beerman616

That's good to know. I doubt the car will ever see a track in the next couple years, so I feel better going with what looks cooler right now.

Norm Peterson

I honestly don't think there's any way you'll wear all four out at anywhere near the same time with that driving description.

The good news is that you won't have to pony up for four tires at the same time very often.


Certainly can if they're different make/model tires.


As mentioned, it's an easy way for the OEs to guarantee understeer, which is safer for drivers in general and even more so for those who get a bit too carried away with engine power.

Ford knows its customer base as a whole, knows that lots of folks with earlier year S197s have made their aftermarket wheel and tire packages staggered, and knows that outside of reasons involving forced induction it's strictly for appearance. And appearance sells because more people notice and understand it.

They crutched the Boss's tire stagger with "looser" suspension tuning, and some reports indicate that the car is a little tricky to drive way up around the limit with tires that say "understeer" and a suspension that's saying "let's get closer to oversteer". With these two items, having each crutch the shortcomings of the other isn't quite the same thing as the two of them working in harmony.

Consider that the 1LE Camaro runs better lap times than the Boss even though it is heavier with about the same HP. It runs 285/35's all around, with a 1" stagger in wheel width only as a nod to providing understeer from the wheel/tire package. The more extreme Z/28 also runs a square tire setup, with only half an inch of wheel width stagger.



The key is "balance". More meat . . . in somewhere near the same proportion as weight distribution . . . sure.

But when you put the little tires on the heavy end of the car, which in the Mustang is also the end where front tire camber and grip both decrease as the car rolls in a turn, you are working the front tires harder than the rear tires every time. A little like intentionally underinflating both of your front tires by a few psi.


People are different, so you may or may not notice. In normal driving, you'd probably notice a difference in how crisply the car responds to you tuning the steering wheel before anything else.


In normal driving, it is more of a "feel" thing. This matters a lot to some folks, not at all to others. But a large enough amount of tire size stagger will feel clumsy to a lot of people.


There actually is an approximate relationship between tire width and its grip. A 10% wider tire is worth somewhere between 1% and 2% better traction. From a source within the OE automotive industry.


Norm

UPRSharad

I've had 275/40-18s all the way around and 255/45-18 & 285/40-18 on my car. It was definitely more balanced with the 275s, and I liked being able to rotate the tires. (I'm actually switching back to the 275s this month)

Two cents.


If you like the aesthetics of wider tires in the back, that's perfectly understandable.

loots06

I miss my old staggered set-up. Loved the look of the 295 45 18 in the rear. I have 275 40 19.5 on the corners now and they look like bicycle tires. oh well.

Andy13186

19.5?

i have 295 30 20's on the rear these look like rubber bands from the side lol. I will be going with a 28 incher for my next tire purchase instead of 27 inch in the rear, for more sidewall. i dont mind it that much though, rims look good and i think with a 28 inch tire the setup will look great.



fronts are 19x9 rear 20x10.5

mayo

Oh hell yea!