Spacers Affecting Handling

[Mertin]

Looking for some reviews on people who have fitted spacers and the effect it has had on handling, in particular track days and sprint / hillclimbs which where my focus is.

Iv never planned running spacers however I have just fitted wilwood 4 pots and they are fine with my standard OZ F1’s on soft tyres, my Rota Slipstreams with road / wet tyres wont clear them. I was tempted to just ditch the calipers for the standard brakes again to avoid a wheel change but thought I would give spacers a try. Yet to find out just how much I need on the front though and likely go 10mm on the rear in the form of the PMS stub axle spacer.

From reading PMS’s guide I believe hubcentric is the only option for the clios due to the protruding face on the hub? Again, yet to double check with measurements to see how much I can run with a slip on before having to go hubcentric.

All thoughts and experiences welcome!

 

[imprezaworks]

Personally get wheels to suit.

Not done Hill climbs etc, I just don’t like spacers.

 

[Mertin]

The standard, normal running wheels are fine. Its just the really wet / road tyres that dont and tbh can live without them but willing to give it a try with spacers. Plenty seem to run them including PMS on their own car

 

[Usr117063]

If the oz’s fit at that offset then just get a spacer that brings out the rotas to the same track width? Sure the weight of the wheel would be in a different place but the contact position is exactly the same. Just an idea I’m sure (know) there’s science behind it but for Clio speeds it surely won’t make much difference?

 

[alistairolsen]

There are two separate issues here.
1) does total wheel offset affect handling - this is the offset including spacers. Yes it does, go and have a read about scrub radius. That said, whilst it may not feel as nice, sometimes its still faster (balancing multiple compromises)

2) Are spacers acceptable - spacers are a cheap and easy alternative to just purchasing wheels of the desired total offset, as long as they are either very thin, or hubcentric then in my opinion they're fine. anything in the 10-15mm range isnt really

 

[Aydon182]

for normal clio offsets i think 15-20mm is the max before you go outside the scrub radius which would affect the handling negatively but if you're within the scrub radius it will affect the handling positively, you could get a much higher offset wheel as another alternative however obviously be aware a greater offset wheel affects the design of the wheel, some wheels look nice at low offsets and horrible at high offsets

 

[Coops Mk1]

I would say they're okay, I personally run 15mm rear and 10mm front slip on spacers (hubcentric on the rear, the 10mm fronts are flat) and I run a stud conversion all round

i don't have any issues using them and the car is primarily a track car i run on slicks with a diff etc etc.

i haven't however tried without the spacers to see if the handling changes, as it stands its very predictable and a joy to drive at speed so i see no need to try anything different

however i am not in a competitive environment to my perceptions may not be driven by competition to test and improve everything

 

[Knuckles]

I noticed tramlining on really bad roads since fitting spacers to my 197. Apart from that there’s not really been a difference. It seemed a bit more prone to oversteer on track but I was pressing on more than usual that day, so it could’ve just been that

 

[Mertin]

So much variables out there, thanks for the comments. Did some measuring this morning and I need 7.5mm to confortably clear the calipers for the rota’s. So either 10mm or have an 8mm made for the fronts. Preferably slip on and then I can add the spacer when I swap to road tyres or if its a really wet day, and in which case I wont be pushing the handling to its limits.
Guess I can play around and try the spacers with my normal racig wheels and see what affevt it has but on 35 second hillclimbs or a 75second sprint there isnt much chance to get a proper fee and to make changes. Save that for a day at knockhill maybe if I ever venture down

 

[Coops Mk1]

the stud kit makes swapping them easy as well, both front and rear axles on my car can take upto a 15mm spacer with the ET36 wheels i use and clear the arches....just at the front easily at the rear. but with the studs chopping and changing is simple

 

[Aydon182]

widening the track of the car by 30mm is not going to be something you will feel a physical difference from, look at 3cm on a tape measure, its nothing.
Same way you wouldnt feel anything other than a placebo from a 5 bhp gain, you wont be making any noticeable track time improvements. its within the realm of minute gains, but it shouldnt have any negative impact so long as you stay in the scrub radius, and 15mm virtually puts no extra strain on the bearings either.

you could even say its not worth it if you arent interested in the slightly more aggresive look, or need it for clearence, the minute handling improvement could be negated by the minute added weight to the rotational mass of the car

 

[fake ben taylor]

@NorthloopCup is really the man to comment on this I believe

 

[NorthloopCup]

@NorthloopCup is really the man to comment on this I believe

This subject has been, and will continue to be done to death.
The fact of the matter is that altering the scrub radius too much does have adverse effects on handling.

A 10mm spacer on the fronts will be fine as it'll still be within an acceptable range.

 

[Vaughan]

In Australia spacers are illegal unless supplied with the car OEM.
I’ve been reading up on aerodynamics and wheels are a large source of drag which is why they are recessed into the arches slightly.

 

[McGherkin]

Has a slight effect on suspension rates as seen by the wheel too, by moving the load (kind of) further from the pivot.

You’ll be fine though. Do it.