In fact larger offset upsets the bearings, since the center of gravity of the wheel + bearing moves away from the join to the car which is the bearing normal axle. That means that the same force is aplied but with a larger arm. That means that the overall stress applied to the bearing is larger and could cause the bearing to fail sooner.

The complains do not go to Eibach and H&R but to the manufacturer of the bearings. I saw the rear bearing on my fabia and it's realy small. I have those wheels 1.5 years now and on very bad roads. My car had the steel wheels on the same bad roads three years before. The bearings don't have any problems yet. Offset or not the bearing failure in fabia is quite common. I know cases of failure after just 50.000 km and the parts are not cheap. I guess the risk of early fatigue of bearings in case of below 20 mm spacers or lower ET wheels is acceptable.

So you think the 12mm setup I have will harm my bearings? Or am I alright?

No one can tell, but according to the laws of physics the stress is increased by offseting the wheel. Still I think you are ok if you drive carefuly on bad roads, that is.

Okay I'm lucky then...no bad roads in this country and city except in the outskirts of Sharjah!

You're not the first person to get confused about my car. It's a 2.0 with a GT kit. The vRS came out after the kit was made..I have wheel arch trims on mine where the vRS doesn't.

I was thinking about vRS wheels...I don't know...still thinking...or maybe some after market rims...

And thank you

Your wheels look like they already have an offset. IIRC' date=' H&R don't make 10mm spacers...12mm are available...and if you stick those on your tires will stick out alot..[/quote']

If you're looking for good aftermarket rims I'd recommend OZ wheels, the superleggeras for example give great performance as they are one of the lightest around, a bit more costly than most aftermarket alloys but definitely cheaper than magnesium wheels. They come in 7" wide and 15" & 16" sizes ET35 which I think will suit the car fine (also 17" available but a bit more on the "looks" side at least for car of this size). I have the superleggeras in 16" size and they truly transformed my cars handling

How much are they?? 17s that is?

How much are 16s of the Superleggeras too?

Edit: Oh man, I've come across this...is this true? They really bendable?

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-40981.html

I've got 17" OZ Superturismos on mine - looks the part!

You have to check your local dealer for prices as I live in another country.. I've seen ripoff prices of 200euros per wheel but I got mine little under 700euros whole set (4 wheels without tires) in 16" size. Not sure what the price level is in other countries, Finland is pretty expensive country..

I'd say you can bend any wheel if you try hard enough and run too little pressure, important esp. with low profile tires.. I've had no problems so far although roads in finland are generally in bad condition (winter time eats the tarmac pretty badly so lot of work for road builders ). I'd say that now that the wheels are lighter my suspension works actually better and thus minimizes stress for suspension parts.

OZ Superturismo and OZ Record are also from the OZ racing line and are weight optimised, they tend to weight a bit more than Superleggera though but still less than most aftermarket wheels.

If you're after good handling and not looks I'd go for 15" since you can use the same tires but still get a bit wider stance plus better handling-- larger wheel will always weight more although lightweight wheel like superleggera is always a bit lighter in each size when compared to other wheels.

http://www.mazda6tech.com/articles/suspension/unsprung-weight-and-inertia.html

here's some interesting reading about unsprung weight if anyone is interested..

You have to check your local dealer for prices as I live in another country.. I've seen ripoff prices of 200euros per wheel but I got mine little under 700euros whole set (4 wheels without tires) in 16" size. Not sure what the price level is in other countries' date=' Finland is pretty expensive country..

I'd say you can bend any wheel if you try hard enough and run too little pressure, important esp. with low profile tires.. I've had no problems so far although roads in finland are generally in bad condition (winter time eats the tarmac pretty badly so lot of work for road builders ). I'd say that now that the wheels are lighter my suspension works actually better and thus minimizes stress for suspension parts.

OZ Superturismo and OZ Record are also from the OZ racing line and are weight optimised, they tend to weight a bit more than Superleggera though but still less than most aftermarket wheels.

If you're after good handling and not looks [b']I'd go for 15"[/b] since you can use the same tires but still get a bit wider stance plus better handling-- larger wheel will always weight more although lightweight wheel like superleggera is always a bit lighter in each size when compared to other wheels.

http://www.mazda6tech.com/articles/suspension/unsprung-weight-and-inertia.html

here's some interesting reading about unsprung weight if anyone is interested..

But you see, that's also what I thought about 15"s, which is what I already have, and I totally agree that the smaller the wheel the better the handling and acceleration...a reason rally cars have small wheels.

I think I'll stick to the stock 'boring' wheels I have

First I'd like to correct one mistake, superleggera is not available in 15" for 5x100 bolt pattern, only 16" and 17"..

Of course the stock wheel is always a safe bet, however couple of things to consider:

-Stock rim has 6.5" width while most aftermarket rims have 7" width (even in 15"). This means that with same width tire the rim will support the tire better meaning less flex in corners and sharper steering. Also if you use offset like 35 you can get the same track widening effect you get with spacers with less separate parts between the wheel and hub.

-Don't know how much the stock wheels weight but I bet superleggera in 16" size weights still less. Plus you can use 205mm tire with lower profile meaning less flex and more grip when cornering.

Is this a track change of 12mm so two 6mm spacers.....

or a 24mm track change with 2 12mm spacers?????

Two 12mm spacers, total 24mm....

jstatic, thanks for the info

Mil whats the offset on your wheels et 35, 38 or 43??? Also what size tyre is on (185 or 195 or 205)those rims?

Im running 38 and that means I have already done 5mm from the standard 43 and would only have room for another 7mm if you are running 43.......

Your car doesn't look as low as it used to - what gives?

Also, could you post a picture shot from the front 3/4 - that's where you'll see best how the back wheel sits in the arch (thinking about getting some spacers for mine as the rears look a bit set-back).

Loving the arabic number plate!

Andy...I don't know what the offset of the wheel is. All i know is that in the rear, I only have about 3mm left before the outermost part of the wheel is right under the arch. Was told to keep it inside to avoid ripping the rear fenders off on hard corners. The tyres are 195/50. I had 205/50 before this.

Jamlip, the parking outside my office isn't flat, it has a gradient. Where one side is low, the other is higher. I snapped the side where the ground was higher, so the car looks a little higher than it is.

I'll try and get that pic up soon for you, it's just way too hot outside so if I have time in the evening I'll snap it then.

Open to all if those are standard alloys what offset would they be.......

Oh and thanks Mil!

What's the width of the wheel as this will have effect also (too many people tend to talk about offset only)? Most skoda factory alloys for fabia have 6.0" or 6.5" width (couldn't recognize the model from picture).. Offset is usually 43..

Aftermarket 7" wheel with 35 offset will actually stick out 2mm more than 6.5" 43 offset wheel with 12mm spacers .. with wider wheel this is also necessary for the tire not to rub suspension components (votex tend to use offset 38 for 7" wide wheel in new polo), with offset 35 you can also fit wider 7.5" wheel like the 17" superleggera for example..

here's a handy tool to calculate wheel offset changes:

http://marksink.com/tire_wheel_offset/offset.html