It’s been a while since I’ve updated my car’s progress. During this long holiday, I finally got the chance to head back to my hometown and try out the new rims I bought for my Celica. Before committing to the purchase, I did quite a bit of research on the best offset and width for my car. Most of the information I found was from the States, where people typically run coilovers and camber setups to make their rims fit. However, I prefer to keep my camber close to the factory specs and will stick with lowering springs for now, until I’m ready to invest in a set of super strut coilovers. This made me a little cautious about the fitment of my new rims.
The rims I chose are 18×9 ET30 for the front and 18×9 ET20 for the rear. I went with different offsets for the front and rear to prevent the rear from sinking too much, which happens if the same offset is used all around. Originally, my Celica had 16×6.5 ET39 wheels, so the new 18×9 wheels are a significant upgrade in width—about 2.5 inches. This had me worried about potential clearance issues with the wheel well and absorbers.
When I finally tried to fit the rims, I was relieved to see that everything worked fine! The wheels spun freely, had no issues with full left/right turns, and even cleared the calipers. However, there was one concern: the front absorber housing. There’s only about half an inch of clearance between the wheel and the housing, which made me a bit uneasy. I’m hopeful that this won’t be a problem because the housing moves with the wheel on uneven surfaces, so there shouldn’t be any contact during normal driving. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
I’ve included some pictures below to show the fitment from different angles:
Rear Backspacing:
Rear Top View:
Front Wheel View:
Front Backspacing:
Concern: Front Absorber Clearance
This is the part that worries me—after fitting the tires, the clearance will be less than an inch.
Front Top View:
So far, it looks like everything is in order, but I’ll keep an eye on the clearance once the tires are mounted and the car is driven on different surfaces.
Stay tuned for more updates on my Celica project!
