Always has, I feel dumb about it but tire fitment is something I have always struggled with. What is offset? I know it is important with fitting the wheel in the space between the fender and the calipers, but besides that I don't know how it works. Does a high offset (say 50) pull the tire away from the caliper and stick it out toward the fender? Or vice versa? I am looking into getting cheap wheels for an Auto-X car, and I am not worried about the fender (I'll cut/roll as needed, not a road legal car anyways) but if the offset is wrong, I worry it will hit the caliper. Help me understand so I can bargain shop correctly

Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

Well thanks to similar threads after I posted, I saw the Tire rack link.

So, if I got a high offset wheel, the mounting surface is closer to the outside of the rim, which means there is more rim over the calipers and hub assembly? And if the offset is low, it means more of the 'dish' is out towards the fender, and less of the rim is above the caliper/hub assembly?

So:

too high offset means caliper/suspension conflict?
Too low offset means fender conflict?

In that case, if I wanted to increase the track/width of the car for handling, I could cut the fenders and go with a low offset in order to push more of the tire outward?