proper wheel offset?

I saw a real nice, real cheap set of rims, but I'm guessing they're for a FWD (the offset is pretty high, +40mm or 1.6"). What is a good wheel offset? Particularly, on a 17x7 wheel on a '96? I know the stocks are about medium around 20-30mm (.8"-1.2"). Would I have to worry too much about strain on my suspension w/ these? Is there anything I could do to help this?

Offset is the distance (depth) from the centerline of the wheel to the hub mounting surface of the wheel (the wheel's bolt up face). Backspacing is the distance from the wheel bolt up face to the edge of the inner rim. A larger offset means the wheel will sit further into the wheel well. I guess I could use spacers to bring the wheel out, but would the strain on my suspension be too much? What kind of wear are we talkin here?

The offset is 1.6", and the wheel is 7" deep, so the backspacing would be around 5.1".