Staggered or square stance..

[fourdegrees11]

Ok, what size is the rubber on each end ? Lemme guess, 285-35-19 on the fronts...and 305-35-19 for the rears ?

Yup, I went over that in post #54, but he wanted to know my wheel specs

 

[MassMustang]

I’m running a staggered setup. I’ve got 305/45/18’s NT555R’s on 18x10’s in the rear and 255/45/17’s NT555 G2’s up front on 17x8’s. I’m also using FRPP “Foose Stallion” springs which drop the front and rear about 3/4”. The cast iron Boss 5.0 block probably drops the nose another 1/2”. LOL

I think she’s got a great raked stance with the rear end up in the air a bit and the 305’s fill up the rear wheel well nicely.

Works well just cruising around as well as getting power down to the ground when I need it. I haven’t run the 1/4-mile since Aug ‘16 and my setup has been tweaked many times since, but will hit the track this spring.

I’m thinking of going with a square 18x9 setup running 285’s if I decide to do autocross too. I may put 18x9’s up front with 255’s for a slightly more modern look, but I still enjoy the old school staggered setup of 17x8’s and 18x10’s.

 

[OX1]

As I just mentioned above, what I posted earlier was mis-worded.. So anyhow I should be asking what rim size are your 255 tires mounted on.. Are they mounted on 18x8.5, 18x9 or 18x9.5 ? if they're mounted on 18x9.5" wheels, this was my main concern regarding what is recommended according to tire and wheel spec charts..

No worries, just throwing out another data point. My front rims are 9" wide.

Theoretically an 18 with larger sidewalls will provide more comfort than a 20 with shorter ones. That being said, I really doubt you can tell much of a difference between the two, unless you're going from a super-stiff summer 20 to a really squishy all-season 18.

If comfort is a bigger priority than performance, I'd recommend those Pirrelli all-season tires that came from the factory on my '11.

Not sure I agree on getting those. Ride quality might have been a hair
better than the stock size 235, PSS's I had after them (on stock rims),
but the Pir. are one of the noisiest tires I've ever owned.

The PSS were smoother and dead quiet. It's possibly the best constructed tire
I've ever seen. Practically a machined surface look/finish inside the tire.
Somehow they molded in a felt like (feels almost fuzzy) finish in certain areas on
the outer sidewall (not that it matters, but took a lot of effort, which shows up
in almost every aspect of these tires). They are also visibly the "roundest" tire I've
ever had on my balancer. 3 out of 4 took zero weight on inside of rim (outer weights,
can which really add up quick since they are farther inboard and smaller dia than outisde
surface).

 

[06 T-RED S/C GT]

275/40's on 18x9.5 is the easy choice, as there's a little over half an inch more sidewall height vs 275/35's. I'd put 285/40's on 10's, to at least get up to "measuring width".


19x8.5 in +35 is leaving a lot of room on the inside - more than 3/4" at 18" by my estimation plus about another 1/8" from the inward slope of the strut for 19's. While tire bulge will use up a little of that, you shouldn't be putting 275's or wider on them to begin with (even though you should still have somewhere around 5/8" strut side clearance with 275's). When you trust your measurements and your math, 1/4" is more than plenty of strut clearance. The only caveat I offhand know of is the front sta-bar endlink bolt, which may need to be cut, ground down, or swapped inside to outside so that it won't catch the sidewall.


Norm

Looks as though I'll consider between 275/40/18 on 18x9.5 and 285/40/18 on 18x10.

I can't compare to 275/35/20, but I have 275/40/18 MPSS square on 18x9.5 Apex rims with 35 mm offset and the ride is great. For comparison, I swapped from the oem 19" rim with 245/45/19 Falken all season tires, which has the same height sidewall, and noticed no difference in impact harshness. I noticed a huge difference in overall ride, handling, and responsiveness, since each corner is about 10 lbs lighter, 30 mm wider, and about 1" further outboard than stock.

EDIT: And plenty of room everywhere. As Norm says, the 275/40/18 is kind of the easy button in this discussion.

I'll definitely consider your 275/40/18 square on 18x9.5 Apex rims with 35mm offset for my potential next setup

Theoretically an 18 with larger sidewalls will provide more comfort than a 20 with shorter ones. That being said, I really doubt you can tell much of a difference between the two, unless you're going from a super-stiff summer 20 to a really squishy all-season 18.

If comfort is a bigger priority than performance, I'd recommend those Pirrelli all-season tires that came from the factory on my '11.

Currently, I'm running Nitto NT555 G2's in 275/35/20. Although comfort is a higher priority, I'm not looking for an all-season tire being as I don't run my car during the winter months, to begin with anyhow. What I'm looking for is a performance/summer tire that will provide a smooth ride quality that doesn't sacrifice on handling. That being said, if making the switch from 20" tires to 18" with a larger sidewall provides a noticeable difference, then I'll eventually make the switch, otherwise, if it doesn't as you posted, then perhaps I should just consider looking into a different 20" summer/performance tire instead

Assuming same tire diameter (and also width) in both cases, the 20" will have a 1" shorter sidewall vs a 18". Having been in stangs with 18-19-20 rims, the difference between the 18 + 20 is noticeable... on lousy roads. ( all had aprx same stiffness front+ rear springs) The sidewall is a portion of the overall suspension. On the smooth hwy, there is no difference. Then the struts / shocks play into all of this too. Same lowering spring with a stiffer strut /shock is smooth on the hwy..and really rough on the shit side roads.

