What offsets for 17" wheels on 3.2 carrera?

[ksluna]

Wondering if you all can help me with wheel sizing for a 89 3.2. I've seen a lot of these threads but they are usually for 15s and 16s.

I want to run these wheels on the car but I have no idea what sizes to get.

I was thinking 17x7 front and 17x9 in the rear; however, it would be nice to have the extra lip in the rear from the 17x9.5

Would you think a 17x8 and a 17x9.5 would be worse than 7s in the front and 9s in the back?

I planned on running 215s in the front and 245s in the rear. or a 225/255 setup.

Could someone help me with what offsets I should get for both set ups? I'd want the car lowered to euro height and resemble this type of fitment

[Bill Douglas]

The blue car in their picture looks pretty much perfect. You could go on their recommendation.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by ksluna

Wondering if you all can help me with wheel sizing for a 89 3.2. I've seen a lot of these threads but they are usually for 15s and 16s.

I want to run these wheels on the car but I have no idea what sizes to get.

I was thinking 17x7 front and 17x9 in the rear; however, it would be nice to have the extra lip in the rear from the 17x9.5

Would you think a 17x8 and a 17x9.5 would be worse than 7s in the front and 9s in the back?

I planned on running 215s in the front and 245s in the rear. or a 225/255 setup.

Could someone help me with what offsets I should get for both set ups? I'd want the car lowered to euro height and resemble this type of fitment

w/ a stockish Carrera 3.2 I'd use 215/45 & 245/40 x17, you could also fit 225/45 & 255/40, using the same tire line on the same wheels the larger set costs an additional 16 lb-ft of torque to spin up, this comes right from the budget that could have gone to acceleration. Additionally the 215 & 245 are maxed on the 8 & 9.5 wheels(that's a good thing)


wheels should 8ET27(there is a little wiggle room here, ~2mm either way) & 9.5 ET19( no wiggle room here at all)

Here's a pic of my car w/ 225/45 & 255/40 on 8ET25 & 9.5ET19, much lower than euro height. 8ET27 gives a little more clearance at the lip, I've done a lot of work at the fronts lips to get 8ET25 to work

[billydeakins]

ksluna - the red 3.2 in the pictures on their site is my car as I worked there at the time. I had them built to the exact same spec as the RUF 8 & 9" wheels - should be +30.4 on the fronts and +17.7 on the rears. They fit good but had a bit of rubbing. Wheels are nice looking but definitely on the heavy side. Here's my car with them on though:

[billydeakins]

Also, keep in mind that all those photos aside from my car are photoshopped so probably not real representations of offsets.

[ksluna]

Too many Bills in this thread! lol

B. Douglas - I emailed them about that and they said it was photoshopped and didnt know the true offsets.

B. Verberg - I would have thought a 245 on a 9.5" wheel would be a little too stretched. But thank you for that chart that helps a lot. If I want to go something a little more conservative would something like:
17x8+ 32 front
17x9.5+27 rear
fit better and decrease risk of rubbing?

B. Deakins - thanks for the photos! So your rear wheel and front wheel both have the 15mm lip? It looks like your rear would have the 35mm lip but those start at 17x9.5

Can you share what tires you used in your set up? And did you have to roll your fenders or cut anything?

Thank you for the photos, Billy!

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by ksluna

******

B. Verberg - I would have thought a 245 on a 9.5" wheel would be a little too stretched. But thank you for that chart that helps a lot. If I want to go something a little more conservative would something like:
17x8+ 32 front
17x9.5+27 rear
fit better and decrease risk of rubbing?

B. Deakins - thanks for the photos! So your rear wheel and front wheel both have the 15mm lip? It looks like your rear would have the 35mm lip but those start at 17x9.5

Can you share what tires you used in your set up? And did you have to roll your fenders or cut anything?

Thank you for the photos, Billy!

check the tire specs above, 245/40x17 is spec'ed for 8 to 9.5, the wider wheel maxes performance, a narrower one maxes comfort

9.5 ET19( no wiggle room here at all)

There is no wiggle room for this width, If a 9 is used there is some wiggle room, ET15 to ET10 can be used depending on the tire, ride height and suspension.

8ET27(there is a little wiggle room here, ~2mm either way

in front there is some wiggle room w/ an 8 ET25 pushes the wheel out more and causes more issues at the lip, ET30 pushes the wheel in more and causes more issues inboard. Take you pick. I like a wheel more in the middle that minimizes both potential issues. Hence 8ET27+/-2. Similarly you don't want to over tire the car, It's like the Goldilocks story not to big not to small, not too much inset not too much outset

Yes, my front fender lips are shaved to the bone, when I bought the wheels 20yrs ago custom ET was just not available so I have 8ET25, these can be made to work w/ up to 235/45 x17 tires but there is a lot of effort involved, 225/40 fit better and involve fewer compromises. If I had the stock 3L motor I would use 215/45 & 245/40 but I have a hot rodded 993 so 225/40 & 255/40 tires for street use, If tracking it I might use something different. For street use you just don't need huge tires.

Dunlop * Specs are on this car, my other car has Re71 and Nitto NT01 these can be used interchangeably for street or track

[Vin-barrett]

I have no rubbing problems at all with my car, track or street

Front
17x8 ET29
225/45/17 RE71R
Some Neg camber and fender lips are rolled up

Rear
17x9.5 ET15
255/40/17 RE71R
Again negative camber , IIRC @2 degrees but fenders are not modified. Oil lines are still in stock location

[ksluna]

Thanks again, Bill! I think I will go the 8/9.5 setup with 215/245.

Vinny, thank you for the pics. I plan on rolling at least the front fenders as well.

[AG81]

Originally Posted by ksluna

Wondering if you all can help me with wheel sizing for a 89 3.2. I've seen a lot of these threads but they are usually for 15s and 16s.


I was thinking 17x7 front and 17x9 in the rear; however, it would be nice to have the extra lip in the rear from the 17x9.5

Would you think a 17x8 and a 17x9.5 would be worse than 7s in the front and 9s in the back?

I planned on running 215s in the front and 245s in the rear. or a 225/255 setup.

Could someone help me with what offsets I should get for both set ups? I'd want the car lowered to euro height

^
Front 17 x 7 et 23 205/50/17
Rear 17 x 8 et 10 255/40/17

Zero rubbing issues, fills out the rear wheels tubs nicely.







I would lower it some more but then I would not be able to leave my driveway without building a bridge. Which I had to do when moving my Viper ACR, Ferrari 360, Z06 and Aston Martin DBS. It takes an hour to build and tear down and you need two people to check you while your on the bridge. So the ride height I am at now is the lowest I can go....without scraping the front end on concrete for 4 lineal feet.

[Jgordon]

Originally Posted by AG81

I would lower it some more but then I would not be able to leave my driveway without building a bridge. Which I had to do when moving my Viper ACR, Ferrari 360, Z06 and Aston Martin DBS. It takes an hour to build and tear down and you need two people to check you while your on the bridge. So the ride height I am at now is the lowest I can go....without scraping the front end on concrete for 4 lineal feet.

With that many high end cars, why not just re-grade the driveway?

[Fly911]

I'm running 7.5"x17"ET36 with 225/50-17 and 9"x17"ET16 with 255/40-17, Toyo R888 on my '87 Carrera. I used to have 25mm spacers on all four corners (rolled fenders), but I have lengthened the front control arms by 20mm to reduce scrub radius and increase camber. I need 6mm spacers to clear the coil overs up front, still using 25mm in the rear. 3.5 degrees negative camber on all four. It's very tight.

[enigmaticdream]

I've got a narrow body 3.2 and my wheels specs are the following.

Front
17x7.5 et 23 on 245/45ZR17

Back
17x9 et 15 on 275/40ZR17

I get a little rubbing in the front with a full tank and a big bump in the road. I have no wheel well liners and the arches aren't rolled .

[Bill Verburg]

To the late posters
You all do realize that when wheels of different widths are compared the o/s(ET) needs to be different to provide the same visual fit.

This one is a prime example of several issues
1) the front wheel is under spec for the tire, this allows the tire to flop around compared to the same tire on a wider wheel, this throws away performance
2) the rear wheel is at min width, same issue as above but less severe
3) compared to a 225/45 & 255/40 this setup throws away ~16lb-ft of torque, the less torquey the motor the more of an issue


this one may be fine for a track car but it has little to offer a street car

I'm running 7.5"x17"ET36 with 225/50-17 and 9"x17"ET16 with 255/40-17, Toyo R888 on my '87 Carrera. I used to have 25mm spacers on all four corners (rolled fenders), but I have lengthened the front control arms by 20mm to reduce scrub radius and increase camber. I need 6mm spacers to clear the coil overs up front, still using 25mm in the rear. 3.5 degrees negative camber on all four. It's very tight.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally Posted by Vin-barrett

I have no rubbing problems at all with my car, track or street

Front
17x8 ET29
225/45/17 RE71R
Some Neg camber and fender lips are rolled up

Rear
17x9.5 ET15
255/40/17 RE71R
Again negative camber , IIRC @2 degrees but fenders are not modified. Oil lines are still in stock location

This works because of the tire size used, my car w/ 9.5ET19 was originally set up to use a 275/35 x17 tire which fit fine, unfortunately the only 275/35s still available are Hoosier or Maxxis semi slick track tires, if the ET is reduced it pushes the tire out, less room outside and more room in, 275/35 only fits when the oil line is relocated and the trailing arm bolts are shaved down, this provides only mms of clearance on both sides

[ksluna]

Bill, where can one find that document to mess around with sizes?

From your first post though I will order wheels in these sizes:

17x8+27 front (215/45/17)
17x9.5+19 (245/40/17)

Wish me luck!

[billydeakins]

ksluna - I don't recall the tire sizes unfortunately. The fenders are cut and rolled a bit so you'll definitely need to do that. The fronts definitely had way less lip than the backs did due to the different offsets.

I actually went with an offset Bill V recommended on my Rotiforms and they fit perfectly with zero rubbing at all. They're 17x8/ET28 and 17x9.5/ET19.

[AG81]

Originally Posted by Jgordon

With that many high end cars, why not just re-grade the driveway?

^

Thanks wife.... I haven't heard that before. My daily driver pickup clears it just fine

[Techno Duck]

225/45 and 255/40 on 8 and 9.5 Lindsey modded Fuch's. The back spacing is stamped on the inner barrels but i forgot what it was.

Front is -.4 degrees camber with slightly rolled fenders.. if i recall i only had to roll a 2 or 3 inch section. Rear is -1.4, no modifications needed. Street car only. The rear is about as wide as i can go... very close to the trailing arm bolts.

[ksluna]

Originally Posted by billydeakins

ksluna - I don't recall the tire sizes unfortunately. The fenders are cut and rolled a bit so you'll definitely need to do that. The fronts definitely had way less lip than the backs did due to the different offsets.

I actually went with an offset Bill V recommended on my Rotiforms and they fit perfectly with zero rubbing at all. They're 17x8/ET28 and 17x9.5/ET19.

Haha wow, I actually spoke with you a while back about these wheels, wondering where you got them.
You seem to have had both sets of wheels I'd like for my car.

If you ever get tired of the rotiforms and want a new look, let me know if you ever sell them