Staggered or not?

06GTWhiteHorse · Oct 12, 2009

If I get staggered wheels, how do you rotate them? Should I just get the same size all around? Is there a bennifit to having staggered wheels?

walter · Oct 12, 2009

You don't rotate staggered wheels. Most tires are directional so you can't switch them around.

On a daily driver a staggered setup is more for styling than anything. It's to give the car that definite RWD look. From a performance standpoint a staggered setup can used to both maximize your forward grip and to dial in a little more understeer during cornering. Quicker steering is an added benefit of the setup.

imfamousjim · Oct 12, 2009

295-30-20 on 20x10's in the rear, 265-35-20 on 20x8.5's in the front. the rears are awesome, look like steamrollers, the fronts are a bit too skinny for me.

you don't rotate, if you get non directional tires you can go side to side but that's about it.

the benefits are having wider tires in the rear where your putting the power down, where they will be too wide to fit on the front. And i just feel these cars look much better with a big fat tire in the rear.

PizzaDriver · Oct 13, 2009

imfamousjim said:
295-30-20 on 20x10's in the rear, 265-35-20 on 20x8.5's in the front. the rears are awesome, look like steamrollers, the fronts are a bit too skinny for me.

you don't rotate, if you get non directional tires you can go side to side but that's about it.

the benefits are having wider tires in the rear where your putting the power down, where they will be too wide to fit on the front. And i just feel these cars look much better with a big fat tire in the rear.

looks cool. i like the staggered look too; i want 10" on the back and 9" on the front, but with 18" rims. i've been pricing things, and the whole set-up will probably cost me close to $2K, including the new wheels. how much did those tires cost, if you don't mind me asking?

Wind-Farmer · Oct 13, 2009

If you go staggered the fronts will be slightly less than the rears. Fronts we're probably $200-240 and the rears probably $260-300 depending on brand.

Staggered is the way to go. Don't make the mistake and say; put a 265/35/20 up front and a 275/30/20 in the rear...make sure you go atleast 35/35 front and rear for sidewall height, other wise you will notice the front sidewalls being taller than the rears...and that is not a good look, IMO.

2000GTdriver · Oct 13, 2009

One downside of having a wider tire on the back: your rear end can start to hydroplane before you notice anything in the steering wheel. I wrecked a 67 Camaro this way when I was young and foolish.

imfamousjim · Oct 13, 2009

PizzaDriver said:
looks cool. i like the staggered look too; i want 10" on the back and 9" on the front, but with 18" rims. i've been pricing things, and the whole set-up will probably cost me close to $2K, including the new wheels. how much did those tires cost, if you don't mind me asking?

i bought everything as a package for $1500 to my door from wheelreplica.com, though their website is pretty bad.

Wind-Farmer said:
Staggered is the way to go. Don't make the mistake and say; put a 265/35/20 up front and a 275/30/20 in the rear...make sure you go atleast 35/35 front and rear for sidewall height, other wise you will notice the front sidewalls being taller than the rears...and that is not a good look, IMO.

well i honestly dont think i have enough sidewall on my car, but because the 30 and 35 is a ratio of the 265 and 295 width, a 265-35 and 295-30 is almost identical sidewall height.

DarkFireGT · Oct 13, 2009

It definitely looks better IMO, but no, you can't really rotate. Worth it to me.

gmantheman · Oct 13, 2009

I can't wait to get my new wheels and tire. I went with a staggered setup 255/45/18 front 285/40/18 rear.

Wind-Farmer · Oct 14, 2009

255/45 front and 285/40 rear, lets hear how they look! I think the rears will be smaller than the front

DarkFireGT · Oct 14, 2009

Wind-Farmer said:
255/45 front and 285/40 rear, lets hear how they look! I think the rears will be smaller than the front

A lot of people don't notice it, but I'm also one that notices that. Even though the height is the same, the sidewall is noticeable (to me). That's why I went with 255/45 up front and 295/45 in the rear.

kooldawg6 · Oct 16, 2009

I definitely went the staggered route more for looks than performance. The wider rear tires do help with better traction I have definitely gone to the extreme as my rear tires (285/50-18 on 18x10) are much wider and taller than the fronts (275/40-18 on 18x9)! I've never had a hydroplane issue at all with the rear tires. Maybe it's due to the tread design...

