walee112

I recently installed H&R 10mm hubcentric spacers (front and rear) on my C55 and took it out for a test drive, that extra 20mm of spacing definitely gives it a wider feel and you can feel it.

I gave it a couple days to break in as I constantly tightened the bolts. Yesterday, I decided to take it to the hills to see how the new spacers affected the ride and handling. I was very pleased with the clearance as there was no rubbing what so ever (stock rims/tires) but I was rather displeased with the handling near the limit. The back of the car seemed to wobble around more and I could feel the decreased stability compared to how the car used to handle on the same roads.

Anyone know if this is normal with spacers? Was I supposed to let them break in longer? I was thinking that a wider track would increase stability and handling capability, but instead it did the opposite.

Zeppelin

There is more leverage on the shocks and swaybars with a wider track when turning so maybe you are able to feel the difference. I have never played with spacers to figure out how they affect the handling. I would be surprised on the street you could tell the difference in a 20mm track increase. If you are not happy with the feel maybe take they off to see if the handling is back to normal.

AMG3.2

That's wierd. I've never heard of spacers actually affecting handling. It's technically like having a lower offset wheel...

walee112

Yea I never thought it would affect things negatively either... Since taking them off, the car feels a lot more responsive. The lugs were definitely not loose, but you think they weren't on tight enough? I didn't torque them to 80lb-ft, but they were probably around 70lb.ft

walee112

Pretty awesome signature btw.. what size/kinda wheels you got?

AMG3.2

haha thanks! They are 18" Brabus Monoblock VI Multipiece

Viper98912

I think the definition of responsive is relative. Technically, the car should feel like it should corner better due to the wider stance, but that can translate to the car feeling "harder to turn". Push the wheels in and you can pull the steering wheel faster feeling like it's working better/faster.

At the same time, the suspension should have been designed with certain optimizations, so go too far and yes it will be worse.

wawy

When I had a C320 coupe I ran H&R 20mm spacers on the rear only (I left the front stock). So, this accounted for a total increase in rear track width of 40mm. I can't say I noticed anything overly negative in the way the car handled. There should have been a tad more understeer I would have thought though. In your case, however, everything is equal - 20mm increase front and back so I don't know what to tell you..

walee112

I guess the most interesting thing i noticed, was that when i went through an S curve, and the weight transferred from one side to the other, I could feel a slight unstable wabble in the back. I did recently change my tires, and maybe they didn't have enough air. So I'm not sure either. It sounds like you guys don't seem to have this issue, so it could have been uniquely my situation. I'll probably investigate it again soon