Happy New Year all -

Finally got around to installing VAP springs and MotorTech 15mm spacers all around on my '17 R. Both sets of parts went on very easily. Couple of quick pics here but will take better pictures and post when the weather improves. Its a great setup - I need an alignment post-install but no compromise on ride quality and no rubbing whatsoever, car feels a bit more planted (might be my imagination!) and completely changes the look of the car for the better. Couldn't be happier!

 

It looks spectacular. How is the handling/feel? I've always loved the look of a little drop, buy always figured that it would mess with the engineered feel of the chassis.

 

Looks good! It's amazing what a simple drop and spacers will do to the look of the car.

 

Looks great.

 

Looks very good!
as you may know there is group considering the spacers, but many questions abound. did you do the install yourself?
Did you need to grind the studs down?
you did 15mm all around?
what's your opinion on 17mm and any fender grab or rubbing?
you had Motor Tech spacers, were they high quality, perfect fitment hub centric?
silver or anodized?

Any suggestions or concerns in future for the rest of us? Thank you for you time and review. I'm sure everyone will appreciate your thoughts as well.
Thank you

 

I have the same set-up as shahuk (see my sig), and the same Blade wheels as him.
Bottom line - no stud grinding needed at all with Blade wheels, but I haven't heard of any other OEM F-Type wheel which doesn't need some stud grinding with 15 mm spacers.
And no problems with tyres rubbing or touching and the ride and handling are as good as if not a little better than stock.

 

The 17mm adapters will rub under full suspension travel (which few ever experience) with the 295 tires. The 15mm adapters will grab the fenders with 305 tires. 10mm spacers would be max with those tires.

 

Ride-wise,I really can’t feel any difference from stock in terms of ride. I do think it feels a bit more planted than before (less roll) but I need to get an alignment done and wait for some better weather before I can really push it. As of now, I’m very happy with the ride...

 

To be honest, I’m a jag novice (long time Audi enthusiast) and I made much of my mod purchasing decisions based on the excellent advice and helpfulness of others on this forum. I would say the following:
- There are a number of folks on the forum who use the MotorTech spacers and are very happy with them. Lenny (the owner) is also super helpful and will pick up the phone himself and answer questions.
- I had them anodized black (no cost)
- I didn’t install them myself, I had the shop put them on with the spring install, but they were clear that they didn’t charge to put them on as it is very simple.
- I would say that in my opinion, the car would look odd if you don’t do the spacers and springs together. If just spacers, the wheel gap will be accentuated if the wheels are pushed out. This is of course a question of taste
- For me, 15mm all round looks perfect, and I’ve had no rubbing. I will say that I decided to put on Conti dws rubber on the stock wheels to use as my winter setup, so I’m running a 285 tire at the back. From what I’ve read here, should be no rubbing issues with 15mm and stock 295 tire. Others here have a much better understanding of this issue!
- I have the 20’’ blade wheels (as OzFXR does), which did not require grinding of studs. Not sure about other wheels
- Finally, the shop I had the install done at do a lot of high end stuff but very little jag work - they had not seen MotorTech spacers before and commented on how impressed they were with the quality and fitment of the spacers (and springs). I trust these guys and that gave me a lot of confidence in the products

On a separate note, I've been driving the car in some quite inclement weather here (on the conti dws 06 tyres) and it handles like a real champ - but oh my those rocker panels/sills - collecting crud like a garbage dump!!!

 

got any more pics of your car? want to get a better sense of the drop with the 15mm spacers.

 

 

Weird why OE wheels would have different offsets? I'd think the offset is standard and each wheel design adds or removes material to keep the standard offset?

I'm running two sets of wheels OEM (20"/295). Do I need to grind the studs for these wheels for 15mm spacers? I'd prefer not to.

 

??? What are the two different sets of offsets you are referring to? I was under the impression they are identical for all wheels of the same size. For example, 55mm/38mm (fr/rr) for the 20" wheels. The exception would be for wheels dedicated to the SVR (and perhaps the 2021+ R).

 

I guess then with my 17mm hubcentrics, 305's on the rear and adding 1'' drop I might have a bit of rub perhaps?

 

That's what I thought too, but some posters are talking about specific OE wheels that don't require stud grinding while others do, maybe they are talking about 305 wheels (SVR) as you said. I guess you clarified my question, my 20" wheels have the same offset.

 

Yes, you will.

It’s not that the offsets are different but rather the depth of the recesses in the back of the wheel, that accommodate the studs inserted through the adaptor, all differ.

 

Whether or not stud grinding is needed to allow spacers/adaptors to fit has zero to do with the wheel offset.
Instead it's all about the depth of the voids/hollows in the backs of the wheels between the stud holes.
If that void isn't deep enough the end of the OEM stud poking out from the spacer will foul on the back of the wheel.
The OEM studs will stick out by the difference between the stud length and the spacer width, so the easiest way to tell beforehand if you will need to grind the studs is to measure the length ("stick out") of an OEM stud, subtract the width of your intended spacer from that, then measure the depth of one of the wheel voids/hollows. That depth needs to be at least as much as the first calculated measurement for the wheel to clear. Also I suspect with some wheels the depth of the voids/hollows may differ between front and rear so best to check both. This is why most wheels won't clear with 15 mm spacers but they will with 17 mm spacers, that extra spacer width reduces the OEM stud "stick out" by 2 mm, enough to clear the voids/hollows.
See this image I pulled off the Teeze spacers web page:



For some unknown reason and probably by pure accident/chance, the voids/hollows in the Blade wheels and apparently no other OEM F-Type wheels are deep enough to get away with 15 mm spacers and no grinding of the studs.

 

^Thank you, I'll have to look at the cavity depths on my wheels as I thought most wheels have very deep cavities such as these:.
Will 17mm spacers and 295s + VAP spring rub? RWD V6S.

Will 17mm reduce 1/4 mile performance? More drag, I want to improve the look w/o jeopardizing performance. Are bearings tough enough to deal with the additional stress?

 

Any experience with the Storm wheels?

I don’t believe anyone ever answered this question after reading entire thread... Do the 15mm spacer adaptors fit the OEM Storm wheels (standard for CCB’s) without grinding the studs?? Or do I have to order the 17mm spacers? Thank you in advance.

 

17mm spacers plus VAP springs with 295s will not rub or affect performance. 305s will rub with this setup.