Would a 16x7 +42mm offset fit on a 02 WRX? How low can the offset be and still run ok?

 

nevermind, the search comes to the rescue. I found on another post that 35mm is the lowest you can go.

 

uh... do you mean lowest w/o rubbing? if so, I have no clue and ignore this post.

The recommended offset for a 7" wheel I believe is between 48-52. Some people run 45, and a few will run 42, but does this really mean anything. I mean I see lots of people running around with very under inflated tires but that doesn't make it ok, or good for the car/safety/handling. As you vary from the offset the car was designed for your putting more stress on the wheel bearings leading unnecessary wear. If you really want those wheels and the only come in that offset, go for it, but be warned you'll be causing damage to your car. How significant is it? that depends on the offset you choose and how you drive the car, but to me, any extra would be unnacebtable.

Maybe I'm crazy but I've NEVER heard of someone using +35 offset on their suby... did you mean +45? if so, I believe that's moderately common but not the best. As you go with a wider wheel, offset needs to decrease to compensate, and thus people with 8" wide wheels often use this lower offset.

And finally using the wrong offset could cause more rubbing since you are de-centering the wheel, sure it could also help reduce it, but I believe for the most part it will increase rubbing.

Hopefully that made sense. Good luck with watever you decide

 

48-53 is the recommended offset

 

I knew there was a line that you shouldn't cross when it came to offsets, but I didn't know how low it was.

https://www.i-club.com/forums/showth...ghlight=offset

This is the link that I was talking about regarding the 35mm. Was he misinformed too?

 

FYI, the six spoke '01 Subaru RS wheels are 16x7 with a 53mm offset.

 

My bad, my bad, 48-53 (its 1 mm!!!) and the funny part is that I knew it was -53 too

just another FYI, the stock wheel is +55 (the 16x6.5 one on the wrx), and the car you have matters a little bit too...

for a little more info on wheels for the impreza, and varius ones that fit, check out http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html

 

I had sent an email to a company selling 16x7 +42mm and the reply was:

Thank you for your email. Both wheels will fit your WRX. We have never seen any long term or short term problems with using this offset on any of the Subaru applications.

So the question is now, everyone here is saying NO, yet the company replied with that. Am I just being sold some rims, or is there any truth to this?