Does a different offset change the look of a rim?

[9 Deuce GT]

This is wrong.

Shaving would weaken the mounting surface, there is not a wheel manufacturer in the world that would want the liability of wheels breaking and falling off..

What are you talking about? Do you even know what an R58 and M179 wheel are. If I am so wrong, please explain to us how Ford achieves the same wheel casting, with different backspace, and therefore different offset?

The front space of the wheel does not change on either of the factory '95 R wheels. The only possible way for the offset to be different is to have a thinner mounting surface area. Think about it.

A 9" wide wheel is just that, 9", it does not matter the offset or how much "lip" there is. The visible lip is measured from the spokes out, changing the offset OR rim width changes the lip.

This proves to me that you know nothing about wheels. In order to get a true measure of backspace and offset, you need to take into account the entire width of the wheel. Guess what, that includes the bead area, (also called a lip) not the bling factor term of lip that you are thinking. Ford and many other OEM wheel manufacturers use a 1/2" lip per side. A lot of aftermarket companie, like BBS, use a 3/8" lip. You have to include this into your calculation to get the true figure. On a factory Ford '95 Cobra R wheel, it is listed as a 9" wheel. The 9" width represents the available area for the tire inside of the beads. But in actuality, the overall width is 10" (9" plus a 1/2" lip per side). You can figure the rest of the math out for yourself.

I think what 9 deuce is getting at is that there is only one casting of the wheel, the mounting pad is machined to achieve the desired offset. The holes are then drilled and the wheels strength is not affected. There are thousands of wheels made this way every day and changing the offset would not change the appearance in this case. With a multi-piece wheel there is only one center and it is welded or bolted in the rim barrel in the desired location to achieve different offsets. In this case changing the offset will affect the look of the wheel, making it look deeper or more shallow.

Thank you. This is exactly what I mean.