Quote:
Originally Posted by Monterra
Most RWD sporting set ups esp. higher powered ones are staggered to get power down out back and mitigate oversteer to an extent. That said, it seems like they got it wrong on the 135, square would suit it better but 245 is a lot of rubber up front and would probably make it too twitchy. Staggered would've been fine (4 tires don't need to be replaced at the same time) had they got the suspension right, which I think was made wrong (too soft) to accomodate the damn RFTs!!! RFTs are the devil imo. Good idea that's not ready for prime time. Scrap the RFTs then firm things up a bit- beefier sway bar/bushings- coilovers whatever and you can make your own M1, oops I mean 1 series M 35 idrive  |
I ran 235's in my 325i all around and it handled beautifully.
245's on my A4 all around and it too handled beautifully.
Tire width is dependent on the suspension and steering design.
Using the E46 as an example, it shows that a staggered setup doesn't improve anything.
The wider tire in the rear to gain traction is ok, except what width is enough, 245, 255, 265? If we use that as a reason for staggering, then why not 265 in back?
Mustang GT runs same size all around, G8 GXP same size,
Pontiac GTO same size. Those are examples of high powered RWD's.
370Z runs 225F/245R, MB C300 same size C350 staggered.
Back in the days of hot rodding and poor traction bias-ply tires, sure get as much tire to the rear as possible.
This though is the modern era and once you get the traction in back you need, you can get the same size tire up front too. These aren't drag cars and they use modern traction control.
I would welcome some more "twitch" up front as I feel our steering is a bit slow to react. But, thinner tires tend to speed up response, but lose overall grip. Wider tires tend to give more stability not twitchy-ness.
Our cars tend towards understeer. A wider tire would give greater grip up front and thus lessen understeer.
For these reasons I think BMW and MB do this staggering thing more for looks. It's not like we're running 500+HP engines here, and these cars are not designed to be drag racers.
I'm just not a fan of staggered tires on these cars as I don't see why they need them. Put that together will fast wearing RFT's and it's simply a high cost of upkeep thats just not necessary.