Sincity

For every day driving, is there any advantage in having a staggered setup other than looks? I just hopped over to the C32 forum and there is someone that just put on a set of 18 x 8.5 AMG Type IVs non-staggered.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=52970

Also, can I install a 19 x 8.5 with a 30mm offset front and rear? How about the rear with 19 x 9.5 and 40mm offset? Keep in mind that I will have a 2004.5 with the larger front brakes.

Lynn

For the street, the only benefit is appearance.

E55AMG99

The tires and wheels work in concert with the suspension and brakes to provide grip both fore/aft and laterally. "Most" performance cars come with tires and wheels that are size optimized for the suspension. Changing sizes, weights, etc. can and usually will change the way a car handles.

However, like Lynn said, on the street, most people won't notice the difference.

Harris

It depends on which wheel you are talking about. Offset is not the only thing to worry, there is the back spacing clearance too. ET30 front should be okay for your car, however, ET40 for the rear is a bit too high, your rear wheels will tug in more than what they should be, it wont look as good.

The wheels that "trips" is using are 18x8.5 all around. However, he has 225/255 tires, although the wheels are not staggered, the tires are. Having slightly wider tires on the rear will give better cornering and more grip when launching. And more importantly, they look better too.

Getting 19" wheels is more for cosmetic purpose than anything else. 19's are more heavier and with more rotation mass. If you dont mind that your car's performance will suffer a bit, 19's is the way to go. But if you want to have the look and yet, maintain the performance as close as possible, then you should get 18's.

Sincity

Thanks for the response everyone

BruNo

a. Cosmetic reasons
b. Grippier Rear (if u corner fast)

if u gonna spend for bigger wheels..go staggered.

tifosiv122

Hey, there is also a disadvantage...you can't rotate the fronts to the rears so you will wear down all the tires more quickly. Just something to think about.

I had both a staggered and regular setup and it was mostly for show as I didn't feel a difference.

Erik

ScoobyDo

Even though it is odd, I must disagree with the comments made by the more senior contributors of this forum. Depending on your driving style, the staggered setup will / will not help your handling. The first upgrade that I did to my 03 C230K sedan is to move the rear wheels to 17x8.5 with 245/40-17 tires. Before the switch, I noticed that the ESP of the car is busy adjusting to the traction of the rear end when I tried to pull the car out of a tight corner. Once I put in the wider tires, the ESP will only occasionally blink when I power the car out of the corner. I spent a fair bit of money for this upgrade as I have all new rims and tires; but it solve my frustration when exiting corners.

Also, I have put in the H&R coilver 2 months ago. I find that 17" rims are probably the most you want to go for this setup.

s4iscool

if you have a car with 349 hp. I dont think a c320 would benefit much.

When I went from 245's in the rear to 255's I noticed a big gain in launching grip, due to having more contact patch to put the power to the ground. Someone else mentioned that there is much less ESP activity, and I can agree with that. Handling wise, there may be some benefit.

s4iscool

there were tests done that proved a high performance 17" tire outperformed the 18 and 19" tires on the track. Food for thought. Bigger is not always better.

shtatc

I agree with s4 - on my whoppingly large 168hp C240, there is really no noticeable difference 99% of the time driving. Where I do notice the difference is in the handling area - I have not modified the suspension. But I think that getting larger/wider wheels/tires (as compared to stock) would have done that anyways, regardless whether they were staggered or not. Also depends on how large and wide - like S4 said - larger and wider is not necessary better, it could have it's downside also.

MJ50

i have staggered and can't notice a thing except for the look.
either i need more power or suspension kit to feel the difference.

E55AMG99

Any improvement in handling after a staggered tire/wheel upgrade only means that the originals were not optimized for the car. One can only guess that price had something to do with the decision to go non-staggered.

shtatc

I think the originals were probably "optimized" for those who want comfort. IMO, MB's emphasis (other than AMG's) was more on the comfort side of the equation. Although in recent years, they have been making more "sport" oriented cars, emphasizing more of the performance/handling side of the equation. Maybe not as much performance/handling as we would want. But maybe we are all on the extreme side of the perf/handl side of the equation at times. Not that the staggered set up makes a big difference in handling, but to me, it does contribute. Just my thoughts.
And looks is always a factor also. Larger/wider wheels/tires do look better on most applications.

E55AMG99

...and simplicity (ease of rotation, same size spare) for the non-enthusiast?

mrchocolatte

thinking about rotating the tires....

dont worry.,

pardon me, if i'm wrong.

you can dismount the rear right tires and mounted it on left rear wheels and vice versa.

i have done it to my car is worth around 2000++


thanks.

mrchocolatte

thinking about rotating the tires....

dont worry.,

pardon me, if i'm wrong.

you can dismount the rear right tires and mounted it on left rear wheels and vice versa.

i have done it to my car is worth around 2000++


thanks.

Matt230K

You can only rotate side to side if your tires are non-directional, or if you dismount and re-mount them. You can only rotate front to back if your tires are not staggered.

As for traction advantages, I would say that it helps in a straight line if you really need it. But as for cornering, if you add grip to the rear, then you are just going to understeer more. What most Mercedes' need is more front end grip, NOT rear end grip.