Widening Wheels

[cycleguy55]

My car is equipped with set of American Racing Torq-Thrust D wheels, p/n VN1055865, 15"×8.5", BS 3.77”, offset -25mm. They're all the same width, and I'd like wider wheels on the rear so I can go to 295/50R15 tires, vs the 275/50R15 currently on there.

While I've been looking at either getting a set of wider wheels for the rear axle or a full set, it's been brought to my attention there are some firms out there that will widen wheels. Customer feedback I've seen has been pretty good so far, and there's an excellent wheel shop in town that does this work.

Widening my wheels would be on the inside, so the increased width (1.5"-2") would all go into backspace. There's plenty of room between the sidewalls and inner fender, so I can add the additional width without creating any clearance issues.

I'm curious as to whether any CC members have had wheels widened and, if so, their experience.

p.s. Yes, I know 295/50R15 wheels are taller and my speedometer will need to be recalibrated. It's an electronic VDO speedo, so no problem doing that.