[Kalos]

Went back to Cheap Thrills today. They pulled one of the new alloy wheels and confirmed it was +45mm. This is 4mm less offset than the 49mm Ford OEM 17" wheel. 4mm is not much, but it does cause this rim to protrude just a shade from the wheel well. (Maybe it is the slightly thicker design plus the offset which makes the wheel protrude a bit). Cheap Thrills had installed 205/55/16 Ice Bear tires (rather than 205/50/16) because that's their standard fitment for 16" Foci. The 205/55/16 has ~5mm larger diameter than the original 215/45/17. The net effect of slightly less offset and slightly larger diameter is that vertical clearance on an SVT between tire and fender lip is sort of tight. I measure two finger width - ~35mm.

I suggested that with a full load, under heavy breaking, the front tires might rub. The Cheap Thrills guy says this is unlikely - and pointed to an Audi on the lot with just about the same clearance.

Recommendation: I'll stay with this setup now, but if I were to do it again, with this 45mm wheel offset, I would install the 20mm diameter smaller 205/50/16 tires.

Other than the tire size issue, I think this wheel+tire package is a good deal. Cheap Thrills will repeat the $1,000 price for anyone, but the actual alloy wheel may change - though it will still be a cheap but high quality Chinese wheel.