jaguargod

I'm considering going the staggered route, and I've read that performance can be reduced by doing this. I don't live in the mountains, and I'm not really near any long and winding roads. And I don't autocross. Is my daily drive really going to be affected all that much?

Sigma

Your daily drive won't be affected in any way. Not unless you're going some crazy staggered number like 225s in the front and 305s in the rear. A difference of 40-50 won't be noticeable outside of a pretty hard high-speed turn.

And living just down the street in Euless myself, I can't think of any turns that are sufficiently tight enough anywhere in the area to really give you a different feeling. That ramp from 183E to 121N can be a fun one to take at high speed though. Probably still not tight enough to even notice a staggered setup.

jaguargod

I'm just thinking of going 18 x 8.5 in the front and 18 x 9.5 in the back. It's mostly just cosmetic, because I hate all of the negative space in the wheel well left by the stock wheels and tires. Your right, there's not much exciting driving here in the metroplex.

Fanman

Daily driving, no you won;t notice the difference. However when I was canyon carving recently I did notice more understeer once we hit the turns hard.

staticlag

I wouldn't buy staggered solely for the fact that you cant easily rotate them.

lurch519

on of the import mags did a write up where they took the 350z, and actually bettered ther performance handling of the car by going to a non staggered setup. as to daily driving, staggered probably wont affect you. you will be less likely to break loose under spirited acceleration, but going into a corner too hot will more likely result in understeer.

jaguargod

What about just going with 9's or 9.5's all the way around instead? Would there be any issues with rubbing?

crossbow

Did you happen to miss the sticky?

http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/pr.../0404scc_350z/

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension-55/so-you-think-staggered-tires-wheels-great-idea-50607/

jaguargod

No, I read it. I just wanted to know if a daily driver would be affected that much. Unlike the Z in the sticky, I'm not going to be doing much slaloming.

huff04titanium

I have staggered now and hit a mountain pass last weekend twice, car held fine and didn't notice too much, maybe a little understeer at times. Mine is just a daily driver, little spirited here and there, but man does the lip look awesome, and couldn't ask for a better stance.

RPIRX-8

I would not go staggered. The one thing people here are missing is the stress that will put on your suspension. In addition the geometry of the suspension will be off causing your alignment to be off. If you want to fill out the wheel wells, I would suggest staying with the same size all around, but going with a lower offset rim. I run 18x8 +35mm offset all around.

The other thing you want to think about with respect to rims that big is weight. Unless you are scoring some Enkeis, BBS, or Volks, weight will be an issue. Stock rims are 22lbs, mine are 18.5 lbs.

MrWigggles

This is the biggest problem with staggered. The front and rears do wear differently and there is nothing you can do when you have staggered tires.

Trust me I know personally.

-Mr. Wigggles

MrWigggles

I'm sure you read my comments as well.

In the article in the sticky, SCC increases the size of the front tires of the 350Z to make all corners equal and they observe both better grip and balance. That's a win-win situation. The conclusion is obvious: removing the staggered set-up helped all aspects of performance.

Now for the RX-8, a staggered set-up means you increase the rear tires. This means you will likely increase grip but hurt balance. That is a win-lose situation and the ultimate conclusion is not as obvious. Does the increase in grip outweigh the harm done to balance?

For me, personally, I think my staggered set-up performs better, but it is hardly a scientific test since I changed wheels and more importantly tires in the process. Also my driving style may or may not be unique.

"Staggered is just for looks" is way to simplistic of an answer and in my case likely inaccurate. Yes the looks the improved but the performance appears to be marginally better and certainly not compromised.

-Mr. Wigggles