle compared to a long and skinny one. Not brain surgery.

 

Is it true that they can overuse your suspension components. Also, would this affect you tire wear?

 

Nope that is false. We are talking 1" and under. In some cases adding more wheel further out from the hub either by spacers or wheels themselfs adds more weight/leverage on the wheel bearings, but again its all relitive and in my experience not an issue on this car with the amount we are talking about here. What effects tire wear is your alignment. Alignment will slightly be effected, so if your really concerned you can go get an alignment, but you wont notice, I would save your money unless you have a lifetime service. You will notice that car looks and handles better is what you will notice most.