I am looking at some 15x7 superlite alloys for my two litre with 195/60 tyres as an allround road use combination with probably the occasional track day thrown in.
While researching this on the alfabb, the subject of wheel offsets created a wide range of responses that has created some confusion on what wheel offset should be for a 15x7 rim with a 195/60 tyre.
One tyre store has told me that a superlite 15x7 with a 14mm offset is the correct one for a stock standard 2litre 105.
I some what questioned this as the origional 14x5.5 rim looks to have about 38mm offset.
It looks from the info on the alfabb that an offset between 24mm-30mm is recommend to get the best fit.
Has anyone done this and can verify the best offset to ensure there are no rubbing or guard clearance issues.
Thanks
Tim
hi tim i run a 14x7 golbe bathest wheel with 205/60 on rear and 195/60 on front and they are right on the guards looks great offset is 25mm iknow the wheel you are looking at they are made by performance wheels i would do a test fit first get your tyre shop to get the 30mm one in first i think this will be a winner tyerwisei bought mine second hand via ebay so i didnt have a choise on tyre size but i dont think you need any bigger than 195/60 yokohama 352 are real oldschool and look fantastic in my opinion good luck with your choise cheers ;D
Tim,
I may have the wheels and tyres you are looking for for sale. Just not ready to part with them yet. Do you have a time issue?
Gary.
Tim,
I agree with Mario
Id say that 29mm - 30 mm offset with a 7 inch rim and 195 tyre is safe, as there are wheels out there in this configuration. You could go as low as 24mm with 7 inch rim as per the 14 inch alloys out of the UK. Most likely 14mm offset would rub haven't know anyone to run that low an offset towards the -ve with a 7 inch rim, with standard 105.
Just bought some 1750 steel rims converted to 15 x7 fitted one to the car (has a 215/60 tyre too big for my car) it fits but will need to measure offset, ill let you know once ive done that.
Thanks guys for the feedback.
Gary what sort of rims/tyres do you have?
Mario and Pep I have taken a 15x7 rim with a 24mm offset from the tyre shop and did a test fitting. The rear rim outer edge, when sitting vertical, looks to finish about 8mm inside the inner edge of the guard. The front rim outer edge, when sitting close to vertical, sits about 7mm in from the outside edge of the guard. Taking into account the tyre bulge may be approx 10mm this would have the tyre wider than the guard.
It is difficult to get a true clearance reading as the rim does not have a tyre and it is difficult to get the car to sit with all its weight as it is still on four wheel stands.
The info I have read so far seems to say 30mm offset is correct, however the tyre shop said that caliper clearance may be an issue as well as rubbing on the guard when turning??
All a bit confusing, did not think it would be so, the tyre shop origionally said that a 14mm offset was the right one for a standard 105!!
Any advice is appreciated.
Tim
Hi Tim my rims are 15 x 7 Superlites with Kumho Race/Road tyres. I think the standard Superlite offset is 24, but not sure.
I can tell you though they fit under the 67 Giulia GTV with out any trouble. Mine is the 1600 in the pic.
tim 195/60 is not a big tire on the 7'' rim i dont think you will have a 10mm buldge i think it will be right on the guards nice beefy look go the 24mm offset it sounds right 30 mm sounds like it would sit into the car too much and therefore possibly hit the front caliper.i know what you mean just finding a set of rims with a 4x108 stud patern is hard enough then they have to fit and then you have to like them it is a tough one.just a word of advise our alfas and the mk1 ford capri shared verry simmilar wheels my globes came off a capri they where right to the guards on the ford and they fit the same on the alfa the only diference is that if you have standard springs there will be more room under the wheel arches on the alfa.but like i said before if your unsure get the tyre shop to do a test fit first with a 24 and a 30mm wheel after all we are not talking about a 50 dollar part are we your probably about to drop the best pat of $1500 so i think that that is the least they can do for peace of mind good luck regards mario
Yes Mario you are right about doing a test fit first, it is a bit like the old rule of measure twice cut once. What I do not want to do is to find that the tyres either stick outside the guards or rub on the guards or inner wheel well, I need to get the car re-registered so do not want it to fail because of a new set of tyres and rims!!
One thing I did notice when reading my car manual was the camber angle for the front wheels is -1 to +5mm, I always thought most camber angles were negative (ie:the wheels lean in towards the car). So am i reading this incorrectly, do you know what is the general road car settings??
Thanks
Tim
Tim,
Have a look at this chart, it should help.
Thanks for the chart Phil, very interesting. It should help me to get the car to its standard settings I hope.
Tim
It would be interesting to find out if any one has had any of these wheel alignment checks done with the car set up as recommended, ie:
65kgs in each front passenger space, roll bars disconnected, fuel tank full, shock absorbers disconnected.!!
I imagine this would not be done by most tyre shops when checking wheel alignment, caster, camber angles etc! and if so what difference to the factory settings that would cause.
Tim