Wheel Offset?

[3Putt]

Does anyone know what wheel offset the Passat is?

Looking at going Plus1 up to 19"'s!

[RF 4MOTION]

I have put replica Audi RS4 19s on my 4Motion wagon. I had the factory sports suspension which is fine, no rubbing, scraping etc. I have since fitted H&R springs and found I had to do a small rear inner bumper mod.

[Golf Houso]

45-50ET I believe, well 45 is on the B5 + B5.5 at least...

[3Putt]

Thanks guys.

Was just able to weasel out of VW Spare Parts Mascot that 2 of the wheels from the accessory catalog have offsets of 44 and 47.

It looks like 42-48 will be safe.

VW Australia don't like divulging info do they?!?

Can someone confirm that wheel diameter does not affect the offset requirements for the car?

[Lance B]

The offset depends on the rim width and to a lesser degree, the tyres fitted.

The standard 17's are ET47 offset and the factory fitted ET18's are 44 offset. To understand offset can be a little complicated to get your head around unless you can make a mental picture or actually draw out the offsets on paper.

Here is a good resource:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=101

The factory option 18's are 8" wide and the factory 17's are 7.5" wide, but the 18's come with 235/40's and the 17's with 235/45's. The 17's "bag out" more compared to the 18's tyres by an extra 3-5mm due to the narrower rim.

The best way to look at offset and rim width is to do a drawing on paper. With the A4 page in landscape orientation, start with a vertical line in the centre of the page, which represents the centre line of the original rim and mark it "centre line". Next draw another vertical line to the right of this line corresponding to the offset of the wheel, so if it is ET44(standard factory 8" rim), draw a vertical line 44mm to the right of the centre line of the rim and mark it "mounting surface". This represents the mounting surface that the wheel bolts to.

Now, rim width is actually the measured width inside the rim lip where the tyre bead goes, not the outside of the rim lip. The outside of the rim lip for an alloy wheel is 1" wider than the indicated rim width, so an 8" rim is actually 9" wide when measured completely across the rim width edge to edge. So, when drawing the rim width on paper, use the "centre line" and measure from that line the rim width divided by 2 each side of that line. For a 8" rim(9" actual width or 228.6mm) measure 114.3mm each side of the centre line.

This shows you how the rim fits on the mount face and how the offset affects where the rim sits and how far out it sits.

If you are going from an ET44 to an ET40, but using the same width rim of 8", then you just measure back towards the centre of the rim from the mount surface 40mm(left of the mount surface) to find the rim centre. You draw a line and mark this as the rim centre of the new rim. From here you then measure the same 114.3mm each side of the new rims "centre line" to obtain where this rim will sit.

In the case of an ET40 rim being fitted compared to an ET44 original and the same width, then the outer edge of the rim will sit further out by 4mm giving more room inside, but less outside.

If you are fitting a 8.5" rim(9.5" overall) with the same ET44 offset, then do the above procedure, but measure 120.65mm(241.3mm overall width) each side of centre. The rim will sit outwards by an extra 6.35mm.

Wheel diameter does not affect offset as long as the tyre fitted is the same overall circuference/diameter as the original, so you will need to fit a 235/35 x 19" to your 19" rim and *try* to use a 8" wide rim with an offset of ET44 - ET50. I would suggest an ET45 would be ok as ET45 is usually common for an aftermarket VW rim and keeps the rim/tyre combo to the "outside" more than ET50. ET40 *may* sit too far outwards and you may get guard issues and over ET50 may mean strut rubbing issues. If you go for a 8.5" rim you may get away with it if you stay with ET44 or ET45 as the tyre width of 235/35 is *about* the same when mounted on a wider rim of 8.5" when compared to 8".

I hope this helps.

[sci_fianime]

well 45 is on the B5 + B5.5 at least...

For the B5 and B5.5, the ET should be 35...

[Golf Houso]

For the B5 and B5.5, the ET should be 35...

Nope ... just checked my B5 Sport 20V from behind the center caps and it said 16x7 ET45 ...

[3Putt]

Thanks Lance

Thanks for the explanation Lance.

So basically I should stick with an 8.0" rim width so there is some room to play with between the struts and the wheel arch?

