OE Wheel Offset

[jvcaruso]

What is the offset on the 16" OE wheels on the Street Edition sedan?

[icemanZX3]

I am thinking its in the low 50mm's..


I dont know exact..but I am sure somebody does...

[Ducman69]

Never measured, but I'd put good money on 46.7mm offset (like the E0, E1, and Cougar wheels that are also 16x6.5)

[CTB]

All the US OEM alloy wheels on the Focus are 52.5mm offset. They are not 46mm like the Cougar. It's stamped on the back of the wheel for the 16's - not sure where it is on the 15's, but it is on the wheel somewhere.

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CTB

1974 Kawasaki MachIII/H1 - 4 sale 1996 Honda CBR900RR - 4 sale
Photos: http://y42.photos.yahoo.com/ctbtyper

[This message has been edited by CTB (edited 11-08-2001).]

[Ducman69]

The 15s are also 52.5mm... weird.

Well here might be whats causing the confusion: Are the 16" wheels 6" or 6.5" wide??? I had always thought they were 16x6.5" wheels. Looks like its a 16x6" wheel, which is quite teh ghey.

[2001 ZTS]

Yup, I've been keeping a "notebook" of facts and figures I pick up here, stock sizes are:

16"x6"
15"x6"
14"x5.5"

-First two are 52.5 offset, don't know about the 14.
-Bolt pattern 4x108
-Centre bore 63.4

[jvcaruso]

Thanks for the information guys but, let's go to the next level. Taking the 52.5mm as a given, if one were to go to a 17"x7" wheel "upgrade" and wanted to maintain the OE wheel geometry, wouldn't you need a 55-56mm offset? If the math is right, does anyone know of such a beast? Or is it just simpler (and less expensive) to go with a set of Contour SVT wheels (16"x6.5") shod with 215/50x16 BFG KDW's? BTW, does anyone know what the offset is on the forthcoming Focus SVT 17"x7" wheels?

[Ducman69]

No, other way around. There has been debate to whether that is positive or negative offset (I say its positive using the typical Tirerack or Discount tire convention), so you'd need less positive offset.

Of course that makes sense then that they wouldn't change the offset between the 16" and 15" wheels if they are the same width. It shows that the Cougar wheels are pretty much perfect geometry though. Half of the extra half an inch wheel width puts it just over 46mm.

So you'd use this formula if you wanted the EXACT same relative geometry.

52.5mm - (wheel width difference/2)*25.4

For a 1" wider wheel (7") that would put you at 40mm offset. That doesn't mean thats ideal though, so I believe most are sacrificing a little clearance to the strut to get it around 42-45mm offset with 7" wheels if I'm not mistaken. Apparently clearance to the outer fender is more limited than stock clearance to the strut.

[This message has been edited by Ducman69 (edited 11-08-2001).]

[S. on Da 5]

Boing