mdjohnso:

This is not a need for expert help. Go to the first post. Find the line with your offset. Read off the tire width. Come back here and post it and I'll tell you if you passed the quiz.

You can do it!
Ken

 

For the front:
205 tires: +43 offset minimum (6.5� to 7.5� wide wheel)


For the rear:
245 tires: +45 offset minimum (7.5� to 9.0� wide wheel)


Will I be ok with the fronts? I'll never get s 215 tire on the front right or will I? 215/40/18 tires are much easier to source than 205/40/18...

How much did I fail by

 

FYI:

I just figured out a way to word the offset information in the first post to make it more clear. The word "minimum" seems to confuse people, so I wrote it out as a range instead. Hopefully that's more clear.

mdjohnso: I think you read the chart correctly, but you're wondering if you can bend the rules. You can, because these are just guidelines, and every car is a little different, and not all tires are created equal - some are wider than others despite the numbers being the same. You're in the territory where you have to try it to find out if it will work for you. In most cases, a 215 with a 42 offset will rub during hard cornering or large bumps. I believe there is a fender liner fastener at the top of the wheel well which will get worn off, which may or may not be a problem for you. If you can't find a set of wheels with higher offsets, and you just have to have those wheels, you may just have to try it and see what happens.

 

that's for the info

 

What about having staggered wheels, but having 19s on back and 18s in the front? Is there any point to that? I know domestics like Vettes do that, but is there any performance penalty or benefit?

I was looking at:

18x8 5x100/114.3 +45

19x8.5 5x100/114.3 +45

Would either rub on stock fenders and stock springs?

 

No point on the S2000. The car has the same overall diameter tires on the front and back from the factory (well, darn close - 24.8" front and 24.6" rear), so it doesn't make sense to use different diameter wheels. If you do, and you keep the diameters correct, then you end up with a lower profile tire in the rear than in the front. You can ignore all that and put the wrong profile tires on there and make the rears larger, but then it just ends up looking just as goofy IMO.

Contrast this to my C6 Corvette Z06, which has a 25.6" diameter tire on the front with an 18"x9.5" wheel, and a 26.7" diameter tire on the rear with a 19"x12" wheel. The tire is an inch larger in the rear, so it makes sense that the wheel would be too.

Note that the OEM AP2 S2000 tire setup is actually a tiny bit smaller diameter in the rear... (not enough to notice visually...)

Regards
Ken

 

Interesting, well following up on that question, would 19s work without rubbing?

 

Sure, it's all about the tires. If you can find tires with the right width and sidewall height, it could work.

 

So if I understand offset correctly, will an 8.5 inch wheel with a +45 offset fill out the wheel well more than the stock 8.5 inch wheel with +65? Like basically adding 20 mm in width to the wheel?

 

Not really like adding width though... Just moving it out toward the fender by 20mm, as if you had used a 20mm spacer behind the stock wheel.