I know a guy with a 71 Malibu convertible who did that and I , personally, don't like it. Have you started the car yet? What are your plans for it?

 

Those would work. How much are they? After a while they all start to look alike. They don't look too much different from the Casinos. The Casinos were something like $170 each.

 

When you go to buy your wheels, have them put one wheel on in the rear before you actually buy. Take a good look at it and make sure you are 110% convinced this is the wheel for you.

Those are good looking wheels but I stayed away from that style. The HHR has some puny brake drums in the rear that are usually rusted. With that style of wheel you see a pretty good chunk of the drum ... Those wheels look better with big disc brakes in the front and rear. But that's just my personal preference.

Ng

 

I'll go a step further and say after they mount that rear wheel, lower the car then grab ahold of the top rear roofline (above rear side windows), and HAUL down on that baby! A few times fast. For insurance, place a sheet of white paper on top of the outer edge of the wheel. If you're going to hit, there will be a crease in the paper somewhere.

You might have to have a buddy stand on the rear bumper and bounce to make it hit - but doing this before you buy will be worth it - especially if your HHR is lowered.

 

That's a little over the top Mike...I don't know too many people who are going to do all that. Plus when you're buying rims your so hyped-up that you are not going to care if it hits, the average joe is more concerned about looks.

I'm starting to convince myself that if you go with anything bigger than stock size wheels (17x7) and your lowered, you should just go ahead and get the rear fenders rolled. Even if don't think you need it, regardless of offset, width, tire size etc...My

Ng

 

That's becoming my mindset too. The big problem is that the stock HHR rims are only 6.5-in wide to begin with. Do if you go 8, you're adding 1.5-inches to the width - that's a lot for a front wheel drive car - regardless of offset.
Add to this the fact that very few aftermarket wheels are 42mm or more in offset, and the problem starts to compound.

I went with 7's and am very happy I did. Everyone at Solvang had a hard time believing my rims were only 7's as they look much wider. So I guess I'm plenty happy!

 

mine are 7's too.

 

For what it's worth:

Les Schwab's website lists the AMP EUROs I got as a 17x8, +35mm offset, 72.62 center bore.

Also avail are an 18 x 8.5 and 20 x 8.5 with the same offset and bore. Supposedly, someone got the 20's on their HHR before I got my 17's, but I haven't seen it around here.

The guys at Schwab's say this wheel was specifically designed for GM cars. That's probably correct, given the scarceness of the 5/110 bolt pattern.

 

They are $260 in chrome. The Casino's are just a little too much bling for me. The Zinik's are just at my bling limit which is hard to stay within with a chrome wheel.....

Joe

 

That's getting to the package price you can get on-line from a lot of places: $260 + decent tires = $1600+. I don't know how shipping fits in. That's a lot of weight to ship.