Same tires all around or staggered fitment?

[srh3trinity]

I am building a second gen Bird and with my new subframe, I should be able to run a 295 and possibly a 305 up front. Out back, I am going to have a local fab shop split my rear wheel wells and move them over to the frame rail. It won't be quite as much as a mini-tub, but Firebirds already have more space than Camaros. So, I had thought about keeping my backspace the same on all four wheels and running a 295 or 305 all the way around. Sure, I like the staggered look just as much as the next guy and I will trade off a little wheel lip in the back, but there are some benefits to having the same size. The other upside of this is my rear end would be the right width to buy a set of C5/C6 Corvette wheels for track tires.

Any thoughts? If you were to do it over again, would you go with a big stagger (255 or 265 up front and 305 or 315 out back)? Or would you run a square set?

[77thor]

I would go with a bit of a stagger.
IMO. I prefer larger tire/wheel combo in the rear.

[Bryce]

I think it depends on your weight bias. and overall balance of the car. There is a point of diminishing returns.

[srh3trinity]

Seems liked the trend is towards running the same all the way around. I will probably go with some lip out back for aesthetics. The front wheels won't have much lip due to the c5 sub frame, just wanted to hear some thoughts as I get ready for the rear end measuring. I am also tempted by the fact that occasionally CCW or Fikse's pop up on eBay for c5's and they would have the right spacing for the front and I could set the rear end up for one of those setups, but again I would miss out on some lip on the rear wheels.

[protouringorprostreet]

Staggered is way more aggressive looking, IMO the same size looks boring

[Jim Nilsen]

i have the same size all around and the thought that you can rotate them is the only plus. I found it was way too late to totate the reas to the front because of tire wear. one would think that the track and autox would put the most wear up front but reality proves that the street driving and the start to stop challenges will put the rears at the mercy of more wear 1st. Now this might not be true if I had rotated them every day when beating on them but who really wants to be rotating tires that much? In the long run you will just set yourself up for replacing 4 tires sooner.
The cars with more rear tire seem to do much better in the start to stop challenges and on the road coarses and auto x it sure doesn't seem to hurt to have more rear tire.
It sounds like the different wheel look will keep you from rotating so go with staggered and be happier.
When you are on the gas you change the bias of your car a lot and the more rear tire seems to be realtive to on the gas balance.

[srh3trinity]

I think I will go with staggered. I have always liked the look of a little dish.

[SRD art]

I set up the wagon with 275 and 255 40s because I was worried about front tires rubbing. Recently I rotated the 275s up front to see if they would rub daily driving. Because my car is a daily driven car I wish I would've gone same size all around, mostly to have the last longer. Recently I paid $10 each to have them swapped side to side to try to prevent goofy wear patterns that will wear them out even faster.

On the other hand I want to get everything I can out of the car at the track so I'm looking into putting the 275s up front and 315s out back this upcoming year. I guess I'm just following the crowd rather than being sensible, lol! ;)

[SRD art]

I think it depends on your weight bias. and overall balance of the car. There is a point of diminishing returns.

How do we determine that point? Is there any info out there about tire dynamics or is more seat of the pants tuning and every car is unique? I'd like to learn more just trying to optimize the car best I can on my budget range...

[novajess1972]

Staggered is way more aggressive looking, IMO the same size looks boring

What he said. ;)

[SS PUNISHER]

Staggered is way more aggressive looking, IMO the same size looks boring
I don't see a 295mm tire up front looking boring, no matter what tire is out back

[ace_xp2]

I've heard it mentioned that aiming for a front to rear tire width equal to weight distribution is a good starting point. However, the crappy weight distribution of most of these cars makes that a little moot. Also, you might need every bit of tire you can get back there you're pushing a lot of power.