I was simply rephrasing the OP was saying to demonstrate that I understood him and to offer clarification since I’m also embarking on the same project (with minor differences and variations.)
In my hazy mind, I think offset needs to change when you change wheel width. @CapriRacer, is this right?
I wish such a thing as “custom offset” exist! I believe for the most expensive wheels, it can be done but for commodity wheels, you have to take what’s out there.
DAMN NEAR ALL AFTERMARKET WHEELS HAVE lower offsets than factory stock wheels! This is true!
Nope, not my understanding. The goal is to keep the offset the same, it’s like the ‘balance point’ for the wheel. The wheel can be wider with the same offset.
How far can you change the offset without harm? I don’t know.
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I was confusing backspacing with offset. (Told you mind was hazy. Damn Covid.) There could be issues with clearance when maintaining offset with wider wheels.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?gclid=CPrshK-0g-4CFcndDQodg_QFuQ&techid=101&s_kwcid=AL!3756!10!78065462774596!78065397618169&ef_id=Xq18owAABCvI206l:20210104231600:s
13 mm is quite a bit, especially for a small, light car. Not as big a deal with a larger, heavier vehicle.
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Boy… I really hope you’re wrong… I really do not like bump steer, but also hate steel wheels with hubcaps (I should have gotten the sport model with 16" alloys!)
Go to a junk yard and find a wrecked Fit with the 16" alloys. Only very rarely will different trim levels of a Honda have different wheel mounting specs. The only one I can think of off the top of my head was the 90’s Integra Type R, which had a 5 bolt wheel whereas the lower trims of the Integra only had 4.
Sort of.
In many FWD cars with a strut, the tire to strut distance needs to be maintained - so the offset needs to get more negative by half the amount of the rim width change (13mm for every 1/2") Then the limiting factor is the outer fender.
And, Yes! That does put more stress on the wheel bearings and some have been known to fail as a result!
But the problem for other suspension setups is that the limiting factor varies all over the place. In order to figure this out, the fenderwell needs to be measured - and the easiest way is with a laser scanner.
Good News! Both Discount Tire and Tire Rack do that, so their recommendation for both wheels and tires should be trusted (except I noted that they were recommending a 15X7 with the aforementioned 175/65R15)
I found something interesting: This vehicle owner has this exact set up:
His wheels are Konig Helium 15X6.5 on 175/65R15 Kumho Ecsta PA31 tires
Proof of tire size can be found here:
Honda Fit Jazz GE8 - Yonaka Catback VS Stock Exhaust Comparison & Install - YouTube
What does this video prove? absolutely nothing.
Both TireRack and Discounttiredirect.com guarantee “fitment” of the wheels they sell------this is not the same thing as it being advisable, it just means it will mount and and clear the calipers and strut.
Neither company will talk about scrub radius, or other types of suspension geometry changes that may lead to unwarranted handling changes-----some guess work is involved.
For the Honda Fit which has a high factory OEM wheel offset, the choices are quite limited--------aftermarket wheels all seem to have lower offsets. It’s hard to find a wheel in the +45 range, let alone +50
So going with 13 mm less offset splits the 1 inch increase in width in half, keeping the backspacing about right. There is amazingly little clearance between the stock tires/wheels and the struts on a lot of FWD vehicles so I can see why these wheels were recommended for this application.