[squee]

Glad I got your attention.

What's that you say? 22 offset on a Mazda? Absurd. Well to give a little insight, I recently purchased a set of Varrstoen ES2 wheels, as the title of this thread states, 17x9 +22 offset, though as I was excited with the thought of my first set of shoes for the whip I went ahead and bought them with the thought of the offset never having crossed my mind.

Now I'm at a dilemma, I drive a second gen 3, lowered on Eibach Pro springs. Giving me a 1.5" drop in the rear and 1" in the front, these have been on for some time and have settled in quite nicely. I've heard many different things when I've asked for advice on these thus far, both from veteran Mazda owners to other enthusiasts. What are my chances at mounting these wheels with the least amount of work done to the car? I've been told that I can wrap them in 245.40.17's with a slight roll to the front and rear fenders and be good to go, then I've been told I'll have to invest into control arms and possibly bring my ride height up. Now I trust all these guys but I wanted more people to chime in, possibly someone with a similar experience. I don't want to camber out my 3 or go so low profile as this is my daily.

Help a guy out?

tldr: Fucked up buying wheels, recommendations on mounting with the least amount of work to the car. ?

 

[kyeoh]

1.5" drop isnt too bad. You could probably do it without rolling fenders but i would do it just to be safe for the really bumpy roads. Youll have some crazy poke going on but again, your drop isnt too bad.

 

[mazdaspeedmyk]

Your going need rear camber arms and probably front camber plates to make those clear. Roll and an aggressive pull too. It's going to take a lot of work to get 245s in there. It's going to take a lot of work overall.

 

[pdc001]

Yep roll, aggressive pull, and rear camber arms to start with AT LEAST with that offset.

 

[mazdaspeedmyk]

Check out @MattGentle's build thread. He's on bags, but it'll give you an idea of what you're in for.

http://mazda3revolution.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15320

 

[MattGentle]

Well, at least you're on 17's. I think 245/40 should be okay but if you're worried maybe step it down to a 245/35? I don't know tire sizes too well outside of what I run for my wheels.

I had 245/40 on my 17's with my old setup but those were only 7.5 wide and it was pretty meaty looking.


I would recommend rolling your fenders though and if you have enough money, I would also have them pulled if you don't want your car to look mexy flush. A little bit of camber may also be required if you want your wheels to be a little more flush with the fender with that offset.

 

[MattGentle]

18x9.5 +15 Rear with ~-7 camber aired out (https://flic.kr/p/resGJq)
18x9.5 +25 Front with ~ -3 camber aired out (https://flic.kr/p/rerS9C)

 

[squee]

1.5" drop isnt too bad. You could probably do it without rolling fenders but i would do it just to be safe for the really bumpy roads. Youll have some crazy poke going on but again, your drop isnt too bad.

Your going need rear camber arms and probably front camber plates to make those clear. Roll and an aggressive pull too. It's going to take a lot of work to get 245s in there. It's going to take a lot of work overall.

Yep roll, aggressive pull, and rear camber arms to start with AT LEAST with that offset.

Well, at least you're on 17's. I think 245/40 should be okay but if you're worried maybe step it down to a 245/35? I don't know tire sizes too well outside of what I run for my wheels.

I had 245/40 on my 17's with my old setup but those were only 7.5 wide and it was pretty meaty looking.


I would recommend rolling your fenders though and if you have enough money, I would also have them pulled if you don't want your car to look mexy flush. A little bit of camber may also be required if you want your wheels to be a little more flush with the fender with that offset.

Well I definitely expected another outcome of mixed thoughts but this is more concise than the responses I've gotten before. Thank you guys for your input, seems like I have a lot to consider. Either find myself a shop who'll work with this or look into trading/selling the current set.

If I were to continue, what would be my first steps here, the control arms/camber plates? I figure control arms are to adjust how far the rears go into the wheel well, correct? Could someone shed some light on the plates though?

 

[kyeoh]

Alright so I compared our wheel specs on willtheyfit.com and this is how they size up with each other. "Compared to your existing wheel, this new wheel will have an inner rim which is 14.4mm further away from the suspension strut. The outer rim will poke out 1.7mm more than before." My wheel being the existing one and yours being the new wheels. I set it up for my rear specs which are 18x9.5 +30. Im basically less than a finger away from tire touching fender, but then again im like lower 3 inches with my fenders rolled and spc camber arms that are like -4 or -5 camber. So yeah, hopefully that will help you out. I suggest just getting fenders rolled first and maybe getting about -2 or -3 camber.