Staggered Wheels on AWD

[sleepydsm]

Ok some of you clearly don't understand what the numbers on a tire sidewall mean.

[4g63tcrazy]

Originally Posted by sleepydsm

Ok some of you clearly don't understand what the numbers on a tire sidewall mean.

+1

Also just some food for thought. Even though the tire may be the same exact size. They could have a different rolling diameter if it's not the same brand tire. I had Toyo proxies 225/45r18's and General uhp 225/45r18's and the Generals were alot taller of a tire. (Larger rolling diameter)

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by sleepydsm

Ok some of you clearly don't understand what the numbers on a tire sidewall mean.

they mean very little actually. They're approximations at best, you really need to look at the actual tires specs.

What they approximately mean, for a 235/45-17 for example, is:
235mm wide, 106cm sidewall (235*.45), 17" rim.

If you actually start digging into the specs and comparing tires, even within the same brand, you'll notice they're all actually very different and sometimes to get the same size tire, you need to buy a different advertised size tire. As an example, the rear AP1 S2k tires from the factory are 225/50-16, but to get an equivalent sized tire you generally need to go with a 245/45-16.

[Matt D.]

Originally Posted by sleepydsm

Ok some of you clearly don't understand what the numbers on a tire sidewall mean.

Who is this directed to? Maybe add some useful information instead of worthless tidbits like this.

[Goat Blower]

Here's a little helpful website. http://www.bigcustomwheels.com/info_specs.jsp

Now punch in the size you are keeping, then play around with the other one til the rolling circumference is almost identical. For example, my rear tires are 255/40/17 on 9" rims, I'm keeping those and putting narrower wheels and tires up front to keep in the fenders, in my case, 225/45/17's on 8" rims. If you plug both of those in the calcutor on that website, you'll see they are almost identical. You can also play with offsets on there, but if we're still explaining what sidewall numbers mean here, we'lll save custom offsets, shortened control arms and mini-tubs for another day.

[asshanson]

The question is, why do you want staggered wheels? I'd personally want skinnier tires on the rear to counter-act the understeer that plagues DSMs.

As far as maintaining circumference goes, my caddy does have 245/45/18 in the front, and 275/40/18 in the rear, within .1% total circumference, I'd say that's safe for AWD. You just have to find a size that matches.

[Pushit2.0]

I would still check with a cloth tape measure or laying out a rolling diameter on the ground before I put different wheel/tire combos on the front/rear of my AWD vehical. You could also run the car on DB's dyno, they can show front/rear wheel speed/power splits.

~John