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I ran the staggered setup, and it was fine. All the BS about the car being too pushy is just that....BS. More rear tire pressure made the car nice and loose, just like before. I ran slighly more rear rebound with the staggered setup, that's about it. Was it faster? Inconclusive, but this setup was pretty successful on most courses and surfaces.
My plan for next year? Having two pairs of rear tires so I can essentially change the gear ratio. Shifting to third gear....that shit doesn't work. The time it takes to shift to third, and come back to second gear, I think is NEVER worth it. Unless you are able to hit 65+ MPH in third gear, and have a good spot to down shift to make it work. I can match RPM's, I can heal-toe, it's not talent related....the shit does not work. This was the largest thing that held me back at nationals, I was all over the rev limiter in second, but just not enough to justify an upshift, and then negotiate a down shift.
For 90% of local events, 235/40/17 is going to be the hot size. However, I think 235/45 is probably the size I'd pick for my 'tall gearing' which would be needed at most national events. 245/45/17 seems too tall....but I like the idea of having an extreme 'tall gear option tire', but for most courses this won't be favorable I feel.
If we're talking about an event like we did in London, ON at Centralia, well that course was so fast (75-80+ MPH), no tire under the sun on an FR-S is going to keep you in second gear anyway, so the short tires would be again be faster, as both will require a shift.
Last year running the staggered setup proved to me that matching the front and rear tire width is not critical, at least if you have adjustable shocks where you can dial in the balance accordingly. I don't think you've gone this route yet, so that may effect your decision.
Next year I'll determine if running a short tire on the front, and a tall tire on the back effects handling by changing the ride height delta front to rear. I may try something extreme for tight local events like a 215/40/17 Rear , and then a 235/45/17 to take with me for national events. If you can adjust to your cars change in handling with the dramatic tire changes, you can tune in the shocks to make the car more driveable 'on the limit' but other than changing tire size, you can't drive or tune around your second gear ratio, as using third gear on a sub 65 MPH course is just not an optoin.
Probably more info above than you needed, but for your events, that I suspect are mostly tight slower stuff, with a few crazy Centrailia events mixed in, I think 235/40/17 is your best all around tire size. It would ONLY be worth it to consider a 235/45/17 or 245/45/17 if you're getting a large amount of courses that having you stuck on the rev limiter for mutliple seconds at a time, that would put you in the 62-63ish MPH zone if you could stay in 2nd. Keep in mind our cars have ZERO power, and every corner exit you'll be giving away time on the taller tires. If you don't frequent the second gear rev limit on your current courses, DO NOT go with taller tires.
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