500e Wheel Offsets

[arenared]

Thanks very much for the nice technical post! You are talking my language.

How is the handling on the Abarth springs? With 15mm F and 12mm R (for a front weight bias), do you feel there is understeer, especially without the rear Abarth bar?

Was surfing your posts. Your ride height looks PERFECT.

Not sure if I will do suspension mods (initially ) as I haven't decided between lease or buy. Good to know the Abarth 7" wide wheels and 205/40R17 will fit no problem. I wanna shoehorn 225s on there Not sure if there's space. I'm pretty anal that it really fits and doesn't stick out or rub. Was looking at aftermarket wheels, and here's my collection of "big" wheels for a normal 500:

8" ET 25
8" ET 20
7.5" ET 35
7.5" ET 30
7.5" ET 30
7.5" ET 30
7.5" ET 30
7.5" ET 20
7.5" ET 15

Those never say what the tire sizes are, though. Biggest I've seen documented is a 215/35R17 on a BBS 17x7.5" ET 30. Seems reasonable as there is not much inboard clearance. I think somebody was getting some rubbing on 215s.

[N S]

Looking to lower the suspension and change out the wheels as well.

[hashlock]

The front suspension is identical to the gas cars, except for the springs. The rear suspension is from the Abarth, minus the roll bar. I hated the excessive wheel clearance so I gambled and installed a set of take-off Abarth stock springs (there are plenty of them available here for cheap). With the extra weight of the 500e, the ride height now is about the same as an 1-2" lowered Abarth. It was necessary to trim about 1" off of both the front and rear bump stops otherwise the suspension travel is compromised. The stock electric springs are 13mm front and rear, and very tall. The stock Abarth rear springs are 12mm and about 1.5" shorter, and the stock Abarth front springs are 15mm and also about 1.5" shorter. This combo sets the car almost exactly level. Stock Abarth wheels will fit the car no problem.

Would love to see pics of your lowered 500e!

[Tweak]

Would love to see pics of your lowered 500e!

Welcome to the forum.

[rnddude]

Would love to see pics of your lowered 500e!

DSCN0324.jpg

[rnddude]

If I recall correctly on my 500e, the offsets are the same front and rear, with the extra width on the rears on the outside. I would have no problem running matched, wider wheels on the 'e', particularily when you would be running lower aspect tires (40 or 35) anyway if you go to 16's or 17's. From what I can gather from various sources, one of which I met who actually did some development work on the 'e', the wider rear rims stretch the tires a bit more, effectively making the tire sidewalls stiffer, which helped minimize polar end swapping in sharp turning maneuvers at speed which can happen if the tire sidewalls deflect, which is more of a problem with the 'e' because of the heavier and more rearward weight bias due to the rear-mounted batteries.

[zonker]

I know this is an old thread, but I can tell you the front 5.5" wide wheels have an offset of 35mm and the rear 6.5" ones have a 28mm offset.

[nate93460]

Has anybody put “rear” wheels on all 4 corners of their 500e? I get that fiat did the different widths for a reason yadda yadda but aesthetically i’d Really like the wheel widths to match so the sidewalls appear the same. I guess this could also be achieved with narrower tires up front. Anybody try that? Just curious.

[rkw]

Has anybody put “rear” wheels on all 4 corners of their 500e? I get that fiat did the different widths for a reason yadda yadda but aesthetically i’d Really like the wheel widths to match so the sidewalls appear the same. I guess this could also be achieved with narrower tires up front. Anybody try that? Just curious.

A fair number of owners have installed aftermarket wheels (using the same size on all 4 corners) and I haven't seen anybody report any issues. Fiat made front/rear wheels different to optimize the suspension, but the physical difference is quite small and the actual effect is also probably very minor. An advantage of having all 4 wheels the same is that it facilitates tire rotation. IMO the ability to rotate tires for even wear is a much greater benefit than what Fiat had intended with the wheels.

[Luma3d]

Yep...I'm all for EV fun. Just picked up a 2017 and already starting to make my mod list. Not too concerned about aerodynamics, just pure pleasure while driving.