As per the title, has anyone tried 488 wheels on an FF? FF wheel stats; Front 8.5J X 20 ET 46.5, Rear 10.5J X 20 ET 53.4 488 wheel stats; Front 9J X 20 ET 44.7, Rear 11J X 20 ET38.5 So by my reckoning, the rear wheels will sit 21.25mm further out and the fronts will sit 8.15mm further out. I know that Brian L and Autolove have run stock FF wheels with spacers up to 18-20mm. Is there a conceptual difference between running spacers and simply having a smaller offset (unsprung weight of the spacer and longer bolts etc.)? Although the wheel rim will sit further out from the car, I'm assuming that the tyres will be a bit more stretched given the extra 0.5" width of the rim which will hopefully make the rear 295/35 tyre look less 'fat'. Is this extra width in the stance too much and is the difference between front and rear going to cause chronic understeer? Will the suspension need to be adjusted to avoid fender rub? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
The center of the tyre will only sit 14.9mm further out, and that's the really important bit.. They will fit perfectly fine and look good on it. The slightly less offset in the rear will add a bit of understeer, but not much. The section width of your tyres will change ever so slightly, but less than you might think. Those tyres are approved for 11.5" wheels, so plenty of room to go. What you need to consider is the tyre clearance, and the wider rim, changes that less than one might think. Rule of thumb is 0.2" increase in section width when you increase the rim width by 0.5".
Thanks for the reassurance on the offset and understeer. So if my maths is correct, the 0.2” increase in section width added to the lower offset will result in a rear tyre which sits 17.44mm further out than the stock tyre/rim combo. Brian L ran 18mm spacers at the back and had his suspension adjusted as ride height was dropped. I don’t intend to drop the car so will I need to have any changes made to the suspension in order to avoid fender rub or any other untoward effects of a wider rear track? The front tyre will only be 4.34mm further out so I’m guessing no suspension adjustment will be necessary there. Thanks.
It may not be as simple as I imagined. Did some checking, and there are a bit of a debate on the matter. One guy went with 20 mm spacers all around, and Brian L ended up with 15mm as he thought 18 was too much. I recall seing cars with 20mm spacers and Novitec springs, and the tyres did not poke out, they were flush. Mahbe shoot Exoticar or Alex @ TAG a PM. They should be able to tell you exactly how far out you can go without poke.
In the end, the 488 wheels weren’t rated for the axle loads of the FF so I went down the custom wheel route. I know you’re looking for a wider stance and I contemplated it but I also couldn’t risk being forced to drop the suspension to tuck the wheels under the arches. That’s because the Dutch authorities are in love with speed bumps and ground clearance is paramount where I live so the slammed look just doesn’t work. I did a lot of the work you’re doing now and concluded that the maximum reduction in offset without dropping the suspension is around 14mm at the front and 15mm at the rear. Il Co-Pilota also warned me via PM that more than 14mm at the front would result in arch rub (based on his friends’ personal experience). If you want to go lower on offset, you’ll need Novitec springs and 20mm spacers/lower offsets. That’ll give you a hella flush look. Once you go over 20mm, you’re going to end up with poke. What’s your end goal?
I’m looking for just flush fitment, nothing “hella”, I’m fairly particular with fitment on all my cars. It seems like 20mm on rear is about the limit but know 488 wheels are 1MM more aggressive, so might give it a shot. It seems odd to me that more aggressive offset needs a drop - is it under the assumption of getting more negative camber? Or just a personal opinion on the “look”? Thanks for the advice @ANOpax !
You’re welcome. The more aggressive offset needs a drop in order to avoid poke. If you like the pokey look then there’s no need to drop. Be mindful that 488 wheels are not rated for the weight of the FF. This doesn’t seem to be an issue in the US (despite everyone being hung up on product and insurance liability) but it is in Europe. Having said that, nobody has died from fitting an underrated wheel to the FF but when you look in the “FF wheels are made of butter” thread, you realise how important it is to have strong wheels…
I agree. These are heavy cars, especially with the V12. I remember seeing threads with F-chatters complaining about wheel damage with the factory wheels. I’d guess it would be even easier to damage wheels that aren’t appropriate for the load
