[voltron1011]

I had 13mm spacers running on the rears of my 162's, but I just took them off because it seemed that they really affect handling in a negative way.... My car would understeer severly and the steering in general seemed to be whacky. The car had a tendancy to track wildly on road imperfections.
I took the spacers off this weekend and the car handles beautifully again. Turn-in is perfect and it tracks straight and true down roads with imperfections...
Anyone else have similar experience with spacers? I've read numerous articles that changing the track of your rear wheels does increase understeer.

[Paul330d]

What brand did you get? I was warned against the standard spacers you find in accessory stores for $19.99 and ordered e90-specific ones at over $200. Expensive, but they are really very good quality and fit the hubs perfectly.

[sesegal99]

I was going to go with RE 15 or 18mm..... can anyone chime in with photos and experiences. Anything less than 15mm I understand is too small and there becomes a chance of failure in the the aluminum (ie cracking) I don't race, or autox, just want them for a little more aggressive look.

[voltron1011]

Mine are Rogue Engineering ones... I don't think they get any better than that... They fit perfectly and I've had no reliability issues (no cracks or anything), I'm just noticing that the overall handling has been affected by the fact that the rear track is wider than the front track (regardless of brand of spacers).

[sesegal99]

we're talkin les than an inch...you can't really feel the difference in everyday driving? track or autox maybe....everyday driving i find hard to believe. any good pictures?

[voltron1011]

It wasn't drastic, but enough of a difference for me to get rid of them all together. I'm with you guys in that the stock rear track of the car is really too narrow in reference to the fenders, but I really can't sacrifice handling just for 13mm's on each side that no one but me will even notice...
The only way I'll put em back on is if I get some 5 mm ones for the front.. That way the front and rear track will only an 8mm difference.

Let me see if I can dig up my pics of the rear's with 13mm's installed.

[Chesmu]

I have 18 mm RE spacers and love 'em. Plus RE includes longer lugs with the spacers. Maybe no real driving difference, but I love the way they look.

[sesegal99]

chesmu got pictures???

[Chesmu]

Originally Posted by sesegal99

chesmu got pictures???

not the best....

[sesegal99]

not bad....a picture from the rear would help alot. are you stock suspension? also do you have any issues with rubbing. 18mm doesn't look like it sticks out past the fender at all but lines up pretty even.

[Paul330d]

A more recent picture showing what 15mm looks like:

[shragon]

i'm using 12mm RE spacers on the rears of my 161's. does a nice job of pushing them out imho. however, if i was to do it over again, i would have just went with the 15mm's.

so far so good. i haven't taken the wheels off since, so don't know how the hubs of the spacers look. hopefully no cracks in the spacers.

i also used anti-seize when installing the spacers.

for the chrome lug bolts that came with the spacers, i roughed up the heads a little with some steel wool. i bought a can of rustoluem flat black paint (not spray paint). i dipped each head into the paint and let it dry for 24 hours. did a nice job, and no need to replace the front bolts with chrome ones because of it.

[sesegal99]

that looks nice.

[Chesmu]

My have stock zsp springs, no rubbing.

[sesegal99]

do me a favor if poss....grab a photo similar to the one above so we can see the comparison between the 15s and 18s.

thanks.

[Chesmu]

Here you go, man...

[Mick]

Ok, finally installed my 15 mm rear spacers from RE yesterday and let me say this, the pics here don't do them justice. They look amazing! I can't believe how much better the car looks, and so easy to install, a cave man could do it. Can't say I've noticed any difference in handling, but I'll need more road time to be sure.

[sesegal99]

pictures please.....take from the back also... looking straight on at the rear bumper!

[KL2DC]

Originally Posted by Mick

Ok, finally installed my 15 mm rear spacers from RE yesterday and let me say this, the pics here don't do them justice. They look amazing! I can't believe how much better the car looks, and so easy to install, a cave man could do it. Can't say I've noticed any difference in handling, but I'll need more road time to be sure.

Yes they do look great, I am happy with mine as well

Not to detract but there are some subtle differences in handling imho. Most cited is slightly more understeer. I find if you start to play around with your air pressures you could neutralize this, especially on non-staggered setups.

Voltron1011's observation on tracking wildly over on uneven surfaces is interesting. I've only started to observe this as I've recently gone on staggered OEM 18's (was running the 156s before) but not to the extent of his account (again very subtle). Perhaps the suspension setups and road conditions contribute to our differing observations.

[Mick]

Interesting. I have the staggered 162's with the Sports Package. I'll have to see over the next few days how it handles. I will see if I can get some pics from the back to post this week as the car is finally clean and it's not raining for a change. Trust me though, it looks amazing.

[sesegal99]

looking forward to it... what did you do for the bolts? keep them silver? paint? bolt caps?

FYIW I think our cars (w/ sport pkg) have the perfect stance, widen out the rears a little and it would be perfect imo. :rocks:

[Mick]

I used the silver bolts that came with my spacers, but spray painted them flat black before installing them to match them to the OEM front bolts. The paint held up better than I expected after installing them and look original. I'm sure they'll chip a bit over time but I'll just touch them up when I need too. I'll try and get some pics up this weekend.