Offset vs Weight

I'm curious, what can have a bigger impact on steering feel, lighter wheels or lower offset? I just recently changed the wheels on my GTI and I'm a bit surprised at how drastically different the steering feels now. Of course, I expected some change, but not the night and day different I got.

I switched from the OEM 7.5" et49 to an aftermarket set of 8" et45. The new wheels weigh about 8lbs less, each.

After making this swap my steering wheel is incredibly light now, almost loose in a way. I guess the obvious answer is lighter wheels = lighter steering, but is it also possible that the lower offset reduced my scrub radius maybe a bit too much? If so which would have the bigger impact between the two?

I prefer a bit of weight and feedback to the steering and I'm afraid it now feels too over-boosted for this setup.

The width change and offset change almost totally wash out so there's very little change to scrub radius in your case. Or at least i would think ~7mm wouldn't be enough to cause this.

Its probably the new tires. Every time I get new tires, the steering feels lighter. 

Also, air in the tires. When I neglect to check air, the steering gets heavy. When I put the air in it steers nicely. 

Yeah wheel weight has very little effect on steering feel. I'd think the difference in offset would've made the biggest change there, but tire pressure could also make a big difference.

Vigo said:

The width change and offset change almost totally wash out so there's very little change to scrub radius in your case. Or at least i would think ~7mm wouldn't be enough to cause this.

Wouldn't it be a 4mm change?  With an extra 1/2" of wheel of course.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Correct.  Scrub radius changes by 4mm (which is not much at all), as it's determined by the centerline of the wheel.  Width has no effect on scrub radius.