question for the wheel gurus

The numbers you're saying mean "positive" offset. If the wheel is laying down on its side with the face up, positive means that the flange is higher from the center line of the wheel, which means that the inside edge of the wheel is going to be farther in when mounted on the car. So it appears that the 38mm offset on a 14 x 6 wheel would have the same clearance as the 50mm offset on the 14 x 5 steel rim. (1/2 inch being about 12mm... the other 1/2 inch would stick out from the car). Steel rims don't usually have the offset number stamped on it. What you can do to measure the offset of a wheel is lay it down on a flat surface (with no tire on it) and measure the bottom outer edge to the top outer edge and divide by 2 to get your center line. For example let's say the steel rim is 150mm from top edge to bottom. Half would be

75mm. Then measure from the ground to the bottom edge of the center hole or lug hole, lets say it's 125mm. Subtract 75 from 125 and you have your wheel offset. NOTE: Rear wheel drive cars have a smaller offset for some reason.

nothing to do with the end driven. it's determined by the steering scrub radius. modern cars have negative scrub radius because of the self stabilizing benefits in the event of front tire blow-out. the only way to achieve negative scrub is by having a large negative offset. old vehicles and still a lot of trucks have/had positive scrub and those wheels have a much smaller offset.

Thanks for the info. I found the offset on the oem wheel to be 45mm. Would a change to a 38mm offset wheel be acceptable for the civic? Or is any change from oem a bad idea?