Some advice please needed on wheel offsets - ET37 vs ET35

[Staz]

Hi there everyone

For those of you who don’t know me I’m the dude with a 53 reg Passat estate whittling on about upgrading my alloys and making my car handling a bit funny! Well I think I’ve made an error whilst pursuing superficial modifications and I need some opinions if it’s as severe as I think.

The original alloys on the Passat had, I think, an offset of 35mm and the alloys I upgraded to have an offset of 37mm. Could this be the cause of the problem? Does anyone think this would cause the car to feel a little sketchy on the handling and the steering to be what you could only describe as non communicative? The alloys are fitted with 225/45/17 Bridgestone Potenza tyres and I’m running at 31psi all round. If anyone could help I would love to hear from you. Don’t get me wrong it’s a beautiful car. I will try and add a link to some photos of it soon.

Take care all

Staz

[ronmcintosh]

Hi There

I would doubt that the change of offset would have affected the handling by much. The difference between the 2 offsets is very small.

Have you gone to a larger tyre/ lower profile tyre when you changed the alloys

Ron

[Staz]

Hi Ron

Thank you for replying. Yes the new alloys do have lower profile tyres. The original alloys had 205/60/15 tyres fitted and the present alloys have 225/45/17 fitted. Of course with the wider tyres this is going to created more traction and this would I imagine tend to pull the car more on uneven road surfaces and the reduction in tyre walls would absorb less bumps from the road but I didn't anticipate it would change the ride as much as it has.

Then I realised the offset was 2mm out I kind of panicked!!! I have now deflated the front tyres down to 31psi, I was running at 33psi as per the original pressures on the back of the fuel flap. It does seem better now or perhaps I'm just getting used to it. The thing that worries me the most is that the suspension and steering geometry is set up for wheels with a 35mm offsets. I wasn't sure just how much of a difference 2mm would make to the overall handling of the car. You say you don't think it would make much difference however. Isn't life confusing sometimes!!!

Staz

[Fourbears]

I'd check the ET on the original alloys. 37 seems wrong as my 99 Passat has an offset of 45, so if you're now running 35 then it will affect the handling as the wheels have effectively been moved in. You might also want to have a 4 wheel alignment check as the tracking might be out slightly and your new wheels may be accentuating it! Best of luck!

[SLEACH]

There are two different offsets for that particular year/chassis code both et37 and et43 what size engine and is it 4 motion or not ? Is the vehicle standard ride height or has it been lowered ? The conversion you have done is the right one ie tyre size but tyre pressures do vary considerably from standard wheels.

[Staz]

Hi Fourbears and Sleach, thanks for replying

This is getting confusing!!! Regarding what Fourbears said, your Passat is an older model to mine so perhaps 45mm is correct for you but I'm sure the original offset for mine is 35mm though it's now looking like it may be 37mm which means the wheels I am currently rolling along on are the right offset after all

Sleach, the Passat isn't a 4 motion. It's front wheel drive 2003 PDTDi 130 estate. What tyre pressures would you recommend running on my new alloys then? I am at 31psi all round at the moment. The original pressures on the standard wheels were 2.3 bar (33.35psi) on the front and 2.1 bar (30.45psi) on the rear as per the information on the rear of the fuel flap.

Thanks

Staz

[ronmcintosh]

Hi There

The offset of the wheel should not make a huge fifference to
the clearances in the wheel arch but the bigger/ wider tyres
will change things.

Going to a bigger lower profile tyre , i would seriously
recommend that you get the cars tracking done as there is a
good chance that this will have been affected. Even a turn or
two on the track rods will make a massive difference to the
handling of the car.

I reckon it would be money well spent

What you will also find at this time of year is that on very
wet/ greasy roads the wider tyres can occassionaly feel that they have less
grip than your older narrower ones. This is due to the weight of the car being spread further and not cutting down through the water as easily
Ron

[SLEACH]

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ModelVolkswagenFeedbackPASSAT:KW:>142Vin:3B; 3BG; 3BS; 3BLYear:01>04 PCD:5x112GVW:Max Speed:Kerb Weight:Caliper:NutBoltThreadType:M12x1.5NutBoltHex:17BoltLength:28NutBoltTorque:120 TyreLoadSpeedNorm
PressLaden
PressRim
SizeOffsetCent
BoreRunFlatExtra
LoadTrackMax
RimWidthF:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 57.1 1515 8.5 R:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 57.1 1515 9


