I went from OEM wheels and OEM Yokohama tires to 17"/18" Volk GTC combo with 41 and 42 offsets - which are very different from OEM. The wheels look great but the handling suffered. I had not taken the car over 120 since I installed the new wheels - I did yesterday and it scared me. The solid feeling at speed is gone, replaced by a floating/wandering feel that it's just scary - nothing besides the wheels and tires is different and my car (a '99) only has 22K miles. My RL has the same tires (Pirelli PZero Neros) and aftermaket 18" wheels with correct factory offsets and it feels just as solid as it used to at 120 mph, so I'm sure it is the offsets that make the difference.
I think I will be going back to stock soon when my current tires wear out. My recommendation to those of you thinking of going to different wheels is: don't do it unless looks to you is more important than handling. Have any of you experienced the same with aftermarket wheels with the common 41/42 offsets? Have any of you replaced your wheels with bigger sizes but kept the factory offsets? I love the look of my wheels and I would keep them if I knew that factory offsets would fit and preserve the superb original handling.
I think I will be going back to stock soon when my current tires wear out. My recommendation to those of you thinking of going to different wheels is: don't do it unless looks to you is more important than handling. Have any of you experienced the same with aftermarket wheels with the common 41/42 offsets? Have any of you replaced your wheels with bigger sizes but kept the factory offsets? I love the look of my wheels and I would keep them if I knew that factory offsets would fit and preserve the superb original handling.