quote:Originally posted by eclectechie:
...Compomotive understands Panteras and their offsets, and even asked me if I wanted them "East Coast" or "West Coast" style; apparently the West Coast drivers like them sticking out a bit farther...
This depends upon the tires you are installing and which end of the car you are writing about, the wider the tires get, the less room for error there is. There is also less room for error in the rear than the front.
The 325/25ZR20 tires on the back of my car leave ZERO room for error. Altering the centering of the wheel 1/8" in either direction would result in rubbing. The 315/35ZR17 tires that were mounted previously did leave some room for error. The 17" rear wheels previously mounted on my car were centered 1/4" more inboard than the 20" wheels are.
Out front its a different story. You are balancing between rubbing on the fender as you center the wheel further outward with rubbing the inner fender at full lock as you center the wheel further inward. The 17 x 9 wheel previously on my Pantera and the 18 x 9 wheel mounted now both have 5.75" backspacing. It looks like you could center the wheel 1/8" further outward without rubbing the fender, (i.e. 5.625" backspacing on a 9" wide wheel) but I wouldn't go any further. Going the other direction, moving the center of the wheel further inboard will simply mean you won't be able to crank the wheel full lock as far when you are entering or exiting a parking spot. That's about the only time you use full lock anyway. BUT, in the looks department it is possible to move the wheel too far inboard.
HOwever, moving the centerline of the front wheel affects the front suspension geometry, specifically the scrub radius, aka the kingpin offset. Increases in scrub radius make steering effort harder and increases the "feedback" felt through the steering wheel. Decreasing scrub radius has the opposite effect. See the picture below.
Hope that makes sense to y'all.
cowboy from hell