Similar VehiclesPassat. 1.8 20v TurboKW:110Year:01>03Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 R:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 Passat. 1.9 TDi PDKW:75Year:01>04Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:195/65R15 91 H 2.0 6 x 15 43 R:195/65R15 91 H 2.0 6 x 15 43 Passat. 1.9 TDi PD 130KW:96Year:01>04Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:195/65R15 91 V 2.1 6 x 15 43 R:195/65R15 91 V 2.1 6 x 15 43 Passat. 2.0i S, SE, SportKW:85Year:01>04Vin:B4 TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 R:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 Passat. 2.3 V5KW:125Year:01>04Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/55R16 91 V 2.3 7 x 16 43 R:205/55R16 91 V 2.1 7 x 16 43 Passat. 2.5TDi V6KW:119Year:01>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/55R16 91 V 2.5 7 x 16 43 R:205/55R16 91 V 2.3 7 x 16 43 Passat. 2.8i V6 4 MotionKW:142Year:01>05Vin:3BL TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/55R16 91 V 2.6 7 x 16 43 R:205/55R16 91 V 2.4 7 x 16 43 Passat. W8 4.0i 32v 4 Motion / EstateKW:202Year:02>04Vin:3BS TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:225/45R17 91 Y 2.8 7 x 17 43 R:225/45R17 91 Y 2.6 7 x 17 43 Passat. S SpecKW:>110Year:04>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 R:195/65R15 91 V 2.0 6 x 15 43 Passat. Trend Line SpecKW:>95Year:07/04>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 R:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 Passat. SE SpecKW:>110Year:04>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 R:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 Passat. High Line SpecKW:>95Year:04>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 R:205/60R15 91 V 2.0 7 x 15 37 Passat. 2.0 FSi, 1.8T, 1.9 TDi(130) Sport KW:95/110/95Year:04>05Vin:3BG TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:205/55R16 91 V 2.6 7 x 16 43 R:205/55R16 91 V 2.4 7 x 16 43 Passat. 2.5 TDi; 2.8 V6 4-MotionKW:119/142Year:04>05Vin:3BL TyreLoadSpeedPressLadenPress RimSizeOffsetRunFlatExtra
LoadF:225/45R17 91 Y 2.8 7 x 17 37 R:225/45R17 91 Y 2.6 7 x 17 37


UpstepsWheelSizeMinOSetMaxOSetBestFitTyre(s)6 x 153048195/65R15205/60R15225/55R15215/60R15205/65R156.5 x 153048195/65R15205/60R15225/55R15215/60R15205/65R157 x 153048195/65R15205/60R15225/55R15215/60R15205/65R156.5 x 163048205/55R16225/50R16215/55R167 x 163048205/55R16225/50R16215/55R167.5 x 163048205/55R16225/50R16215/55R168 x 163048225/50R167 x 173048225/45R17225/50R17205/50R17215/45R177.5 x 173048225/45R17225/50R17205/50R17215/45R17235/45R178 x 173048225/45R17225/50R17245/40R17215/45R17235/45R177.5 x 183048225/40R18235/40R188 x 183048225/40R18235/40R188.5 x 183038225/40R18235/40R188 x 193048235/35R198.5 x 193038235/35R19Hope this helps

[SLEACH]

THAT DIDNT COME OUT QUITE RIGHT I KNOW BUT YOU CAN READ IT IF YOU TRY HARD

[Staz]

Hello again. As there was two replies I thought I would reply back personally to you both.

Response to Ronmcintosh

Thank you for your advice. I have already had the tracking checked and adjusted very slightly. I'm not quite sure if this is the correct terminology but the thrust was checked which is the alignment of the rear wheels with the front wheels too. I was assured it was all as it should be. A good friend of mine did it and he works for a Rapid Fit franchise which has all the expensive kit, I made sure he did a good job!

Response to Sleach

Thank you for the information, was a little bit of a puzzle to start with but I think I managed to get the data I needed! Would I be be right then in thinking that as the car is a PDTDi 130 which came with 205/60/15 wheels as standard the factory offset is 37mm. I do hope so as the wheels currently on it which as you know are 225/45/17 have an offset of 37mm too. If I am wrong please let me know. Another friend of mine who worked in the tyre trade for many years recommended I run 30 psi all round in his experience. Again if anyone feels this is wrong then let me know.

All the best

Staz