17X9 SQUARE OR 18X8.5F AND 18X9.5R
 

Hey guys, new to the forum, and i have a few questions about square and staggered fitments and not sure what to go with. i will be going with one of these setups:

staggered setup
18x8.5 front on 245/40/r18
18x9.5 rear on 255/40r18

square
17x9 245/40r17

i know a square setup will be better for handling/balance, but will running a staggered setup mess with the handling so much to where it is really noticable? ive read the car will push more into turns if your going staggered. im looking for feed back from ppl running either one of these setups. i dont want to mess up a good thing. i dont plan on tracking the car, or autox, just something mean for the street. i will be purchasing the vortech supercharger kit after i buy my rims/tires.

thanks for your input!

Square is the proven setup. :thumbup:

If you don't plan on track or autoX then you shouldnt really notice a difference on the street. They say it "pushes" as in more likely to understeer at limit which you never encounter on the streets. I personally think the staggered set-up would look better for a street car :D. The downside is losing the ability to rotate your tires.

Wide rim square FTW.

The only reason to run staggered because you want to run wide and concave at the back for the look.

Why not run wide and concave all around? This way you get the concave look and you get to rotate your tires

thanks for the reply, my thinking was if i dont track the car,(might head out once or twice throughout the summer) will i even notice the understeer that would be caused running a staggered fitment, if im not pushing the car to the limits. now i do some spirited driving, but nothing like you would experience on a track. this would mainly just be a daily summer car.

you can get a nice convace with the gramlights 57dr in 17x9 which is the rim i plan on running, once i figure out if im going staggered or square

There are a few cars on here running that staggard setup with stock power (i will be running it next month) best bet is to PM them on the cars handling. Let me see if i can find em for you.

If you want your car to look its best staggered is the only way IMO. My winter/street setup is 8.5 9.5 with all season tires. Next set is going to be 17x9 +35 - 45 square for summer/track use.

If you don't really care about driving hard you could run a square small size (17x7 or 17x8) with staggered spacers to flush the front and rear.

All depends on your goals and view of function vs form.

Members running staggard setups with stock power:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/member.php?u=10644

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/member.php?u=10182

Send them a PM and ask em the same question you posted up there OP.

I run staggered with stock power and my butt doesn't notice the difference. But I'm not an experienced driver as I suspect OP is in similar position.

thanks for the feed back, i will shoot these guys a pm!

i am experience ive had my lic since in was 16 :burnrubber: lol

as good of a driver that i think i am, i know i dont have the skill set of someone who is more experience in a) rear wheel drive cars b) someone who regulary track there car. i am all about function over from, so i am leaning towards a square setup, dont want to go staggered cuz it looks "pretty" if its going to mess up the characteristics of the car

17x9 is the way to go on this car for function.

Just sayin, I meant experience as in at the limit driving. I have my license 10 years but I don't consider myself experienced because I don't have at the limit experience (i.e. track time, HPDE etc)

how would 18x9 or 18x9.5 square set up compare to a 17x9 square setup? thanks

See sig...b/c Racecar!

18x9 or 18x9.5 is ok as long as it's a forged light weight rim, or rpf1s :D

People don't recommend 18x9 or 18x9.5 because they are generally very heavy, >22 lbs, which can decrease the performance a lot.

But if you get light weight rims, it would be ok. 18x9.5 TE37s weight around 17 or 18 lbs IIRC. So in that case, it's actually lighter than a lot of the 17s in the market like rota, xxr, tsw.

Are you on stock suspension? I was told that 9's couldn't fit in the front without coilovers.

depends on your offset, if you have something like +45 then it probably won't fit

i wont be going with something heavier then stock, i had rpf1's on my previous setup and was originally going to use those but unfortunately the bolt pattern is 5x114 so they wont fit. rpf1s are also played out imo. i am leaning towards the gramlights 57DR, which also seem to be a popular choice on these cars. you are running the same suspension set up ill be running on my car, i already have the RCE's the konis will be next. im liking the weds tn105, the te37s are nice as well. too many decisions!!!

im runnig RCE's at the moments, and will swap the dampers out for konis down the road.

IMO, skip the gram lights as they are not exactly "light".

I would choose between te37 and tc105. If you can soak up the beans for TE37 then go for it. If not then go with 17x9 tc105s.

That was my selection when I ordered rims.

im thinkimg a +35 or +38 offset, dont want the wheels to be sunken or poking, just want the hella flush look!!! i really want to avoid the poke, dont want shit off the tires hitting the side of my car.

Yea those offset should be safe for 9 or 9.5 wheels. I would do 35 in a 9 wheel and 38-40 for a 9.5 wheel

What offset will fit with stock suspension..if I go with 17x9" square

35-40 you should be golden, not sure about 40+

If I go with 17x9 +35 square..that is no need to lower the car ..right? I can just stay with stock suspension?

Yep no need to lower, 35 to 40 offset you should be fine

If I go with 17x9 +35..can I still use the stock tire from the car?

you probably don't want to... 215 is too skinny for a 9 inch rim. I would do at least 245/40/17

ok. good to know.

Lots of good info in this thread :-)

thanks

I don't know why ppl want to run a nice fat rim and then run a skinny tire.

We have a 235/40/17 on a 17x9 +35. By the look of it, I'd say we wouldn't go any narrower. A 245/40/17 will retain similar rolling revolutions as the 215/45/17 tire.

im having such a hard time with this decision.
i like the idea of going square 18x9.5 255/35r18, but i dont want the front to poke, and im trying to go against going staggered. anyone know of any non aggressive 18x9.5 front setups?

+42 is perfect, in my opinion. We run 255/40R17 on our car, no spacers. It clears the suspension.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...ps57af59eb.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24.../6167small.jpg

They have to, because they selected too low of an offset, so their tires will run into the fender if they choose a tire that matches the wheel width.

To my way of thinking, if you can't run a wide enough tire to match your wheel width, you might as well choose a narrower wheel, and save some weight...

As I detailed in this thread, our 18x9.5" Wicked Awesome will just clear the front suspension, although when we fit it with a 265/35R18 the tire rubbed the strut until we added a 3mm spacer. With a narrower tire, it might clear without a spacer.

--Dan
Mach V

[QUOTE=Mach V Dan;906365]+42 is perfect, in my opinion. We run 255/40R17 on our car, no spacers. It clears the suspension.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24...ps57af59eb.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y24.../6167small.jpg


what suspension is your car on?

a lot of ppl running staggered are going with a 225 front, would a 245 not fit with the 18x8.5 up front with an offset of +33?

Mach V springs, stock struts.

--Dan
Mach V

How much stiffer are the Mach V springs than stock on a BRZ? Don't want to go crazy stiff as we like the feel of the stock car's springrate. Those Awesome wheels are, well, awesome! Clean, light, fat - what more could you ask for!