Staggered wheels- any real world handling benefit

[crustysack]

I have seen a ton of cars with the staggered wheel set up and was wondering is there an actual benefit in handling or is it just for looks- I was under the impression that 4 identical size wheels would be the most balanced set up. thanks

[Nemesis RR]

When you see a larger diameter tire in the rear as the popular 18" front / 20" rear set up then this is just for looks and you are hurting performance and adding cost. When you see a wider rim in the rear to have a larger contact patch then you are helping performance while improving looks.

[CamaroAJ]

most race cars run the same size front and rear (not the same size rim width always). they consider this a square set up and most cars handle better like that. when i had my C5Z stock was 17/18 and when i tracked it i ran 18's all the way around. the car felt better to me with the square set up. i even tried it with street tires before i mounted slicks on the rims so it wasn't because i was on r comps.

corvette racing runs 18 x 12.5 (front) 18 x 13 (rear) on my vette i ran 18x10.5 (4 rear C5Z wheels) and on my '69 i'm building i have 18x10 (front) and 18x12 (rear).

[elitecustombody]

try 245/40/18 all the way around on a car with 500+hp ,drive it hard and then get some 345/30/18 out back and try again and let us know what's better

[Rhino]

try 245/40/18 all the way around on a car with 500+hp ,drive it hard and then get some 345/30/18 out back and try again and let us know what's better

I think he's asking the reason behind people running staggered diameter setups on their cars. Is it purely for aesthetics or is there a performance benefit.

As far as the tire sizes; I'm sure it all depends on the car and situation, but I think a setup that different would have a pretty good tendency to under steer in a corner.

[elitecustombody]

I think he's asking the reason behind people running staggered diameter setups on their cars. Is it purely for aesthetics or is there a performance benefit.

As far as the tire sizes; I'm sure it all depends on the car and situation, but I think a setup that different would have a pretty good tendency to under steer in a corner.


In my book staggered means rear wheels have different (larger) width or lower offset than front, not larger diameter, so that's what I assumed he was talking about.I agree with you on larger diameter rears and smaller fronts are nothing more than looks in most cases,but sometimes it makes more sense to have smaller diameter wheels up front,so the wheels can have a better turning radius without alot of rubbing or damaging the fenders,

the sizes were just a quick number I threw out, most guys would run 275s or 285's up front when running 345s on the rears to compensate.

[crustysack]

by staggered I meant the typical 18" front and 20" rear - I do understand the reason for wider tires in the rear-thanks for confirming what I had thought, so I will be getting the same size( diameter ) all around