Motorsport Technology wheel spacers

[mrmike]

They aren't farther out than the fronts really. Without spacers the front wheels were flush with the fender lip, while the rears were so far into the wheelwell that they would tuck with air ride. This didn't look good because it made the rear look lower than the front and it made the wheel gap look uneven. When the sun shone on the wheels, it looked weird because there was always a shadow over the rears. Besides, this setup is not unique to RWD cars. Early 2000's Mustangs have the same inset rears, while most new FWD cars have equal offsets with their fenders. Aparently auto manufactures push the rear wheels in to reduce understeer, which is most common on FWD cars.

mustang RWD: rear wheels farther in, very simular to Aleros


G6 FWD, wheels match offsets to fenders


Now I know what you are saying, you can see more of the tread on the rears, but this is because the front fenders are straight up and down, while the rear fenders curve in at the bottom.
here you can see that they are at different angles:


Its okay if you don't like it though. Oh p.s. The staggered look has nothing to do with how far the wheel sticks out, it is all about having a rear wheel that is wider than the front, usually with a huge lip.

[Cliff8928]

Originally Posted by kwhauck

If you read what I wrote I said the staggered look, meaning your rear wheels are set out farther than your front wheels, you are trying to make it look like a RWD car, which is stupid IMO....unless you are doing an OSV replica, like oldsman, and even then I think GM made a bad decision.....

Hah, maybe you'd like my Beretta with the front wheels out farther (with bigger tires).

[kwhauck]

Originally Posted by Cliff8928

Hah, maybe you'd like my Beretta with the front wheels out farther (with bigger tires).

yes i would!!! just like my alero with 255s in the front and 235s in the rear........

[kwhauck]

Originally Posted by mrmike

They aren't farther out than the fronts really. Without spacers the front wheels were flush with the fender lip, while the rears were so far into the wheelwell that they would tuck with air ride. This didn't look good because it made the rear look lower than the front and it made the wheel gap look uneven. When the sun shone on the wheels, it looked weird because there was always a shadow over the rears. Besides, this setup is not unique to RWD cars. Early 2000's Mustangs have the same inset rears, while most new FWD cars have equal offsets with their fenders. Aparently auto manufactures push the rear wheels in to reduce understeer, which is most common on FWD cars.




G6 FWD, wheels match offsets to fenders


Now I know what you are saying, you can see more of the tread on the rears, but this is because the front fenders are straight up and down, while the rear fenders curve in at the bottom.
here you can see that they are at different angles:


Its okay if you don't like it though. Oh p.s. The staggered look has nothing to do with how far the wheel sticks out, it is all about having a rear wheel that is wider than the front, usually with a huge lip.

I know what the alero fenders look like, As far as i know only me and oldsman are running 255 tires in the front, and I was the first to run a small offset wheel to appropriatly squeeze those 255s....and BTW the fronts are straight up and down either, if you are really at the edge of the fender, they will stick out at the bottom an inch or so.....

the g6 has a different body flow so it is comparing apples to oranges, i will give you the mustang, it is similar but that is also stock, I am talking about aftermarket here where you choose to push out the rear, like most mustang people and other RWD owners push out the rear wheels, and yes they usually use an actual staggered fitment with 8 or 9 in wide rims in the front and rear in excess of 10 in wide, but by you adding spacers to the rear, wether intentional or not.....you are mimicking the staggered look, which is meant for RWD vehicles....

it's like putting a FMIC looking intake in your car when you are not turboed, you are mimicking a look which you can't back up....

but like you said, i don't like and you do, that's what matters.....

p.s. i'm not the only one with this opinin, do a google search for "FWD staggered" and read the forum results you turn up....

[Valley olds]

I was seing how mrmike said that adding rear spacer will give you a little understeer. Is this really the case? I have heard that for handling, a little understeer is better than neutral.

[Cliff8928]

understeer is not necessarily better, but it's "safe"

[Valley olds]

"Safe" as in its not as easy to lose control of the car? Sorry Im a total noob when it comes to understeer oversteer and that kind of stuff.

[Cliff8928]

Exactly.. You're less likely to have something bad happen. You lose traction with either under or oversteer. But correcting understeer is something that most people could do. If you don't know what to do with oversteer, worse things could happen.

For example, if you have understeer you can usually get control back of the car by correcting your steering (turn into the skid), or slowing down a little bit.

With oversteer, if you overcorrect by say turning the wheel too far and braking you could potentially snap the rear of the car all the way back around the other way even worse than you started.

One of the things that is a little unique with oversteer with FWD is that you can correct it by accelerating if the conditions are right.

[Valley olds]

Thanks for that awesome explanation. That really shed some light into this subject for me.

[Spilner521]

Originally Posted by Cliff8928

Hah, maybe you'd like my Beretta with the front wheels out farther (with bigger tires).

That's how a FWD staggered setup is supposed to be, same with kwhauck's car too

[Atmosphere]

So if you used spacers to put the front and rear wheels in line with the fenders, it wouldn't be considered a staggered look, right?

[irondiezl3]

looks alot better

[Spilner521]

Originally Posted by Atmosphere

So if you used spacers to put the front and rear wheels in line with the fenders, it wouldn't be considered a staggered look, right?

Right.

Usually that's what you shoot for with aftermarket wheels, to choose the right width and offset wheels so they come out and sit flush with the fender. You can still stagger the tire sizes, but the rear wheels won't stick out further than the fronts and vice versa.

[Spilner521]

Originally Posted by mrmike

If you're taking a picture to show how flush the wheels are, usually you keep the wheels straight so you can tell. It does look good, but because you can't tell how flush the front wheels are, it looks like the rears stick out further, giving the car that staggered look.

[Nate's Alero]

now, can you place wider wheels on the car with the spacers? i want to do 275's on mine

[kwhauck]

why do you want 275s?

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by kwhauck

why do you want 275s?

haha, bit of an understatement, i want like 255's, they look good, i LOVE the wide tire look

[Spilner521]

If you want wide wheels and tires, you get wheels with the right offset so you don't need spacers.

[kwhauck]

like me.......255s on a 17x8 +32 offset......is perfect.....

[mrmike]

Originally Posted by Spilner521

If you're taking a picture to show how flush the wheels are, usually you keep the wheels straight so you can tell

I wasn't taking the pic for the spacers, its just a general photo. Anyways, it is really hard to find a set of normal wheels that would have the proper offset. My 8" wheels have the equivalent of +35mm front and +10 rear. You could do it, but it would usually mean buying more expensive rims, plus you would be limited to very few choices.