Old School Staggeriness, anyone?
 

I was thinking what i'd like to do for the FRS/BRZ would be something like 16x7.5s on the front and maybe 17x9s on the rear.

I have a bit of a history around classic muscle cars and the whole notion of having a certain size front wheel with the rear wheels one size larger was pretty popular back in the day. I think it would look great, personally. Maybe some 225s on the front and 245s on the rear.


Anyone else given this option any thought? http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...milies/nod.gif

It would completely destroy the handling characteristics of the stock setup and create understeer. If it suits your asthetic tastes then sure but that's about the reason to do a stagger like that.

exactly! not very many cars are balanced from the factory, and us who also who have experience with staggard setups can see that very little negative outcomes are spawned in those vehicles in those setups.

But the BRZ on the other hand is specifically tuned for balance, and a change in tire sizing will greatly deviate from its balance. This is also the general senses based on theory! Real life application could have different results

Now from a performance standpoint, the only reason why id go with a wider rear than front is because im putting down power where a larger contact patch is required. id not run a 10wide wheel up front for balance on the rears because then your running into more issues than you realize on the track.. and it will still deviate from the factory settings.

aesthetically...the world is your oyster! do what you want...im sure you can make it look good.

Honestly, this wasn't purely an exercise in the interest of aesthetics. I truly figured with the smaller front wheels, you'd get very responsive steering, and i figured understeer could be a result. I considered a near -0.7 to -1.2 front camber setup to aid with that.

Additionally, i figured the 245 rear tires would help reduce oversteer. (as i'm interested in grip driving.) I also thought possibly 235 may be enough and that 245 may be overkill.

I'm happy to get real feedback from you guys about the handling dynamics, as that was truly what this option was considered for. What you're saying about similar sized wheels/tires and the positive results from that kind of symmetry makes sense.

I'm not sure why reducing oversteer would be a concern...it's not exactly a Z06 with massive power oversteer that can bite back. Getting the car to rotate a bit is part of the fun and most often beneficial. With even semi stock hp levels 9" wheels with sticky tires could possibly be too grippy.

i think youre close but if a 9 inch rim/tire isnt too sticky for an na miata, its not too sticky for the frs

tire width doesn't add a ton of grip - at adds the ability to dissipate heat. Besides, you are only thinking about grip in the lateral direct (hp). a low hp car still has to turn, at which point lateral acceleration and lateral grip come into play.

Only way to find out is to try it out! Please keep us posted! :thumbsup:

Thanks for all the input guys, i really appreciate it-- even if i have to go back to the drawing board. http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...lies/amuse.gif

shooting for this look? :p

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-Toyota-...f#ht_512wt_952

LoL, that's a little extreme. That'd be like 15s in front 19s in back.

It would look like this Corvette. (one of the few pictures i could actually find of this wheels setup)
http://media.photobucket.com/image/r...e/DSC04024.jpghttp://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/binster1234/1969%2520Corvette/DSC04024.jpg

EDIT: An Elise
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/atta...ota-wheels.jpg
http://media.photobucket.com/image/r...e/DSC04024.jpg

Staggering a smaller height front rim is only practical on a FWD platform for traction gains. On this car it would have the opposite of your intended effect (floaty turn in).

In drag or high power grip RWD scenes staggering the other way is more common with smaller rears like 17/16 or 18/16.

Talking about tyre widths, if you lust after that staggered look I say go for it. Otherwise your cash will be better spent on better quality rubber all round.

I've seen some of the MKIV Supras running 18's in the rear and 17's in the front only b/c they have high HP. Staggered is one thing but TBH, I don't see how this would be beneficial on the FR-S, which is already balanced.

Oh i see. My current car is FWD and maybe i'm thinking of these things with more FWD enhancements in my mind and like you said; using them for RWD would be detrimental.

Thank you, i appreciate you taking the time to share.