Tire suggestion

[Fenrir]

yes, but it could break the rear end loose.

personally, i'm on the fence about square vs staggered. my thoughts:

STAGGERED (does that mean off balance? )
how it came from the factory. awesome steering feel (well, dependent on tire choice), safer. the rears wear faster on our cars so it means you're doing 2x as many rear sets of tires as front sets. and if you're running directional tires, no ability to rotate the tires anywhere else on the car.

SQUARE (wait, aren't they round?)
better ultimate front end grip, and tire rotation-ability; if you're running non-directional tires, you can put rotate them anywhere.

my take on the whole frig
i'm running a 245/38/18 'square' setup, on 18x8.5" wheels. 3mm spacer in the rear. at first i thought i would try this setup for better tire rotation abilities and increased front end grip - which there definitely is - but now i'm not so sure i want to stay here. when i'm pushing the car - man, that increased front end grip is great! but the other 95% of my driving is done sedately, and i find that the square setup is a bit twitchier feeling - plus 245's up front kind of numb the on-center steering feel. so i might go back to a staggered setup to gain highway some on-center feel and more relaxed highway manners.




that's a 0.6" different in outside diameter - pretty huge.




it is and it isn't. let me explain:

stock:
225/40/18 = 25.1" OD (front)
255/35/18 = 25" OD (rear)

or:
245/35/18 = 24.8" OD
235/40/18 = 25.4" OD

so they're kinda equally close.

Being able to break the rear end loose at whim is pretty much why I've kept the 235 setup. I enjoy some tail out antics from time to time. And controlled oversteer is a great way to get rid of overspeed understeer. Also, with DSC, breaking loose rarely happens. Even in the wet. Off DSC? I was running 255's in the rear and could still light the tires.

I will say that even on the track, you have to be doing something very wrong to step out with 235s. I have never run all weathers on this setup though. It's always been grip oriented summer tires. With a UHP style tire, I have been able to hang way above my weight class.

235/40s keep me in that happy spot between total grip or let's smash the giggle peddle and go sideways.

In the end? Buyer's choice. Above is just my personal opinion and preferences.

[dubfreaks]

Even with a staggered wheel setup at 18x8 and 18.5 you're saying to run a square tire setup?

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[Fenrir]

Yup. Doesn't hurt anything at all. 245's are the most popular choice. As stated above by a few, you can rotate if they're non-directional. I run the size I do for my own silly reasons lol. But you'll not damage anything by running square. And you'll loose some of the inherent understeer of the stock staggered setup as well.

[az3579]

Personally, I'd gladly trade a tiny bit of on center responsiveness (because it really isn't that bad) to get rid of understeer. Understeer completely ruins the party.

[webster]

The brand of tire matters as almost much as the size rating. For example the Michelin PSS tires in 255 width were significantly wider than the Firehawk Indy 500s in the same width. Something to consider.

I will always run staggered on a RWD car. Esp when it came that way from the factory.

[johnrando]

Exactly this!

Personally, I'd gladly trade a tiny bit of on center responsiveness (because it really isn't that bad) to get rid of understeer. Understeer completely ruins the party.

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[dubfreaks]

Sounds good.. Looking at the Continental DWS

Yup. Doesn't hurt anything at all. 245's are the most popular choice. As stated above by a few, you can rotate if they're non-directional. I run the size I do for my own silly reasons lol. But you'll not damage anything by running square. And you'll loose some of the inherent understeer of the stock staggered setup as well.

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[Sockethead]

I run the staggard setup. I think it looks great on our cars and handles very well. Plus, I never have to buy 4 tires at once

DWS has a pretty soft sidewall, very noticeable when switching from a performance summer tire but you'll get used to it after a while...

[YoitsTmac]

I run 255 squared. I like it. If you're worried about oversteer vs understeer, that can always be tuned to a degree between the sway bars and the tire pressure. But with a car where the weight is 50/50, the tire footprint should also be in my opinion. On center feel is more about corner weight than tire width in my opinion. I bought my car with 205/55/16's, then went to 68's with a front 225/40/17, and then ran reverse staggered to get more front grip with the 245/40/17. I ran the 245 for just over a year. I was waiting for my new wheels so I was on my friends girlfriends 215/40/17 and I got all this steering feel back that I didn't realize I lost.

With my 255's, my corner weight is about 43lbs before air. I have the same amount of feel as I did with the 215's, although now I have the opposite problem in that my steering is too light because the wheels are so light. Now I may need under drive pulleys for the PS...