02GTRX · Oct 18, 2009

255/45, 285/40 is what the gt500 uses and I love the stance that car has. I recently took my 20s off which have 255/35 and 285/30 because of the sidewall height diffrence. Going back to the stock 18s really woke up the cai/tune and drastically smoothed out the ride. For that reason I maybe selling the 20s for some 18" gt500 wheels

walter · Oct 18, 2009

+1 I hope to be rocking the GT500s as soon as I get my clutch finished and recover from the money hit that'll do.

I like what Ford did with the GT500 it staggered the tire size without changing out the wheels. That allows you to run a visual staggered setup but gives you a chance to switch to an even setup in case you want to.

That said has anyone tried running the 285/30/18 setup all the way around? How does the car run that way? Is there rubbing up front?

kooldawg6 · Oct 18, 2009

walter said:
That said has anyone tried running the 285/30/18 setup all the way around? How does the car run that way? Is there rubbing up front?

I've got the 275/40-18 up front on a 9" wheel and there is plenty of clearance at full lock in both directions! Should be enough for another 10mm of tread width... The GT500 wheel is 18x9, correct?

walter · Oct 19, 2009

The GT500 wheel is an 18x9.5 with a 45mm offset.

PizzaDriver · Oct 19, 2009

imfamousjim said:
i bought everything as a package for $1500 to my door from wheelreplica.com, though their website is pretty bad.

well i honestly dont think i have enough sidewall on my car, but because the 30 and 35 is a ratio of the 265 and 295 width, a 265-35 and 295-30 is almost identical sidewall height.

thanks for the info, infamousjim and wind-farmer; $1500 doesn't sound too bad, but if you get up there to near $300 per tire, not even including rims, that gets into the serious, bank account-changing decision range.

gmantheman · Oct 20, 2009

Wind-Farmer said:
255/45 front and 285/40 rear, lets hear how they look! I think the rears will be smaller than the front

I just had the new wheels and tires installed. I can't really tell the difference in sidewall height. The difference in height is =/<.03" depending on the tire manufacture. The GT500 comes stock with 255/45/18 fr and 285/40/18 rears.

Wind-Farmer · Oct 21, 2009

and at a straight side shot... I see that the rears are smaller...its gross. Especially for a RWD car. Like i said, everyone says to go with that setup, 18's, or 20's..yes the over all diameter is pretty close...but the sidewalls...different story.

kooldawg6 · Oct 22, 2009

Wind-Farmer said:
..yes the over all diameter is pretty close...but the sidewalls...different story.

How do you figure that??? If the overall diameter is "pretty close", then the sidewalls will also be "pretty close" if the tires in question are on the same diameter wheel.
A 27" tall tire on a 18" wheel has the same sidewall no matter what the width is. (example: 325/35-18 and 255/45-18 are only .08" different in overall height.
The tires in question: 255/45-18 and the 285/40-18 are nearly identical in height!
255x.45=114.75 mm sidewall (width x aspect ratio in %=sidewall height)
285x.40=114 mm sidewall
Divide those results by 25 (mm to inch).
That result is the .03" difference in sidewall height, but that is just 1/2 of the overall sidewall height.
So now to figure out the overall height of the tire: (sidewall height x 2)+ wheel diameter.
(4.5x2)+18=9+18=27" tall

I know the aspect ratio of a tire has messed up lots of people as they seem to relate those #s as being the same tire height no matter what the width is. Perfect example of how this is not the case is the staggered Nitto NT555 setup that people run (I used to). 255/45-18 up front and 295/45-18 out back. Some people would just see the aspect ratio of 45 and assume the tires were the same height and one was just wider than the other. A quick look can make those people scratch their heads instantly!
255x.45=114.75 mm=4.59" sidewall (4.59x2)+18=27.18" tall
295x.45=132.75 mm=5.31" sidewall (5.31x2)+18=28.62" tall

Staggered or not?

06GTWhiteHorse

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DarkFireGT

Playing with my wife's really makes me want one.

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