I have a question about offset.

Suppose I have 2 wheels same brand and type, one is 17x7 with an offset of +45, and the other is a 17x10 with an offset of +45, will the lip of each wheel be in the same location realtive to the fender?

I think the offset indicates the position relative to the fender, or distance from the hub. am I correct?

So, the wider wheel would just have more wheel closer to the center of the car.

thanks,
Dave

 

The offset is from wheel hub to wheel centerline (you have to think of it independent of the car). So if you imagine a line down the center (front to back) and the hub at that same point, that's 0.

Then as the hub moves away from the centerline (increasing the + number), the wheel has to move inward to bolt up.

However, the width of the wheel still affects how much is to the inside and outside. Take the example above with a 0 offset. A 7" wide wheel has 1/2 on either side, the 10" the same, so you can see the 10" wide wheel will always have more on each side of the center line, relative to the same offset.

 

So, on the s2000, a 8.5" rear wheel with an offset of +45, will have more fender clearance than a 9" rear wheel with +45 offset?

Is that correct?

 

Yeah, the 8.5" should have ~6mm more clearance. Since the offset is the same, you just have to determine the difference in centerline (which is 0.25").