After wasting money on the wrong size of alloys i thought i should post up the lessons ive learnt.

[color=red]Offset - minimum of 45mm.[/color] I had 16's with a 40mm offset and they scrubbed on the rear arches without the car being lowered. Although it was only when the suspension was compressed such as when going over small dips at speed or when i had rear passengers, this was still not pleasant.

I have since found through research on the net that the [b][size=150]ideal offset for the BJ is 45-55mm[/size][/b]

Im now running 17's with a 55mm offset and the car is lowered around 40mm - despite this the wheels dont rub in any situation.

[color=red]Tyres[/color] - im running 205/45/R17 without any problems.

Hope this answers some questions in the future and if anyone finds out any other info - please do feel free to correct me!

So would 7.5 x 17/18 be out the question then or should i stay with 7.0 17 / 18? lot of wheels i like i seen are 7.5 rather than 7 & not many are more than 45 offset so the search for the wheels are stil on!

I'm on 17x7.5 45mm offset. 205/40/17 tyres
lowered about 6cm on the front, 4cm on the back, no rubbing at all.
There is not a lot of space between my tyre and the original suspension struts (about 5mm?), so i wouldn't want to go much over 45mm offset.
Although mine is not a sport, maybe there are some differences down there!

One other thing i will add - im running 17 x 7.5 and there is a "thunking" noise from the steering at full lock.

Im sure those who already have larger wheels will know all about it, but for anyone who hasnt done it before - its down to the extra half inch of width on the wheels. Its because the power steering is reaching its maximum earlier than with the regular wheels.

Thought i would mention this as it freaked me out first time i heard it!

I have....

Mazda RX8 wheels.
18 x 8
50mm offset
215/35/18 tyres.

These fit perfectly on the front, but the rear needs 6mm spacers or they rub on the suspension struts..
I'll update on whether the rear arches need trimmed. I need to get the car lowered before I find out.

[color=#FF0000]Update: I have a 3mm spacer on the rear with these wheels now, just enough to clear the strut. [/color]

[quote="geetee"]I have....

Mazda RX8 wheels.
18 x 8
50mm offset
215/35/18 tyres.

These fit perfectly on the front, but the rear needs 6mm spacers or they rub on the suspension struts..
I'll update on whether the rear arches need trimmed. I need to get the car lowered before I find out. [/quote]

If you get coilovers they'll be thinnner so more room for the wheels to fit in. I was considering swapping the hubs on mine so i could fit the 5 lug wheels. RX8! good choice! i love them

Cheers for the info Neil!

Heres some info on finding offsets etc....
Excuse the MS paint artistry!!!
A diagram to work out the offset of any wheel.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v487/nellyeff/Wheeloffsetdiagram.jpg[/img]
This is my RX8 wheels....
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v487/nellyeff/CAM_0558.jpg[/img]

geetee if ure offsets 50 on the rx8 wheels, why didnt u just wack em on without spacers?, is it because the wheels too wide and rubs on the struts?

Yes, the offset needs to be 44mm on the back.
Adding a 6mm spacer makes the offset smaller, but takes the wheel nearer the wheel arch.
It doesn't rub just now coz I'm not lowered, but I reckon the angle grinder will need to come out when the springs go on.

cool, there so wide, thats what put me off getting them, cant be bothered with arch work on a 3 year old car lol

Na neither can I...
I might just cut a bit off my tyres!!!

lol

Some pix showing my clearance with RX8 wheels.
The pix are the rear only, as theres not really any issues at the front.
This is with a 6mm spacer....
Top of tyre, and strut spring cup....plenty space here, I can squeeze my finger in the gap.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v487/nellyeff/Wheelstrut.jpg[/img]

The clearance between the strut and wheel/tyre. About 6mm, not much, but enough.
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v487/nellyeff/wheelandstrut.jpg[/img]

Update.....
I now have 3mm spacers on the back, giving me an offset of 47mm rear.
I've also since removed the arch lip on the rear, and lowered the car on 30mm Eibach springs.
No rubbing at all.

boo

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GENUINE-MAZDA-RX8 ... dZViewItem

Will a 5 mm spacer be good enough to fit the RX8 alloys? without lowering?

Yes, but any heavy-ish load in the back and you might rub going round corners or roundabouts.

Does anyone know what is the maximum possible thickness of the spacer, when I want to insall one without it's own central ring? Would 10mm spacer be good? I want the wheel to still lean on the hub's central ring...

[edit]

OK, so I will ansewr on my own. I,ve installed 7,5mm spacers in the front, and it works... Everything is OK, except central ring. Rim is no longer touching it... It is propably not very safe, but I'm not planning to change it.
Propably 5mm spacers would be enought, so you can check it, but in the front central ring is very short, so I think, that using 2-3mm spacer would quarantee using central ring.

02' with 1st Gen MS3 wheels

18x7 +52 on 215/35/18

Lowered on Megan Racing Springs

-0.5° camber on the rear

[img]http://i.minus.com/jF0dIDOTm0HZq.JPG[/img]

[img]http://i.minus.com/ibhKdN0tPgs6AR.png[/img]

[img]http://i.minus.com/j7ia0Th0mGrdS.jpg[/img]