[whitezenki]

Brake Caliper Clearance (or “Frontspacing”)

Everything I’ve explained so far applies to cars and wheels in general, but this section is specifically directed at VR-4 and Stealth TT owners, as well as owners of any other car that has very large and oddly-shaped brake calipers. Remember that backspacing refers to the distance the wheel protrudes into the wheelwell and that there is a limit because the strut cannot be moved. There is a parallel situation on the other side: the caliper has to fit in the space between the spokes and the centerline. Imagine for a minute our hypothetical 8” wheel with an offset of +75mm (or 3”). The backspacing would be huge (7”) of course, but on the other side the caliper has to fit inside, at most, an inch of room.

With large calipers like the stock ones on the VR-4, you need to size your wheel such that you have a lot of “front” space—room for the caliper. Wheels with spokes that curve inwards or wheels with significant lip often cause VR-4 owners problems because the backspacing is correct but the caliper, which extends quite far out away from the car’s hub and towards the outside face of the wheel, hits the spokes. You can measure this distance on a VR-4 or any car by putting a ruler on the outer face of the caliper (where it says “Mitsubishi” on a VR-4 caliper) and then measure the distance between the ruler and the car’s hub. However, it can be difficult to judge the spoke shape of aftermarket wheels simply by looking at a picture.

That’s why it’s best to choose wheels with little or no lip and with spokes that do not curve inward. The 5Zigen FNO1R-C is a very popular wheel for the VR-4 in part because there is hardly any lip and the spokes curve outward, removing the risk of caliper interference.

Note: The offset of some aftermarket wheels is changed by moving the entire spider (spokes and hub) relative to the ring of the wheel. In this case, the “frontspacing” will not change with offset. In these situations it is more difficult to determine if the wheel will clear the caliper, and test-fitting may be the only option.

All that tells me is some wheel companies change their offset by... wait for it... wait for it... changing their spoke design!!!! Leading me back to "disk design dictates brake clearance" Any offset can clear big brakes, its the disk/spoke design that is the only, read it again, ONLY factor in the context of this discussion. Any given +33 isnt anymore likely to clear than a +0, even the picture you showed leads me to believe a +0 would be more likely to clear than a +33 anyway. What it comes down to is how the spoke design is, even the article you posted, on your car, shows me that.

He even says in the second paragraph that the backspacing may be correct, but the spoke design will keep you from fitting the VR-4 calipers

Here, ill quote it for you:

cause VR-4 owners problems because the backspacing is correct but the caliper, which extends quite far out away from the car’s hub and towards the outside face of the wheel, hits the spokes.