2012 Focus Wheel/Tire Guide

[mrpostman]

I need some help! I am not 100% sure of all this technical stuff and I am totally lost with offsets. I have a 2012 Focus Ti with the 18" rims. Next winter, I am planning on getting 17" rims and winter tires, all with factory specs to ensure proper fit. If I was get a 215/50R17 winter tire and 17" rims with a 50mm offset, would that be acceptable? Why would anyone get a 40mm or 45mm offset when the factory 17" rim has a 50mm offset? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[EddNog]

Originally Posted by mrpostman

I need some help! I am not 100% sure of all this technical stuff and I am totally lost with offsets. I have a 2012 Focus Ti with the 18" rims. Next winter, I am planning on getting 17" rims and winter tires, all with factory specs to ensure proper fit. If I was get a 215/50R17 winter tire and 17" rims with a 50mm offset, would that be acceptable? Why would anyone get a 40mm or 45mm offset when the factory 17" rim has a 50mm offset? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

With a lower offset wheel, the face of the wheel hub moves closer to the dead center line of the wheel. The more positive the offset, the farther past the center line of the wheel the wheel hub goes, so the wheels are, "pulled into," the car. The more negative the offset, the farther out the wheels are, "pushed." Many people will switch to lower offset wheels so as to achieve a wider track (either for visual effect or for perceived improvement in handling/grip). How far out the outside face of a wheel/tire combination actually goes depends on two factors, the width of the wheels/tires and the offset. If you want to keep the outside face in a similar place while switching to narrower wheels, you'd get lower positive offset to do so. So as an example, say your current wheels are +50mm offset, 18" diameter and 8" wide. If you switch to wheels that are 17" diameter by 7" wide, the wheels are 0.5" narrower to the center line from the outside and from the inside. 0.5" is approximately 12.7mm, so in order to achieve a similar visual appearance, you'd have to choose wheels with a +40 or +35 offset. Does that make sense?

-Ed

[Dr. Woo]

By far the best calculator / comparison tool I've found on the Internet, and it's free:

http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

I've spent many hours in there, tweaking specs to see exactly how things will fit on this car. Especially useful when you use the left side to input stock wheel/tire sizes.

[TiStick]

This is probably the best place to ask:

What are the lug nut torque specs for the 2012?

[jsr72]

Originally Posted by TitaniumStick

This is probably the best place to ask:

What are the lug nut torque specs for the 2012?

It's listed in the owners manual. 100 ft-lbs I believe.

[TiStick]

Originally Posted by jsr72

It's listed in the owners manual. 100 ft-lbs I believe.

Well, I'll be...

Yup, right in the manual, pg.313

missed it the first few times I skimmed it.

[Joey D]

Got my 18x8/5x108/+40 Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2's mounted up today on a set of 235/40/18 BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2's today.







And for kicks my buddy at Discount Tire set these up to the car to see how they looked, I was surprised.

[kam327]

I like 'em, a lot better than the stock 18's. They look like the 2nd gen SES wheels.

What surprised you about the clown car wheels? How redonkulous they looked?

[Shade-010]

Looks great man, Id love the wide whites for my 54 F100

[320kbps]

OP Please update first page with new info provided by others.
If anyone knows the weight of the 2012 OEM wheel options that would be nice to have.
Yes this should be a Sticky
I'm shopping for wheels and it would be nice to have everything on one page.
Oh one more thing, I'm new here. I purchased an 2012 Sterling Grey SE hatchback with 6speed auto. Hi

I will add this.

http://www.hubcaphaven.com/

2012 Focus Wheel/Tire Guide
OEM Wheel Sizes: Center bore is 63.4 mm
15X6 ET46
16X6.5 ET50
16X7 ET50
17X7 ET50 22LBS
18X8 ET55 25LBS

OEM Tire Sizes:
195/65R15
215/55R16
215/50R17
235/40R18

Bolt Pattern:
5-108mm

Same bolt pattern as 2012 Focus
Courteous of TCOA

Ford
Taurus/Sable 91-07
Thunderbird 89-04
Windstar 95-04

Jaguar
S-Type 99-03
X-Type 01-03

Lincoln
Continental 88-94, 95-03
LS6 00-03
Mark VII 93-00

Mercury
Cougar 89-98
Sable 86-05

Volvo
240 76-93
740 83-98
850 94-00
940 91-98
960 94-00
C70 98-00
60 Series 00-03
70 Series 98-03
90 Series 98-00
XC90 03

Tire and Wheel Fitment Tool
http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp