Quote:
Originally Posted by KennyPowers
Rear offset, and this deserves some explanation. Apex decides to go with a +58? You kidding me? All other wheels have a +50 option which doesnt rub unless the car has very wide tires, or most likely, is extremely low.
The +58 offset calculates to a 7mm increase in offset from the stock wheels, which is negligeable and quite honestly not enough of a change. The offset should have been at least a +53, if not a +50. The fact that someone would have to consider running a spacer on these wheels to get the offset to look proper is ridiculous in wheels made for the 135i. What makes it even worse is that the front offset is quite aggressive and looks strange compared to the weak offset in the rear. Very disappointing, and is the only thing that prevents these from being the perfect wheel.
Overall, im still very happy with them, but the offset issue sucks. And no, i dont believe a 265 tire would have changed the offset enough to alleviate this issue. That would also not change the fact that the front and rear offsets are so far off, with the fronts being much more aggressive than the rear.
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Let me explain the EC-7 offsets in more detail, as the offsets were selected with a very specific need in mind.
The ARC-8 and EC-7 wheel fitments are for performance oriented applications and not geared towards aesthetic only applications. This is a very important distinction as the fitment has to be different if the wheels are designed correctly.
A performance fitment implies that wide, meaty tires fit properly. Fitting wide tires is the goal, and making sure those tires fit under the fender is vital. A flush offset would guarantee fender issues, and that is a serious issue for a vehicle driven hard as rubbing/cutting of the tire could occur under extreme loads. Our priority is to make the car faster.
An aesthetic fitment is usually oriented towards being flush. The trade off is tire fitment/performance. To be flush, tires must be narrower and stretched, and/or a model tire that runs narrow compared to other tires in the same size.
We designed the EC-7 18x9.5" ET58 to fit properly with very meaty 265/35/18 tires, and in certain circumstances with careful attention 275/35/18 tires. higher 1 series specific offsets are needed to fit a tire like that. They simply will not fit properly with lower offset wheels.
The 18x9.5" ET50~ wheels you mention are very street oriented fitments and they sacrifice tire fitment. You cannot mount extreme summer tires or r-compounds in 265/35/18 or wider at 9.5" ET50 or lower without significant modifications to the rear fenders. Heavy rolling or pulling is usually not an option for most members. The ideal tire sizes for wheels with low offsets like that are 245/35/18 (stock size), and even then rolling is needed for a rub free fitment in certain cases. With extra work 255's can fit, but they are general more conservative street tires, or on applications that would significantly under perform in a competitive environment (auto-cross, track day, race...) compared to a proper fitment.
You selected Continental tires which run narrow compared to other brands. 255/35/18 is already stretched on a 9.5" wheel and it will exaggerate the conservative rear fitment due to the gap between the tire and the fender. A 265/35/18 would fill the rear much more but even a 265/35/18 Continental looks a bit stretched on a 9.5" wheel compared to many other models of the same size. An even meatier tire model/brand would fill the rear more without issue.
The ARC-8 wheel for comparison was spec'ed based on research by Berk Technology, and many other test fitments locally and from other vendors. Knowing that very few members actually needed a fitment as aggressive as their's, we lowered the offset by 4mm to ET58 in order to push the fitment out as much as possible without sacrificing the 265 fitment that 80% of the community is running on that width.
The fronts are aggressive in comparison due to the required offsets for a proper fit. There is very limited strut tube and fender clearance on a 1 series, and an 8.5" wheel pushes both those limitations on a stock car. These wheels were not intended to be optimal for 225 tires as that would sacrifice proper fitment for wider tires. The AERO-7 wheel on the other hand wheel was designed specifically for a 225 tire which is why it comes in an 8" width and a 45mm offset, which is much more street oriented.
The ideal fitment of the 8.5" front wheels are with camber plates in combination with wider tires such as 245/35/18 or even 255/35/18 with extra work. With camber plates the fronts would be tilted in more which makes them look less aggressive at the top. The front offset is needed to properly clear the strut tube as there is zero extra room to push an 8.5" wheel further in towards the suspension. It can only move further out.
If aesthetics are a priority, the rear can be spacer'ed out which is the benefit of a more conservative offset. The center bore on these wheels was designed so that the wheel maintains proper hub contact even when used with a 3-5mm flat spacer. There would be no issue pushing the offset out further if you would like to optimize your fitment for your 255 Continental tires.