LocostUSA.com

Alright, I'm having a little bit of self-inflicted crisis on wheel offsets, track-width changes and all that stuff.

I've been planning on a 35mm offset wheel with a 1468mm track since I started this thing. My control arms were designed with that offset and track width. There are bunch of wheels in that general area for offsets - 35mm, 38mm, 40mm, etc. Some look good at that offset, but if I were to--at some point--put on some panasport-style wheels on the car, the ~35mm offset ones look goofy or at best "just okay" with the spokes sticking so far out. e.g. Konig Rewinds, Rota RBs.

Compomotive offers a bunch of different wheel offsets on their ML line. The 1570 is a 15x7 wheel and it looks awesome, and goes up to a +24mm offset. They offer a higher offset range wheel but doesn't look as good, and if I'm going to spend Compomotive prices I want a wheel that looks good.
http://www.comp.co.uk/wheels/popup.asp?wheel=46

I'm too far along in my suspension building/design process to change how long my control arms are. I haven't, however, specced/bought/installed fenders to cover the wheels yet.

Questions:

1. Is 9mm on each side worth worrying about? Will changing wheel offsets throw off the proportion of the car all that much?
2. For the rear fenders, how "flush" does the wheel face need to be to the fender sides to look good? Would it be okay if had a small gap 15-25mm with higher offset wheels with the intention of going to a lower offset wheel / wider tire at some point?
3. For the fronts, I presume cycle fenders look best centered over the tire. If I made a couple sets of spacers that would alter the width of the fenders, does anyone see a problem with having the front fender positions adjustable like that?
4. Should I just suck it up, get the a (likely more expensive) lower offset wheel first and build static fenders to fit that and be done with it?

Knowing now what I should've known when I started, I would've designed for a lower offset wheel. I know some of this is now just an exercise in compromise in making the track-width wider by another 18mm. For reference, this is a +442 chassis; the current 1468mm track is wider than Miata stock in order to clear the frame in roll with 195/50R15 tires.

Cheers,
-Matt

I wouldn't think less then a half inch on each side would affect the looks of the car that much.
Nice wheels.

_________________
Marcus Barrow - Car9 an open design community supported sports car for home builders!
SketchUp collection for LocostUSA: "Dream it, Build it, Drive it!"
Car9 Roadster information - models, drawings, resources etc.

Nope. You can always use 6mm-1/4" wheel spacers without even changing your wheels studs later if you're desperate.

I know, right?

Holy cow, shipping is... quite reasonable considering they are shipped direct from England. FedEx quotes ~$260 for five wheels to my door. We'll see if I actually do something about this and buy the wheels. I'm a little ways off from needing blingy wheels for my project. Heck, I've only got 6 out of 8 control arms fabricated!

Matt, are you really hooked into the Compmotive wheels or the "look" of Panasport? If you are willing to look elsewhere, I found a set of VTO made Panasport lookalikes in a 15x7 +24 offset for $175 each including shipping in the USA. This is a sale price.

http://www.gbcarparts.com/proddetail.as ... 5130-24SAO

This could save you $425. I f you are really set on the Compmotive wheels, then I'll just go away quietly.

P.S. I have no business interest in these guys, I just found them on a google search.

_________________
Chuck.

“Any suspension will work if you don’t let it.” - Colin Chapman

Visit my ongoing MGB Rustoration log: over HERE

Or my Wankel powered Locost log : over HERE

And don't forget my Cushman Truckster resto Locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=17766