There is a reason that the ET on 8" rims is that way tho, If you mess with it you ruin the cars handling and steering setup i do believe,

An experienced fellow told me that the center of the wheel is very very similar in position on the std 7x17 et 38 as it is on the 8x18 et 35 so the steering is the same and you dont loose performance, if you went for et42 then you are in effect narrowing the car down and making the tracking thinner I do believe.

There is a reason that the ET on 8" rims is that way tho, If you mess with it you ruin the cars handling and steering setup i do believe,

An experienced fellow told me that the center of the wheel is very very similar in position on the std 7x17 et 38 as it is on the 8x18 et 35 so the steering is the same and you dont loose performance, if you went for et42 then you are in effect narrowing the car down and making the tracking thinner I do believe.

The handling feels fine with 8inch rims and 35mm offset and in fact I don't think I'd want to change the ET on the front because the wheels sit perfectly inside the arches and give good clearance when on full lock and a higher ET would make things worse, but on the back the wheels seem to kick out further than at the fronts and that's what's causing the problems. A switch to 215mm tyres seems to be the way to go from what I've heard and some stiffer suspension would also help things.......but I'm still a bit wary about 215mm tyres looking too stretched on 8 inch rims......though Berre's tyres look fine on his rims. Hard to know how it's going to match up with standard arches though as his arches have been heavily modified and I don't want to go that far.

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

Cheers

yea mate the 35ET is designed that way to keep the car the same width so it doesnt bugger up steering.

the center points of the wheels on 8" et35 rims is the same or near as dam it to 7" et38. even tho there is more of the tyre on the road the center points are still the same. if you mess with that you can ruin the handling,

I always thought if you make the track wider on the car it will handle better but apparently not.

yea mate the 35ET is designed that way to keep the car the same width so it doesnt bugger up steering.

the center points of the wheels on 8" et35 rims is the same or near as dam it to 7" et38. even tho there is more of the tyre on the road the center points are still the same. if you mess with that you can ruin the handling,

I always thought if you make the track wider on the car it will handle better but apparently not.

I don't fancy ending up in a ditch every time I drive a bit more "enthusiastically". Could get expensive !!

Hi guys

Don't mean to hi-jack the thread but think you could help me out.

I have got to the stage where i am looking at wheels for my mk1 2002 Octy vrs Estate but really unsure if i should go for 17's or 18's as concerned about rubbing etc. I am looking at the RS6 replicas from wheel-base and i am running standard suspension.

What size should i go for and what ET, width and tyre type should i specify?

Any help greatly appreciated

with replicas mate and any wheels, they dont just make them to suite, they make a general size/measurement.

IE 8x18 rim will be 5x100 and et 35 for our cars or 7x17 et 38 5x100.

I had the R32 reps on mine that were 8x18 et 35, 225 40 18 and the only time I had some slight rub was with a car full of squadies on way to Haverfordwest. (the road is up n down)

I think it also depends on the MAKE of tyre too as the Marangoni Mythos I had were a diff shape to the ones that came on the RS4 ones I got(Never fitted as they looked smaller due to the large rib and I didnt think they looked good on my car)

I Have TD pro race 1.2 on mine now and even tho they are made to order they wouldnt do me 7.5x18 I dont know what et that would be to keep the track correct but I am sure someone will.

Thanks for that Billy. I have gone for the 8x18 RS6 replicas with 40 profile tyres so hopefully will have no probs

nice mate,

pics when they are on plz

Of course mate. Put new stereo set up in it this week and wheels arrive on Monday so plenty of pics to follow

nice lol good one

have fun mate

not too loud now lol

The handling feels fine with 8inch rims and 35mm offset and in fact I don't think I'd want to change the ET on the front because the wheels sit perfectly inside the arches and give good clearance when on full lock and a higher ET would make things worse

I have no issues what so ever with ET42, still a lot of clearance on full lock and the car handles perfectly and I am a "sporty" driver

A couple of mm won't have any effect on car handling, when you go "chop shop" style like our friend Leepu and use spacers of a couple of inches then yes

Earlier models Octavia were fitted by default with ET42 by the way, check this out: http://uploads.jcbskoda.co.uk/doc/894.pdf

cheers

B

I have just finished fitting my new 8x18 inch rs6 replica wheels from wheel-base. They have 225 40 tyres on them. Been out for a drive and no rubbing or handling issues with them even with a bit of lively driving