Soooo I was thinking about getting some Rays Lexion 203's for the TL, but the offset is +45, and I might be slaved to a staggered setup.

Front would be 19x8 +45
Rear would be 19x9 +45

Do you guys think this will look wierd????

Also, does having a staggered setup fvck up the handling that much? I keep hearing mixed things about it...

 

i dunno if this is gonna look weird or not, but the stock offset is 45mm so take a look at your stock setup. if u drop it u'll achieve the tucked look...dunno if u like that or not. if u plan to drop it hard the wheels will also gain a negative camber.

running a staggered setup on a fwd ride means that you are gonna get more traction on the back tires than the front which is the opposite of what you want for a fwd car. the tl is designed to drive with understeer. if u run thicker tires on the back it increases the understeer. doesn't hurt anything or any parts on the car though. hopefully some dudes that run this kinda setup can chime in.

 

I have been searching for an answer to this question on many car sights. Let me take a stab at this and see.

Now you say the TL was designed for understeer. I think it is more accurate to say FWD vehicles have understeer because they are FWD cars and companies do not spend money putting tight handling into them.

Now lets look at this from a handling perspective. First, why would wider wheels create more understeer? Understeer is the front wheels losing grip before the rear wheels. No matter how much wider the rear wheels are, the front tires will always lose grip at the same speed (depending on the turn). The rear wheels can not do anything to make the front wheels lose grip.

Second, lets look at modifications. The OP has a rear-sway bar. A rear sway bar (a good one, like for my car a Scion tC) will have a few settings including race setting. The race setting should induce oversteer. So not only can you go faster, but you get oversteer. Now, to combat oversteer for even better handling, what do you need in the rear? Wider tires!

As for suspension geometry, many manufacturers use staggered set-ups, so geometry must not be much of an issue. The Z06 uses 9.5" front with a 12" rear. The C6 is 8.5" and 10" and did very well on Top Gears road course.

I guess what I am trying to say, think about the times people have responded to this. Has anyone ever shown articles, or done tests, or talk to professional drivers about it? Nope. It is always "no, do not do it, it is bad". This should be on Mythbusters!

 

I think if it's a 45mm offset.......you won't really notice a difference with the stagger setup. If you try anywhere from 35 thru 40......you will notice a difference.

Kevin

 

yes, i would venture to say that it is in the best interests of FWD automobile manufacturers to purposely design cars with understeer due to safety issues as they are easier to control if the car starts skidding.

think about the contact patches where the road meets the tire, and, assuming that you aren't driving like a maniac so the contact point is actually larger than a quarter unlike when u are on the freeway doing 70, the patch is larger in the back than the front if your wheels are staggered which would mean it requires more of a turn of the steering wheel than the slight normal understeer cus of the increased grip.

although i'm sure your analysis of oversteer is correct, i really don't know much about the technical aspect, i don't know why you included a Z06 in the comparison since it is RWD. this is actually the situation where you want a wider tire in the back.

yes, the op has a RSB. this particular RSB is non-adjustable and does not have enough of an affect on the car to cause it to oversteer, although it does lessen the understeer. i mean, the car would have to be significantly lightened in the front or tuned to cause oversteer, if you wanted it. i have the Comptech RSB and it lessens body roll and flex but not enough to cause the tires in the back to grip more than the fronts causing oversteer.

not really trying to argue with u, this is just how i understand it

 

Why even bother with the stagger? If they are avialble in the 19x8, why not simply use that all the way around?

 

Most places don't even carry Lexion wheels anymore....kinda sucks....Those are by far my favorites

The only ones that do are offered in stagger

 

OK, makes more sense now. One of the guys in here went staggered but put the same sized tires on all four wheels. He can then rotate them. True, they still have to be dismounted, but the same width all the way around seemed like an interesting idea. From his pics, it looks OK. He gets the deep dish look in the rear and since the contact patch is the same (or close to it), he doesn't get the ill-handling problems others running staggered have experienced.

 

Yeah, i'd be running all four of the same tires

 

yea, the lexion 203's are sick. i've seen them on a g35, dunno how they would look on a TL?? but like k-shawn said, if the stagger you're running is close front and rear there might not be any noticeable difference, especially if the tire size is really close or the same.

 

I have no problems with handling and I haven't noticed any difference since putting my staggered wheels and tires on.

 

You are wrong. FWD cars tend to understeer because they are heavier in the front so that front tires are way more stressed. They transfer power, brake more and carry more weight. All those forces creates tension on the contact surfaces that can stand only certain amount of it before they lose grip.

Wrong again. If all wheels are losing grip at the same time you have neutral handling. Front tires contact surfaces on FWD cars are more stressed than rear ones so they tend to understeer. If you put wider rear tires, with larger contact surface, balance is just worst.

Wrong. Harder RSB tends to lift inside wheel. That transfers all forces to only one contact surface, creating higher tension on it causing it to lose grip earlier. Hopefully along with front ones. Wider rear tires make it less possible.

They are RWD.

Wrong once more. It was tested many times. That’s why you don’t sea wider rear tires at FWD racing cars. But even if you can’t test it there is a simple physics. If your handling of it is neutral, of course.

 

Its all good, I went with 9" wide wheels with 245/35 ultra high performance summer tires all around....talk about pure grip

 

 

hah...

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-parts-sale-361/fs-mcguard-wheel-locks-157863/

 

Excellent! What offset? You might said it earlier but there are few similar treads …

 

44 offset all around