Staggered Width Tires on 4Matic?
12-22-2016, 04:04 PM
#1
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Staggered Width Tires on 4Matic?
I've read in this blog time and time again: "Don't run different DIA tires with 4Matic." Common sense tells me this has to do with the transfer case. What about same DIA & Circumference but different width? 
I drive an R500 with the AMG appearance package which look almost exactly like this R63 pictured but has the 19" AMG Wheels. Getting ready to drop the front a little with a set of H&R coils and the rear a little with links that control airbag height. I want a little more aggressive look, so gonna change the wheels too.
21" tires are more expensive than 20" or even most 22", because 21" is just a strange size. So, want to go with 20" to maintain the touring ride. I found a set of 20" wheels from the S550 (pic) I want that are 43mm offset, but are staggered in width: 8.5" Front, 9.5" Rear.
If I use 245/45R20 & 275/40R20 tires, that have exactly the same diameter/circumference (27.8"/90.1") will that have a negative affect? They are within 0.1" DIA or 3 Revs/Mile of the 255/50R19 installed now (same speedo reading).
BMW uses staggered tires on xDrive vehicles. For example: a 5 Series with xDrive comes with wheels(tires): Front: 20 x 8.5 (245/40R20) and Rear: 20 x 10 (275/35R20).
These two tire sizes have a difference of dia/circum +0.1"/0.4". This means xDrive is dealing about 4 revs/mile difference between front rear.
Am I missing something?
Will a difference in tire width affect 4matic?
I drive an R500 with the AMG appearance package which look almost exactly like this R63 pictured but has the 19" AMG Wheels. Getting ready to drop the front a little with a set of H&R coils and the rear a little with links that control airbag height. I want a little more aggressive look, so gonna change the wheels too.
21" tires are more expensive than 20" or even most 22", because 21" is just a strange size. So, want to go with 20" to maintain the touring ride. I found a set of 20" wheels from the S550 (pic) I want that are 43mm offset, but are staggered in width: 8.5" Front, 9.5" Rear.
If I use 245/45R20 & 275/40R20 tires, that have exactly the same diameter/circumference (27.8"/90.1") will that have a negative affect? They are within 0.1" DIA or 3 Revs/Mile of the 255/50R19 installed now (same speedo reading).
BMW uses staggered tires on xDrive vehicles. For example: a 5 Series with xDrive comes with wheels(tires): Front: 20 x 8.5 (245/40R20) and Rear: 20 x 10 (275/35R20).
These two tire sizes have a difference of dia/circum +0.1"/0.4". This means xDrive is dealing about 4 revs/mile difference between front rear.
Am I missing something?
Will a difference in tire width affect 4matic?
12-24-2016, 11:27 AM
#2
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2008 R320 CDI
I would imagine it depends on the center diff, or transfer case. I know with Subarus you can have up to "x" amount of difference in the diameter of the tires, usually a small amount, but because of the center diff design it allows for so much margin of error. As for the transfer case setup in MBs, I don't know if it'll allow for much of a margin due to the way it works. But, I'm not an expert, and I know that even the same brand and size tires can be slightly different. I think you'd be ok as long as you can get it as close as possible to the same overall diameter, but again, I'm no expert.you can always just look at the revs per mile, and base your tire choices off of that?
