OK guys, I'm finally close to making a move on some wheels and need just a little help to make my decision.

I found a set of Manaray Sports wheels I liked, but then learned the "Sports" were their lesser-quality line and that there were some others that were very similar made by PIAA (Rozza Altra).

Did some digging, found some pictures (including one below, thanks for scanning and posting Manaray) and am now down to deciding the final pieces before pulling the trigger.


Question 1: Offset

Offset for the 18's I want come as below:

F 18x8, +37 or +42 high disk
R 18x9, +38 or +43 low disk

Here's where I still get a bit confused... Does the offset drive the 'high disk' configuration or is that a separate measurement?

Any suggestions on appropriate offset for these from the CL wheel gods?

The Piaa's don't come in 18x8.5 and 18x9.5, which was my first choice in width. GS4Will has really helped me (thanks William!) narrow down my selections to this and thinks that a 275/35/18 tire will look OK on the x9 rear wheel to fill out the back.


Question 2: Color

The Piaas come in both silver and hyper black. I like the black - it doesn't look as dark as some I've seen - but I still have the same concern with it making my black car look too dark/dirty.

<see picture in subsequent post (below) for some similar PIAA wheels on a black GS>

Has anyone seen these wheels in person or opinions on the hyper black color? The lip on these wheels is still chrome and is pretty huge (3 1/2 inch +) which I think will really help offset any 'too dark' look.

Your thoughts?

 

Here's a picture of similar Piaa wheels on a black GS, looks like they may be Hyper Black to me.

 

Offset and disk have NOTHING to do with one another.

You can have the same wheel with the same offset and three different disk types...high, normal, and low.

Not sure why peple keep saying that offset affects brake clearance.

Wheels look good!

 

Thanks - just my confusion (and others too, I guess). I assume the high/med/low disk does affect the way the wheel looks in depth, right?

Any thoughts on what offset will work best for the sizes above?

 

Not sure about about offset but Good choice (nice lips )I like the style and the quality is strong also nobody really has them

The decision on color is a liitle tough IMO.In the picture black on black looks decent although I havent seen them in person.You may on the otherhand like silver better. I thinh I would go with silver. Is there any pics of a black car with those in silver or could somebody photoshop one.Tough decision be patien with it.

 

Yeah...work in Columbus during the week (near the airport) then back to Texas on the weekend.

Man...that is areally tough choice on offset/disk. And yes, the disk affects how much outer lip you have. These wheels look like they have a nice lip designed into them so I wouldn't worry about high/low much.

With what you posted, you are going to have to make compromise...looks or performance (brake upgrade).

If you are planning on doing the brake upgrade, you have to have high disk or a spacer. With the high disk wheel up front, your wheels are going to be set in pretty similar to the stock setup. You could do a spacer to fill out the wheel well but I don't think that I would want to put a spacer on a brand new rim. FYI...kinesis makes some nice wheels and they include a spacer and studs for a Supra Turbo since they do not have a high disk...so, although not ideal, you could get the brakes and fill the wheelwell better.

For the rear, I would see how much lip you lose with the normal disk setting. I like the wheels to be more aggressive so I would give up a little lip for a more aggressive stance.

From my research, for a 1" diffence in wheel widths front to back, the offset should be 1 mm higher in the front than back for ideal fitment. Basically you don't want one wheel filling out the wheel well more then the other...either all inset a little or all aggressive IMO.

Best luck.

Ryan

I'll be on some new rims soon too hopefully.

 

I'd try to research the black car and try to find out what is on that car...it looks good.

Late.

 

Dave- sure thing...just glad that you found the wheel that you like

 

Personally, I'd do a 18x9 all around and just do a 245 up front (a little small, but definitely not a big deal) and a 265 out back...or just do 245 all around (even 255) so you can rotate (but you'll have to get the same disk and offset for this to work right)

Are you SURE you want to do 18's? I just saw a GS today on 18's and man, it looked SMALL!

 

Ahhh, the age old dilemma.... ride comfort vs. looks... what to do, what to do.

 

Depends on your perspective. To create a high disk application, less material is removed from the mounting hub, meaning the hub is thicker. If you left it like this, then the effective offset would be reduced compared to a low disk application. So, what manufacturers do, is to move the face of the wheel toward the street edge to regain the original offset. This can be done either by changing the curve of the wheel face (which changes the look of the wheel in my opinion), or in multipiece wheels, they increase the size of the back piece of the rim, and decrease the size of the street size of the rim... and we all know what that means... smaller lip

 

Manaray,

Yeah, I've put a whole LOT of thought into the peformance/driveability VS better looks issue.

I'm definitely leaning more on the side of performance & driveability you get with 18's. I DO like the looks of 19/20's better, but I'd rather have lighter wheels / faster times / less issues with driveability. I also don't want to draw a lot of random attention to my car.

I've looked at a number of cars with aftermarket 18's and there is still a 'better than stock' appearance (Bitkahuna's for example), so I still feel like I'll be taking a big step up from stock 17's (which I still like the looks of - please don't beat me ).

So....

If I went with 18x9 for BOTH wheels I'd have the option to put the same size tire on both if I wanted to at a later point. That also means, I'd need to get high disk for both front and rear, so I can do my big brake upgrade in a couple of months. Just one question remains:

With 18 x 9, high disk which offset? +38 or +43

Also - if anyone thinks this is going to look stupid, please tell me! I believe Will mentioned that these wheels even with high disk still have over a 3 1/2 lip, so in my mind they should still be OK...

Don't definitely want any rubbing with the 18x9 fronts. Anybody heard of running 18x9 with 255 up front having problems? (I'd go ahead and use 265 in rear)

 

Dave-correction,

the offsets that you listed is for LOW disk selection

if you want 18x9 high disk, only +23 and +37 are available...

so if 18x9 f+r, +37 f+r high disk(90mm lip):eek: 3.55" lip

 

18x9 +37, you SHOULD run 245's but then again, if your car isn't that low or you never hit bumps hard enough to get the wheel to "tuck", then you can run a 255...

 

"For the rear, I would see how much lip you lose with the normal disk setting. I like the wheels to be more aggressive so I would give up a little lip for a more aggressive stance."

The more aggresive stance will be achieved with the bigger lip.
The bigger lips will be with offsets that push the wheel more to the street side.....whether you go with normal or super low disc....

In reference to brakes, OFTEN times a wheel wont be available with disc type choices. The offset and spoke curve will allow the wheel to clear a large caliper. This is generally only found in diameters 18" or larger...