so i went back and looked through my email to make sure i wasn't misremembering the details of carbonsignal's recommend. i laid out exactly the wheels specs, tires, and camber, as well as the intended purpose of the vehicle. then bought exactly the offsets they recommended. more a sanity check than trying to cast stones (although i will throw one small rock their way). not like i think there is a snowball's chance in hell that i will get any sort of remuneration from them, so anger doesn't help.
i also found where i asked about the tire sizes on their original white moonbeam car, and while they said they didn't recall exactly they recalled it being 255/30r20 (26.1" diameter) front and 295/30r20 (27" diameter) rear. It is apparent at this point that they designed it for smaller than stock diameter tires. So I expect no matter what I will wind up having to clearance the fenders to make these tires work.
however overarching (no pun intended) all of that, i am just not happy with the fitment of the wheels in general. given the tires i am running, and the fact that i am not looking to go insane camber, i am pretty sure i am going to have to re-spec the wheels to get the look i want, regardless of the situation with the fender.
so long story short at this point i think i have various factors that might be contributing to this problem. misalignment (although i did play with all the settings except toe), too aggressive offset, & larger than expected (by CS) tires.
i will post up my final specs once i get everything settled. thanks for the input so far fellas.