Staggered Tire Sizes - Opinions

St Francisco · Jan 24, 2009

So, a friend and I were having a discussion, and since I'm not exactly a genius on the matter, I figured I would post this here and see your opinions.

My plan was to get Ruff Racing R930 rims, here are the sizes:

Front - 18x8.5 w/ 255/45 Nitto Nt555 summer tires

Back - 18x9.5 w/ 275/40 Nitto Nt555 summer tires

Now he says it will look funny, because of those tire sizes...but I was under the impression that the second number represents the percentage of the first number to give you the sidewall height, so under that configuration, the front wheel would only be about four millimeters taller than the rear, which is a negligible difference.

My question is how this would look on my stock mustang, not lowered at all? Do I need to increase the height on the rear to increase that sidewall height because it would look funny? I am planning on lowering the car at some point, so if I stuck with these tire sizes, do you think it would look good once lowered?

Margarita Girl · Jan 24, 2009

I have staggered rims on my car 8.5 front 9.5 back
and my tires are 255/45/18, 285/40/18.

DarkFireGT · Jan 24, 2009

In my opinion, it does look funny running a 45 up front and a 40 out back, especially without lowering. It shows the stock wheel gap more. The difference between 275/40 and 255/45 is actually about 2/5". But because the sidewall portion of the tire is (percentage-wise) lower, it will look even shorter. There is less than an inch of difference in width between the 2 tires. Since there is a 1" difference between the wheels, a bit more of the sidewall will wrap around, causing it to look like less sidewall, also.

Some people can't notice the difference. I can look at a picture and tell you right away whether they're running a shorter sidewall out back. Most people that go with a similar set up are happy. But I haven't heard of one person complain because they went with a setup with the same sidewall.

NotQuik · Jan 24, 2009

255-45-18 and 285-40-18 are stock tires sizes on the gt500

255-45-18 = 27.04" tall
285-40-18 = 26.98" tall

You wouldn't notice a difference from the side except the width.

DarkFireGT · Jan 24, 2009

NotQuik said:
255-45-18 and 285-40-18 are stock tires sizes on the gt500

255-45-18 = 27.04" tall
285-40-18 = 26.98" tall

You wouldn't notice a difference from the side except the width.

It completely depends on the tire. On the Nitto 555, the difference is 2/5". Every tire is different. Can't use a calculator. Again, you also have to look at how that tire is being spread. The width difference is less than an inch, so the shorter tire also has to spread over a larger area in comparison, making it a bit shorter yet.

NotQuik · Jan 25, 2009

I got pics of a guy's car last night with these tire sizes except he had a 10" wide rim on the back so it would make it shorter as you were saying. I'll post a pic later today as it really didn't look bad at all from the side.

St Francisco · Jan 25, 2009

Margarita Girl said:
I have staggered rims on my car 8.5 front 9.5 back
and my tires are 255/45/18, 285/40/18.

Can you post a few pictures of your back tires? I'd like to see how the 285 looks.

St Francisco · Jan 25, 2009

NotQuik said:
I got pics of a guy's car last night with these tire sizes except he had a 10" wide rim on the back so it would make it shorter as you were saying. I'll post a pic later today as it really didn't look bad at all from the side.

Thanks man, that would be great.

Margarita Girl · Jan 26, 2009

St Francisco said:
Can you post a few pictures of your back tires? I'd like to see how the 285 looks.

Toyo T1R summer

IresGift · Jan 26, 2009

Digging the tread on that Toyo

NotQuik · Jan 26, 2009

He has 255-45's up front and 275-40-18's out back on a 10" wide rim.

Steel Horse · Jan 26, 2009

DarkFireGT said:
It completely depends on the tire. On the Nitto 555, the difference is 2/5". Every tire is different. Can't use a calculator. Again, you also have to look at how that tire is being spread. The width difference is less than an inch, so the shorter tire also has to spread over a larger area in comparison, making it a bit shorter yet.

What are you running for rims and tires. On your car the back tire looks like it has a lot more side wall than the front. Gives it a great stance IMO.

DarkFireGT · Jan 26, 2009

Steel Horse said:
What are you running for rims and tires. On your car the back tire looks like it has a lot more side wall than the front. Gives it a great stance IMO.

Front 18x9 255/45/18
Rear 18x10 295/45/18
Yeah, the rear is taller, but I'd rather have it be taller than shorter. I love the stance as well. I saw KoolDawgs right when I was about to order my wheels and tires. He has the same setup. I was sold the second I saw his.

St Francisco · Jan 26, 2009

Those look great, Darkfire. Do you have a picture taken from the back of the car to show where the 295 is in relation to the fender well?

I really like that set up...do you think using a 9.5 rim instead of a 10 on the back would hurt much?

DarkFireGT · Jan 26, 2009

No, it wouldn't hurt. The tire will spill out a bit more, as the wheel would be 1/2" thinner.

Margarita Girl · Jan 26, 2009

IresGift said:
Digging the tread on that Toyo

thanks

Steel Horse · Jan 27, 2009

DarkFireGT said:
Front 18x9 255/45/18
Rear 18x10 295/45/18
Yeah, the rear is taller, but I'd rather have it be taller than shorter. I love the stance as well. I saw KoolDawgs right when I was about to order my wheels and tires. He has the same setup. I was sold the second I saw his.

What company did you get your wheels through? I love the FR500's on our cars but don't know which company to go through to get a good quality set. I don't want to end up with one of those wheel horror stories you hear about.

kooldawg6 · Jan 27, 2009

DarkFireGT said:
Front 18x9 255/45/18
Rear 18x10 295/45/18
Yeah, the rear is taller, but I'd rather have it be taller than shorter. I love the stance as well. I saw KoolDawgs right when I was about to order my wheels and tires. He has the same setup. I was sold the second I saw his.

Awesome new pics, Dark!!!!!
I'll be debuting my car hopefully in the next few weeks wearing new shoes! Same Rev 340 wheels and front tire size, but the rear tire is 285/50-18 and they're frigging HUGE!!!!! I tried them on a buddy's car a few weeks ago... So far, he only has rear drop springs installed (.75", so mine will be yet another .75" lower than that). I haven't pic whored it in a while so here's my chance

DarkFireGT · Jan 27, 2009

Cool man. Can't wait to see them.

I purchased my wheels from eBay. Here's the seller:
http://myworld.ebay.com/ebaymotors/wheelindex

21MsclCr · Feb 10, 2009

Steel Horse said:
What company did you get your wheels through? I love the FR500's on our cars but don't know which company to go through to get a good quality set. I don't want to end up with one of those wheel horror stories you hear about.

Americanmuscle.com has the fr500s for a great price and I completey trust them. I actually am getting them myself and I was told to get a different tire size than what he has (which looks amazing) so I think Im going to get that now.

Staggered Tire Sizes - Opinions

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

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mine works really well and can take a fair amount

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