To Square or Not To Square
 

Alright guys... Kind of in a predicament...

A friend of mine is selling his old wheel set-up

Rays 57xtremes in matte graphite. I've been looking at these wheels for awhile and he's offering them at a price I can't refuse. And forgot to mention that they come with tires!
They're staggered though;
Rays 57xtremes with Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires
18x8.5 +33 with 245 tires.
18x9.5 +40 with 255 tires.

I'm having a hard time though because I am cautious of the understeer the staggered setup will create. Please note that I am only lowered on tein s tech springs. My original plan was to go 18x9.5 +40 squared but I have heard that they will rub on the stock strut, but I also have a friend whos telling me he ran 18x9.5 +35 on the fronts and they didn't rub at all.

I do not want to mention names because they are on the forums.

My question is this... Do I buy the setup that is for sale, $1200 for rays and MPSS or do I just wait even longer to get a squared set up and new tires? Budget is kind of important but I am also willing to save some money in order to pay for quality.

If I were to go 18x9.5 squared It'd be;
$1400 - $1700 for wheels
$234 per tire for MPSS 255/35/18

1700 + 936 = $2636 I'd be saving quite a bit of money buying it with the deal... but will the understeer really be THAT noticeable?? Also not including if the Square setup doesn't fit struts thats another $1000-$2000 for coils.

I'd go for it. I mean, it doesn't sound like you're focused on track performance. On the street, if understeer is noticeable, you're going too fast. On the track, you probably want 17s and narrower tires anyway.

Do you notice that it understeers now? If you don't notice it now, I doubt you'll notice it with a slightly staggered setup.

Yep. If your worried about understeer, either get sticky tires or learn to drive better.

This coming from a dude that takes his '91 mr2 to the track, that is infamous known to have understeer.

The only downside is tire rotation, you have to take the tires off the wheels to get a proper rotation.

Do it.

Go for it and report back with pics

I would go for a 8.5 squared if I was you, but thats just my 2 cents.... and its Canadian so its less then one of your American cents so I guess my opinion is invalid :(

Actually I would like to be focused on track performance because I have friendly competition with the GF's dad who has a E46 M3 stock with MPSS and would like to beat him M around the track. I do know that 17x9 would be the best set-up for this car, but there aren't many 17in wheels that I like that look good athestically on this car.

Does the car understeer naturally?

That is an extremely small stagger. I wouldn't worry about that, personally. If you understeer, you just need more power applied.


This car doesn't *need* 9.5 inch wide wheels for most people's driving habits. Let alone a 9.5 inch squared setup.

I've never used staggered but I don't think it will affect things THAT much and for the price... is a squared setup worth another $1000? You could always turn around later and sell them at profit and get squared

Yes. In a static corner, throttle in (don't mash it), and report what happens.

If you find that it understeers more with the mild stagger, throw a stiffer rear swaybar on it.

Just put the wide ones on the front XD