new rims/tires soon- questions about best setup for better handling.

Originally Posted by roastbeef

charles, the car in the lower pic looks lowered, but do you know if the car in the upper pic has suspension mods?

The red car looks like its lowered slightly. The bottom car is lowered on D2 Racing coilovers.

-Charles@VMRWheels

Maybe this will help the O. P. a little: performance is affected by a lot of things, but generally lighter is better and wider gives more traction. A non-staggered setup will usually handle more neutrally, whereas a staggered setup will induce understeer. A little understeer is not a bad thing for a novice (it makes the car easier to "correct" when you take a corner too fast), but experienced drivers usually prefer a more neutral car for ultimate handling. The tire size (225, 235, 245, etc) refers to the width of the tire at its widest point in millimeters. The wheel rim should be a little narrower than that unless you're looking for a stretched appearance. Try to stay close to 25" in tire diameter.

thanks a bunch. does a staggered setup induce understeer because these cars have about 50/50 weight distribution and the rear has more tire contact (traction) with the ground, which makes the front break loose before the rear? or is it the wider rear stance in general?
i guess what i'm asking is, would a car with wheel spacers in the rear behave like a car with a staggered setup with the same spacing?

think about it, more grip in the back (wider tire) and less grip in the front (skinnier tire) means more understeer because the front doesnt grip as much as the rear..visa versa im assuming means oversteer

Originally Posted by roastbeef

thanks a bunch. does a staggered setup induce understeer because these cars have about 50/50 weight distribution and the rear has more tire contact (traction) with the ground, which makes the front break loose before the rear? or is it the wider rear stance in general?
i guess what i'm asking is, would a car with wheel spacers in the rear behave like a car with a staggered setup with the same spacing?

Increasing width decreases turning radius. Simple physics.

Originally Posted by m1356guy

think about it, more grip in the back (wider tire) and less grip in the front (skinnier tire) means more understeer because the front doesnt grip as much as the rear..visa versa im assuming means oversteer

this is the logic i was using and it makes sense. Penguin Koolaid brought up another point, and i think they both become a factor.
thanks for the info.

Originally Posted by ChrisTKHarris

V710s are not the way to go if you're looking for better handling/performance. Look for some lightweight 18s and some sticky tires.

exactly what I thought when I read the post.

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

Increasing width decreases turning radius. Simple physics.

how does this relate to understeer from a staggered setup? with what u just said should create a better handling car with a staggered setup

Originally Posted by m1356guy

how does this relate to understeer from a staggered setup? with what u just said should create a better handling car with a staggered setup

No. The wider tires in the rear provide greater resistance to perform the same turn as the fronts, thus pushing the car forward in hard turns.

I don't know all the physics involved. But e46's are fairly neutral to begin with, so from a purely handling point of view, it's not necessary to use a staggered setup. Dinan, for example, recommends 245/30R19's on 9" rims all around. Contrast that with the old Porsche 911's and 930's, which were so tail-heavy that they oversteered horribly. Porsche had to start using a staggered setup to compensate. If I were looking strictly for performance, I would probably go with a very lightweight (under 20 lbs) 17 or 18 inch wheel in an 8.5 or 9 inch width and 40 to 45 mm offset, and put 245's all around. In my own case, however, I decided to compromise performance for looks and put on a staggered CSL setup, because I couldn't find any really light wheels that I liked that I could afford.

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

Increasing width decreases turning radius. Simple physics.

Ugh. I realized that statement was a bit ambiguous. By decrease I meant to worsen, not improve. So "increase" might make more sense in this case. It's like when you tell someone to turn down the air

i understand what you are saying penguin, the tire on the inside of the turn is turning slower then the tire on the outside of the turn. if you think about it, it really seems like the effect of a small stagger with the same width tires as the front would be minimal. i suppose it would be magnified with a staggered setup with wider tires in the rear then in the front. either way, i suppose every little bit helps.
i'm a 325, so its no drag winner, so i got to have my fun in the corners.

found this OEM wheel weight guide though some poking around on this site;
http://felgenkatalog.auto-treff.com/ (my rims are on page 6).
according to that guide, my stock 17's are 23.1 lbs. i don't think going up to 25 lbs is gong to be too terrible, but for the beauty, i think i can stand it.
from even more poking around... i think i'm just reinforcing my want for the looks of 19's.

order V710's staggered 19's and call it a day...

^ You won't regret.

Originally Posted by Penguin Koolaid

Ugh. I realized that statement was a bit ambiguous. By decrease I meant to worsen, not improve. So "increase" might make more sense in this case. It's like when you tell someone to turn down the air

fixed, bingo