Question. i was looking at the Rota Slipstream 15X7 wheels and on the R56 they require spacers. I am guessing this would make the wheel/tire extend out a bit from the well, which would look fine, but would it cause more stuff from the road to hit the side of the car? These recient threads have caused me to do more thinking about mods. Jim
Not necessarily. You'd have to have a really wide spacer to get skinny little 7's to poke. They stay within the arches until about et30-32, and then they start poking. If you do poke, the sides of the car will get a bit dirtier, but nothing a little scrubbing and washing won't take care of.
What is the ET on the Rota's? 15X7 doesn't sound like a issue unless the ET is really crazy I've heard differing views on spacers. I've heard a owner of a tire shop say they are patently unsafe and I have heard from some who shall we say subscribe to the sewing arts swear by them. My spin-Couple MM spacers should be no problem Yes you would get more stuff on the side of the car
Anyone saying they're unsafe is plain wrong. Unless you have some faulty or poorly manufactured spacers, they do very little to effect safety in any way. As long as you're smart and use longer bolts when required, you'll be just as safe as you were on stock wheels. It's true that they can add a little stress to wheel bearings if you go with spacers that are too large...but that's not really a "safety" issue.
Not saying I agree with the guy but thats his opinion. 5-15MM should not be a issue. Beyond that you are likely to get the stress on the wheel bearings you talk about
I have had 20mm spacers on the rear of my Jetta for over 4 years and still have the original wheel bearings with no problems.
I just put new tires on the car and it is the first time I have had a wheel off. I did not realize that the nut is the lug bolt. Now this will make using spacers a lot eaiser. Cool Jim
FWIW, I run 7.5 x 17 ROTA Bs with 215 45 17 Bridgestone RE11s on my lowered R53 with no issues. I just have to have 5mm spacers up front to clear the TSW BBK calipers. I use aftermarket studs in place of the stock wheel bolts. All of this stuff goes to the track on a regular basis. Graham
I have a R-53 with coil overs. I needed 10 MMs of spacer so the tire did not rub the spring perch. The wheels were stock with 48 MM off set. 10 MMs just barely allowed the wheel to center on the hub. In this case I used two 5 MM spaces, and longer bolts. The wheel bolts were torque to 90 ft/lbs. I had the wheel bolts loosen at an autocross where two people were using the car. I have played with cars for a long time and while I generally do not like spacers have not had problems in the past. Today I have 15 MM H&R hub centric spacers and have not had any problems. 15 MM is the thinnest spacer you can get that is hub centric. I can’t be 100% sure, but believe that the forces on the lug bolts alone allowed them to flex. The flex allowed the bolts to loosen. I do not believe I would have had the problem with 5MM spacers because the hub would have added support to the wheel.
A follow up on this thread. What effect on side wall roll would going from 15X5 wheels to 15X7 have? Would it get better or worse. Would turns be more stable or not? Jim
Jim, Two thoughts Wider tires will give you a larger footprint on the road which is good of course Sidewall strength is going to be more a function of the aspect ratio I would think and everything being equal I would not think a big diff
Thanks Tim. I have since learned that taking a larger wheel to a wider rim, which is within it recommended limits, will decrease side wall roll and stabilize things. Jim