Hello All,

I have been reading, searching and still not sure what is the answer. Is it possible to run 18's that will not take away from the cars balance and or handling, and mainly not rub! It seems that most people have problems with rubbing.

Initially I do not intend on lowering the car, but once I get the GC coil overs I may drop a 1/2 inch but no more.

The wheels that I am looking at so far are the OZ superleggras and the SSR Competitions in the new silver finish. If anyone has these and can post a photo of the SSR's that would be great.

Or is it better to go with 17's? Bottom line is that I dont want to alter the cars balance and I want no rubbing!

Any input is appreciated

 

I have people running both of these wheels for the car that will fit without rubbing. Give me a call and I can discuss tire options.
Thank you

Jim 800-428-8355-364

 

Thats great jim, can you tell me the offsets that both those wheels are offered in for the S.

So you are sure I will have no rubbing? what tire sizes would I run?

 

I am a TireRack customer and will do more business with them in the future, but seriously...

THOSE RIMS DO NOT FIT OUR CAR and you're giving out bad advice to a guy who actually sounds like he's concerned about handling and balance and fitment. How dare you?

The SSR Comps have horrible offsets. The OZs are a bit better, but the rears need about 10mm more.

My recommendation for you is to go with lightweight 17s. None of the 18s truly fit that TireRack sells. No, all of the 18" rims are a poor fit on the S2000 unless you go custom.

Pick and choose. Mugen MF-10s. Volk CE28Ns. Work Emotions. ASA FR1s (not as light weight as the others, but same as stock).

Good luck!

 

Why do you think the car has to have a real high offset to work? Do you realize that a lower offset will actually make the car handle better by widening the track of the car. Those wheels waterhound7 was looking at do fit the car and there are a lot of S2000 owners using those wheels with no problems.

What part of a 18X9 ET55 don't you think fits the car? By the way the OZ and the SSR Comp fit exactly the same 18X8 48mm front and 18X9 55mm rear offset. Even the BBS RGR has a 53mm 18X7.5 rear wheel. We have a salesman here with those wheels on his car and they tuck inside the wheel well and look great on the car.

The ASA FR1 doesn't even have an 18" wheel for the car. The 17" wheel has the same front offset as the OZ and SSR 18" front wheels.

I guess I don't understand why I gave bad advice and you recommend a wheel with the same offsets. If the wheel tucks into the wheel well and doesn't rub why is it you think they don't fit? Obviously a lot of people are using the wheels and they do fit.

Jim

 

Why do you think the car has to have a real high offset to work?
Because it does.

The ASA FR1 doesn't even have an 18" wheel for the car. The 17" wheel has the same front offset as the OZ and SSR 18" front wheels.

Cars come with four wheels, right?

Do you realize that a lower offset will actually make the car handle better by widening the track of the car.

Yeah, Pontiac's WideTrack... yes. Aren't we talking millimeters here?

What part of a 18X9 ET55 don't you think fits the car?

The part where it needs about 7+ more.

 

I guess you know more than our engineers and the wheel companies. Not everyone has the same criteria for wheels and tires. With your logic you really shouldn't run anything but stock wheels and tires. A wider wheel and tire will widen the track of the car. Even with a higher positive offset. Yes we are talking about millimeters here was your point. Seven millimeters difference does not make the SSR Comps rub on the car.
I see post all over the board with people running spacers on the OE wheels or 45mm offset wheels all the way around. There is no one correct offset for the S2000. As long as it fits a little lower is best for handling and it fills more of the wheel well.
I don't want to upset anyone but we do guarantee all of our wheel and tire fitments and will take them back if there is any problem with them.
I am not trying to mislead anyone but I have sold a lot of these wheels for the car and they do work.

Jim

 

Of course these offset measurements mostly depend on the suspension setup and camber settings.
Putting wheels on a stock suspension and default camber can accept lower offset wheels. I would think that most of Tireracks wheels will fit this criteria.
If the suspension is changed, it's a different can of worms. Too many variables come into play and 1 wheel may "fit" one S2000 and may not on another with similiar setup.
All I can say is that I wish I had another +4 to +6 more mm on the rears of my RG-R's and another +2 to +4 more on my fronts with my current setup (lowered and wheel alignment at stock settings). Then I wouldn't had to modify my rear fender area. Fronts still rub on occasion.
My 2 cents.

Steve

 

And if I spend $$$$ on aftermarket rims, I expect them to match or exceed the level of assurance of the stock setup.

And the majority of the rims that you have recommended here in this forum, including those in this thread, fail to meet the conditions above.

 

Thanks again everyone.

This was the same problem I had with my rx7 , it took me a while to find a true wheel setup that did not affect the cars handling.

Yes I do want wheels to make the car look more sporty, but not at the cost of handling and rubbing. Form follows function thinking here. I too feel that the 17's might be the better way to go.

Jim I do appreciate your efforts, I just don't want to spend all this money and have a car that doesn't handle the same or worse and has rubbing issues. Looks are great and all but it working right is what matters.

So I guess I'm still not sure if there are wheels that I can get that will meet my needs. If so what are the ideal offsets for the front and rear ??

once again thanks everyone for their input.