Idiots guide to offsets required

[smee]

Other than offset and pcd what do I need to know? How is the offset affected by wheel width? If I stick with 7" rears and the offset is +10 what else do I need to know?
Simple questions for a simple guy.

Thanks

p.s. I've studied the selcoc tech wiki on the subject obsessively

[smee]

Also if you put 6" on the front does tgat mean you need to go to 8" rear?

[robin]

What would you like to achieve?

Typically the offset/spacer/PCD question comes up when people want to fit wheels other than the ones that were designed for their car ... so if you have some specific wheels in mind and tell us which car you have, somebody might be able to say "yeah, I did that and used blah blah product to make it work."

Cheers,
Robin

[woody]

Offset is worked out from the wheel centre, so width is not a consideration. As long as offset is +/- a few mm of the original it should be fine from a handling POV. However as you go wider with the same offset, there is more chance of fouling, whether that be on the front clam or the rear inside arch liner.

Not sure if 6" front = 8" rear, can't remember original sizes off the top of my head. I'd look at keeping the factory ratio. Victories for example are 1" wider all round over the earliest S1 wheels.

[ABZ-Elise]

There are a couple of decent apps on iTunes for trying to figure out offsets. I found one that let's you compare 2 different rims and it gives you an overlay of 2 images so you can compare the differences. I used it before I ordered my compomotives...haven't actually tried the wheels on the car yet but I'm sure it will be fine

[smee]

Thanks folks, hopefully should manage to maintain original ratios, I was worried I would only be able to get 6" for the front which I was worried would upset the front rear balance but should manage to get 5.5" fingers crossed. I just need to check hub clearance with the guy and we'll see how we get on.

Kevin have you abandoned your honda project?

[ABZ-Elise]

No the Honda project is still on going, got the supercharger all fitted up now. Just a bit delayed due to work commitments and me spending all my spare time and cash on my M3. I haven't been swayed by kingk's ramblings

The engine I've got in the classified section was one I had spare from type r I broke for spares last year.

You sure you don't want to stick a Honda in your Elise

Kev.