I would like 245's as they are a lot cheaper (due to them being common), and will look a bit better. I think the slight increase in 'rolling circumference' will be negligible, so odometer accuracy will be ok. Also i think the 8" wheel should take it, and if the offset is right the wheel arch rubbing should be ok.

Whaddayareckon?

[Mischa]

just as long as the wheel isnt touching the suspension you're fine. 1mm clearance is all you need. however you'll find that with 245 tyres on an 8" rim, its the tyre that will rub on the suspension not the wheel. however 225 on 8.5 for instance it will be the rim that is at the widest point. 245 on 8" is a little bit balloonish

[BL33SU]

225/30/20 is wot u need

[RF 4MOTION]

My rims are 19 x 8.5, tyres are 235/35 x 19. No problems, they fill the arches great. Car is lowered about 40mm from standard. 5 minute rear inner bumper mod needed to stop scraping over dips in the road.

[sci_fianime]

Nope ... just checked my B5 Sport 20V from behind the center caps and it said 16x7 ET45 ...

You are right - original specs are here http://www.vwvortex.com/resources/mo..._b5/index.html

Seems that for aftermarket rims, their offset generally is ET35...

eg. http://www.autotech.com/roadwheels/zrwvb5.htm

[Lance B]

Thanks for the explanation Lance.

So basically I should stick with an 8.0" rim width so there is some room to play with between the struts and the wheel arch?

I would like 245's as they are a lot cheaper (due to them being common), and will look a bit better. I think the slight increase in 'rolling circumference' will be negligible, so odometer accuracy will be ok. Also i think the 8" wheel should take it, and if the offset is right the wheel arch rubbing should be ok.

Whaddayareckon?

I am not saying that 8.5" won't be ok, just saying that it would be safer to stick with 8" and then have a little more freedom of offset.

I think 245's would also be ok and there would be no issue with odometer accuracy or speed accuracy as the speedo's generally read about 5% slow anyway and as 245/235 is about 4%, this should make your speedo *more* accurate. As you say, it would definitely help fill the guard. This is an option I am also contemplating with my 18x8 Jetta vision rims, ie 245/40 18's.

As I say, I would stick with ET45 and 19 x 8 or 19 x 8.5. My Vision 18x8 rims are ET50 and there is very little room between tyre and strut, maybe 5-10mm, so if you go ET45 you will get an extra 5mm than me inside. If I drop a string line from guard, my tyre is 15mm in from the guard, so there is enough room to go out another 5mm with an ET45 for you.

Just remember to get a 95Y rated tyre at least for compliance.

[3Putt]

Thanks for the input guys.

Would love 20" rims, but the ride comfort must be horrendous.

Wouldn't mind 8.5" rims, but i think 8" will be safer, and it won't look that much different will it?

Still would like 245's, but the tyre guys are scared it won't fit. Any opinions?

So, i'm looking at 245 or 235/35/19's with about ET45... will post some pics.

I would really like some advice on the 245 tyres - they are quite a bit cheaper as they are a more commonly sold tyre....

[Lance B]

Thanks for the input guys.

Would love 20" rims, but the ride comfort must be horrendous.

Agreed. 18's and 19's I think are the best compromise between ride and looks.

Wouldn't mind 8.5" rims, but i think 8" will be safer, and it won't look that much different will it?

If you get the ET40 to ET45, it won't look much different at all to an 8.5" rim. ET40 to 45 will put the rim more to the outside of the vehicle and "fill the guard" nicely.

Still would like 245's, but the tyre guys are scared it won't fit. Any opinions?

I really doubt that you will have any problems. A *good quality* tyre shop should be able to advise you here.

So, i'm looking at 245 or 235/35/19's with about ET45... will post some pics.

I would really like some advice on the 245 tyres - they are quite a bit cheaper as they are a more commonly sold tyre....

If they will fit, then that is what I would opt for also, in fact I may end up getting 245/40 x 18's for my 18 x 8's - of course, you will need 245/35's for your 19's. The beauty of the 245's as opposed to the 235's is that they will "bag out" a tad more and protect the side of the rims in case of any nasty gutter scrapes.