MX-3.com

_-Night-Shade-_ wrote:

Polonius wrote:I have 4x114.3 bolt pattern wheels from my previous car I wanted to continue using, as well as wanting the flush look. I bought spacer/adapters that are 1 inch wide for all four tires. Personally, for my commuting/zipping around 50 kph curvy roads, I found the handling, ride smoothness, and body roll were all very improved. It felt a lot more poised to me.

That's illusory correlation. Spacing the wheels out further from the suspension actually reduces the effective spring rate because more force is exerted on the suspension (same principle as to why it's easier to turn a longer wrench). So you actually have more body roll now. And more wear on the wheel bearings. It's probably not too drastic of an effect but it's there. I imagined 1" would have pushed them out further than that. Do you know what the offset for those rims are? Also would be curious to see what that looks like on a lowered MX-3.

You know, that's what I figured when I bought them. I understood the extra leverage on the suspension, and figured I'd be sacrificing a little bit. My wife also said it felt smoother, and she enjoys a good spirited drive. I only got them for looks. But it really did feel like the car was more settled in the turns.

I haven't a clue what any numbers for the rims are, unfortunately. I zipped 'em off at the pick'n'pull in Edmonton for like $50 for the set. If I remember correctly, I got my 1" measurement going off the stock rims. I really like the width, although an extra 1/8th or 1/4 would've been nice. Ah well. And a 1" drop would look fantastic, but I doubt it'll happen - she's my winter "beater", and I live up in hicksville Grande Prairie - need all the clearance I can get.

hotsiit wrote:

Josh wrote:I have 15mm in the rear and 5mm in the front no pics yet though. Only reason is to push my wheels to the outside of the wells. Hella flush look... lol

Wondering what offset you are at with the 15mm spacers on? I am thinking of using 15mm spacers too, effectively pushing my offset to +27. (I think i read somewhere that a +25 offset on an mx-3 is pretty much flush with the fenders?)

My wheels are TSW VX1's 17x7.5 and I think the offset is +32 or +35 I will have to check. but the center of my wheels stick out from the outside bead of the rim by about .5". to i didn't want to go to a full 1" spacers. and with the AWD all my tires have to be the same width and size for proper ratios so i couldn't go with wider tires in the back than in the front. Spacers were the easiest way to give the car the look that i am after.

Here is a pic of the spacer on the hub with new lugs. I dont have a pic installed on the car yet.

Heres a few pics with my summer wheels on a few years back before i got the spacers

And here it is now with the spacers (yes i know i need to lower)

just click on the pics to go to the bigger image and they are 25MM ichiba lightweight spacers