15 inch Wheels and offset

[willmac]

Sorry folks but probably yet another thread on the old favourite,

Looking at buying a set of 15" x 7 wheels with an ET15 offset running 195/45/15 tyres.

Will these fit on a 2002 model Academy / Roadsport which I believe would have had a 185/70/13 as standard ?

I know there are those who say don't run 15" wheels, so maybe I will be better to look for a 13" with a known offset.

Wheels , tyres and offsets confuse the hell out of me

[iain a]

Hi
The origonal wheels on my 7 were 15" x 6.5J with an offset of 13mm (the 'Prisoner' wheels) They are shod with 195/50/15.
These days I prefer to run the car on 13" x 7J and an 18 to 24mm offset (I have a set of each)

My feeling is that the 15" rims would be better with a 20mm offset or there abouts.. but they are OK. The steering feels a bit dead and the weight is a bit high. I have a 22% rack which will make it feel worse.

Give it a try and see what you think.

[willmac]

Thanks for the reply Ian.

I have decided not to go for the 15" wheels after all.

Am going to stick with 13" ( probably KN Minitor ) and go for 6" on the front and 7" on the rear. So if there is anyone reads this that's selling a set. Drop me a PM.

[mch]

FYI...

I've just fitted my SV with 15" wheels, ET20, shod with 195/45R15 CR500. The tyres *just* fit without fouling the rear wingstay arm (there's about 5mm gap); any larger ET and you'd be in trouble. Ideally I would say use ET18 to give a couple of mm extra.

I did 250 miles over the weekend on the new tyres, I didn't really notice a vast difference over the original 14" Avon ZV3s on the country lanes. Maybe a track day will highlight the reason for the extra cost...

Cheers
Mike