My Roush front struts were super stiff, IMO, over damped. ( rear roush shocks + roush springs are fine). I pushed down as hard as I could on either front fender, didn't budge. I sat on the front fender with my 151 lbs, doesn't deflect at all, none of the roush setups do. Eventually one of my front roush struts snapped clean in two. Replaced both front roush struts with oem struts. Now I have a bit of deflection, slightly more than I would want, but a compromise for now.

On a side note, the roush front struts are exactly 1/2" shorter than oem. (between bottom of strut assy...and spring perch). Roush front springs are 1/2" shorter than oem. The 1" front drop came from the combo of the two items. With oem front struts installed, ride height increased by 1/2".

To measure clearance between tire and front strut, I stuffed the back end of a drill bit in there
(round shank types, not the 3 sided version). I started with a .375 bit ( 3/8)..and worked down in 1/64" increments. A 21/64" ( .328") just slides through. This is in the worse case, between tire bulge + strut. BUT I also had a 3mm (.118) spacer in there. With spacer removed, gap is down to .210" . Front rims are 18 x 10 with a 45mm ET. ( which is reduced to 42mm with the 3mm spacer added). If you try this, do it with the wheels pointed straight ahead, and also extreme CW..and CCW.

On my 2010 auto, that sta bar end link bolt was a non issue. That may be just the difference between my 2010 and norms 2008, dunno.

Pretty much the only real issue I have with the 20's is on really rough/uneven shitty roads which unfortunately for those of us who live in Pittsburgh, PA are the majority of the types of roads we have here, mostly due from road construction projects always going on lol. Otherwise, the ride quality is just fine when on smooth, well-maintained roads lol. Therefore would it really be worth putting down another 2k for another set of wheels/tires or just continue learning to put up with having a less comfortable ride quality when just driving on uneven/shitty roads

No worries, just throwing out another data point. My front rims are 9" wide.



Not sure I agree on getting those. Ride quality might have been a hair
better than the stock size 235, PSS's I had after them (on stock rims),
but the Pir. are one of the noisiest tires I've ever owned.

The PSS were smoother and dead quiet. It's possibly the best constructed tire
I've ever seen. Practically a machined surface look/finish inside the tire.
Somehow they molded in a felt like (feels almost fuzzy) finish in certain areas on
the outer sidewall (not that it matters, but took a lot of effort, which shows up
in almost every aspect of these tires). They are also visibly the "roundest" tire I've
ever had on my balancer. 3 out of 4 took zero weight on inside of rim (outer weights,
can which really add up quick since they are farther inboard and smaller dia than outisde
surface).

From your images you posted, I wasn't quite sure if your rims are "OEM" stock or not, which was my reason for asking lol. As for the stock, Pirelli's are concerned, I totally agree with them being one of the noisiest tires to own. They also have horrible traction in wet/rainy conditions as well. That being said, I couldn't wait to get them off my car

 

[OX1]

From your images you posted, I wasn't quite sure if your rims are "OEM" stock or not, which was my reason for asking lol. As for the stock, Pirelli's are concerned, I totally agree with them being one of the noisiest tires to own. They also have horrible traction in wet/rainy conditions as well. That being said, I couldn't wait to get them off my car

Rims in my pics are Chinese bullet knockoffs. I adapted stock
center caps, so they kind of look like they could be stock.

I also have stock 18 x 8 rims with stock 235 pirellis and
another set of bullets (18's, 10's and 8's) for my drag
strip setup.

You'll probably get a lot of people that tell you this is not what to do,
but I stuck with stock sidewall heights on 18's and put only
sway bars and Roush upper/lower rear control arms.

Had no desire for super low profile tires so I could be
constantly bending rims and/or crappy ride quality from
stiffer shock or springs. It's no road course demon, but
it's definitely a huge upgrade in handling vs stock and still
pretty comfy on some pretty bad roads.

 

[06 T-RED S/C GT]

Rims in my pics are Chinese bullet knockoffs. I adapted stock
center caps, so they kind of look like they could be stock.

I also have stock 18 x 8 rims with stock 235 pirellis and
another set of bullets (18's, 10's and 8's) for my drag
strip setup.

You'll probably get a lot of people that tell you this is not what to do,
but I stuck with stock sidewall heights on 18's and put only
sway bars and Roush upper/lower rear control arms.

Had no desire for super low profile tires so I could be
constantly bending rims and/or crappy ride quality from
stiffer shock or springs. It's no road course demon, but
it's definitely a huge upgrade in handling vs stock and still
pretty comfy on some pretty bad roads.

Which is exactly my reason for considering making the switch to 285/40/18 on 18x10" rims? They provide a taller sidewall that is stock sidewall height over low profile 20" tires.

 

[Pentalab]

Dunno if this has been mentioned..or not. With any staggered setup, your tire warranty is cut in half..since you can't rotate. That applies to NITTO, Michelin, and the rest of the tire manufacturers.