Slightly OT, my daughters boyfriend has a Mazda 3 and he's looking at aftermarket wheels and having trouble finding the proper offset.
factory: 52mm he says most aftermarket wheels he's interested in: 40 to 45mm
Can you guys help him out with more than 'closer is better than farther' please. Is this difference a problem or a minor detail? Long term effects? Short term effects?
I don't think it matters but just in case, the bolt pattern is 5x114.3.
TIA Chris
The correct offset gives zero scrub radius and will preserve the handling characteristics of the car. Less offset - which puts the wheels more outboard - should only be chosen if a wider wheel will hit the suspension using the normal offset, or if a wider track is felt to be more important than maintaining zero scrub radius (Lanny may have an expert view on the latter; both my wheelsets are standard Mazda so I haven't tried it).
Otherwise, the correct offset does not change for different wheel widths.
MX-5/Miata owners have had this problem for a long time, because the NA was designed for a 45mm offset and most aftermarket wheels in MX-5 sizes were 37mm or thereabouts. The 8mm never seemed to be a big issue for most people, so the difference between 52mm and 45mm probably isn't, either.
Lanny assumes, since there's a bit of a spread in offset among the OEM wheels offered over the years, that small differences are not very important. I wouldn't worry too much as long as nothing rubs and everything fits inside the fenders.
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