Are offset changes noticeable?

[Blue131]

Curious if those who have gone with aftermarket wheels in a different offset compared to stock have noticed any differences to how the car drives/handles? I'm starting to think through a set of aftermarket wheels and I'd like the look a tire more flush with the fender, but also would hate to alter the handling that I experience now.

Seems like most of the offset changes I've seen are in the range of 5-10mm. My limited understanding is that it could change things like effective spring rate, scrub radius, etc, but in the real world, to an average or slightly above average driver (I'm being generous), is a small change in the offset going to be noticeable?

 

[VL3X]

Honestly, probably not. Something like 5mm won't be noticeable especially since your tire size likely wouldn't change. I assume you plan to swap over your stock tires? Either way, the biggest thing to consider and what you likely would notice would be rubbing in the wheel well. If you move the wheel too far in or out you may get some wheel liner contact on turns in the front and over bumps in the rear. But again, I think you'd be safe with 5mm changes either way.

 

[jp129]

Scrub radius will change, but I personally didn't notice on the street or track.

Practically, it's unlikely you'd notice the change until you significantly change the SR.

 

[allenyao09]

I had 12mm spacers fitted, which is equivalent to an offset change. Can't really tell any difference in handling back-to-back.

 

[lynchy73]

I had 12mm spacers on my factory wheels and couldn’t notice any difference in the handling. I’ve now got custom 9” wide on the front, 11” rears. These have about 6mm more offset than OEM, but with the wider rims, the outside edge is +12mm on the outside face (with OEM tyres).

 

[kitkat]

Couldn’t notice the difference between oem, oem with 12mm spacers, custom wheels with 12mm less offset, nor custom wheels with 12mm/15mm less offset.