Spacers

[Oli-VTR]

do wheels spacers improve or worsen the handling? id of thought that a wider wheel base would be more solid or am i wrong? and is it better to have it slightly wider at the rear or equal all round?

[Steve_M]

I've personally found that spacers (or decreased offset) wheels almost always impair the handling but they can increase grip and cornering speed. (Handling relates the feel and feedback, not grip). You may also find that the car is less forgiving near it's limits as it's approaching a squarer geometry. It all depends on what you want out of the car really.

Oh, there is the added bonus that spacers make the wheels look like they fill the arches out better. You will go through wheel bearings faster though.

[monka]

You will go through wheel bearings faster though.

any evidence for this? or just going on what everyone says which is a load of crap.

i've had 35mm spacers on the rear of mine for 15k now, and i believe the beam to be completely original, and is on 120k.

would you tell someone putting on 0 offset wheels that they would go through wheel bearings more?

[Kebabman]

I would have thought it's common sense that the bearings will take more stress and therefore not last as long with spacers on. You are pushing the wheel further out from the bearing and therefore increasing the force exerted on it.

Take it to the extreme. If you put a 1 meter spacer on, the bearing would be under a hell of a lot more strain due to the extension, which effectively creates a massive lever that exerts all of its pressure on the bearing. If you jumped on the wheel at that distance you'd probably shatter the bearing instantly. It's no different to using a crow bar/breaker bar when you need more leverage.

IME bearings won't last as long with spacers on. Especially when using the car in anger. However they also provide a bit more stability and cornering speed due to the wider wheel base.

[KamRacing]

I dont think anyone will really notice unless the new offset is extreme. Look at all the variations you get from different manufacturers. You dont see reports that one car manufacturer is worse than others.

On my Clio it certainly made the car tram line more. Certainly noticeable when overtaking another car as the road camber changes when crossing the white lines.

[VeiRoN]

Sorry to the OP for the OT but i just wanted to know,are spacers road legal in Uk?

[Oli-VTR]

I dont think anyone will really notice unless the new offset is extreme. Look at all the variations you get from different manufacturers. You dont see reports that one car manufacturer is worse than others.

On my Clio it certainly made the car tram line more. Certainly noticeable when overtaking another car as the road camber changes when crossing the white lines.

so youre saying it made the handling worse in day to day use?

and yes spacers are legal in the uk

[marcusd]

any evidence for this? or just going on what everyone says which is a load of crap.

i've had 35mm spacers on the rear of mine for 15k now, and i believe the beam to be completely original, and is on 120k.

would you tell someone putting on 0 offset wheels that they would go through wheel bearings more?

yeap i had the spacers that use longer wheel bolts used to eat through bearings till i got the proper sort bolts to hub then wheel aint had any problems since

[KamRacing]

so youre saying it made the handling worse in day to day use?

and yes spacers are legal in the uk

I cannot say I noticed an improvement. Depends on the road really as to how it affects things. For the occasional tug on the steering it did not bother me. I widened by 50mm on the front though which is quite a lot and it filled the arches nicely.

[holdawayt]

My mx5 was on 15x8 et0 wheels. Bearings were fucked within 10k miles. Yep they might've been weak to start with but those wheels definitely made a difference.

With regards to handling, it was tail happy and easy to drift but quite un-nerving in the wet.