I was thinking about putting spacers front & rear on the wheels to fill out the wheel wells a little more, but was worried about handling characteristics etc... Has anybody out there gone to the trouble of working out the optimum?? I read somewhere 23mm rear, 18mm front (I think ). I am thinking that this is maybe a little too much?

And, can somebody please explain to me the way that offsets work. I have no clue.

Thanks.

 

I thought the factory offsets were 50 mm. I am looking at the 6.5 mm spacers (about 1/4 of an inch). I wa told that 1/2" (13 mm) was about the best, anything else beyond that and it would negatively affect your handling.

 

Anyone???.....

 

i was told its not safe to use spacers

 

From my VW GTI 1.8t days: They can be safe to use if you maintain them and use longer studs. Your lug nuts will have a tendency to loosen up over time so you need to check them periodically (like you should be anyway?) And remember, if you throw a half inch spacer in there you have half an inch less stud for the nut to thread on to, so use longer studs. Before the longer studs I couldn't keep the nuts from loosening when using a 10mm spacer. After the longer studs they never loosened up.

 

typically a 1/4" spacer is safe with the stock studs. We sell spacers all day long at work and as long as you re-check the torque of your lug nuts from time to time you should be alright. Anything bigger than a 1/4" is not recommended without replacing the studs.

 

Heres a good explanation from tirerack

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/offset.htm