Do I need spacers for my winter wheels?

[DaiRees]

Some of you may remember the set of wheels I bought a while back for winter use.



Not sure whether I want to put very thin spacers in there, this query is all about offsets.

The Fortunas fitted on the car from new are 8 X 18 with a 55mm offset, running 245/40 R18 tyres.

Standard 17s on a V70 are 7 X 17 with a 50mm offset, running 225/50 R17 tyres.


The ones I've bought are 7 X 17 with a 52.5mm offset, and I'll be putting 225/50 R17 winter tyres on them.


So there's no problem with clearance or anything, they're still a lot narrower than the 18s so there's plenty of room. So it's just an aesthetic thing, will they look too "inboard"?

So my questions are:
Do I want to put some 3mm spacers in there just to bring the front face out closer to where a standard fit 17" alloy would be?
If I did use 3mm spacers, would the original bolts be OK or should I be trying to find bolts that are 3mm longer?
Would I even notice 3mm difference?

[jonny81191]

You won't notice less than 10mm, don't bother imho. Also, up to 5mm is generally accepted to be ok on the standard bolts.

[Welly]

I don't like spacers, I'd avoid at all cost. As said you will not notice 3mm, 5mm or so in fact if the Winter Tyres have a broad 'shoulder' they'll look wider anyway. My Winter's look wider than my Summers but are the same size tyre.

Are the Winter Tyres you propose a size that is listed in the Volvo Handbook? I ask because I had a right game trying to stray from the 'factory approved' sizes; both Volvo UK and my Insurers were very twitchy about it. I had to stay with what they approved.

[DaiRees]

Yes, they're a standard size. The handbook lists 2 17" sizes, 245/45 and 225/50. Being winters I went for the narrower ones, not that I expect that 20mm will make much difference. Also 245 is very wide for a 7" rim width.

Anyway I've ordered (and paid for) the tyres today, I went for these, never really rated Matador but by tyre man tells me they're made by Continental and are very good quality. £105 each at my local tyre place so cheaper than mytyres

http://www.mytyres.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop. ... eugart=PKW

[waue1978]

I'm with Welly - always best to try & avoid spacers where possible. The less parts there are between the wheel & the hub, the less there is to wobble loose.

Besides, even if they did look a bit inboard, most cars look a bit funny with Winter tyres on anyway, mainly because it almost looks like they're pretending to be a 4x4 with the chunky treads! Yours will just look slightly more stylish than they normally do as most people stick the Winter tyres on a cheap set of steelies.

[DaiRees]

Yeah I reckon you're right guys, I'm sure they'll be fine without spacers.

Collected the tyres today, here they are...


I'm liking the way they fit on the rims and the nice chunky rim protection. I also like to be able to see a decent bit of sidewall, never been a big fan of very low profiles


Nice tread!


A small part of me can't wait to see the temperatures drop so that I can try them out

[DaiRees]

And they're on! (OK, they've been on since Sunday but I only just got around to taking a pic out of the office window )

They fit fine, I'm sure they could be spaced out a little but really it's no problem, they certainly don't look out of place, I'm well happy with them.

What do we think of the aesthetics dudes?

[Welly]

You've not cleaned the 'lube' off your rim

I have to admit I'm not a fan of Black Wheels anyway but they certainly don't look out of place by any means.

[DaiRees]

You've not cleaned the 'lube' off your rim

Haha, yeah I kinda figured it'd be washed off at the first sign of rain but it's been bone dry this week, typical . Doesn't exactly make a positive contribution to the appearance, does it?

[scotty73]

You've not cleaned the 'lube' off your rim

Haha, yeah I kinda figured it'd be washed off at the first sign of rain but it's been bone dry this week, typical . Doesn't exactly make a positive contribution to the appearance, does it?

You should see mine after having mine on yesterday 4 lubed rims and not a wheel trim in sight plus it's a stinking salty blue colour it's bloody aweful

Dai are you finding the inner of the Tyres rub a bit on full lock? Looking nice btw.

[DaiRees]

Dai are you finding the inner of the Tyres rub a bit on full lock? Looking nice btw.

No mate, they don't rub. Even with the slight offset difference they're still noticeably narrower than the 18s so there's plenty of clearance as can be seen in the diagram from above.



I also believe that V70s fitted with 245s at the factory were also fitted with steering limiters, so I wasn't expecting any issues.

[GingerMagic]

Why am I not surprised to see a BMW badly parked and taking up all the pavement.....

Rims look nice, kinda suit the car.