Best height for staggered setup

[TireSlayer]

I have 275/35/20(fronts) and 305/35/20(rears). Measuring center cap to top of fender. 14 7/8 (front) and 15(rear). Since the sidewall on the rears is taller. The gap by default less on the rears. With my setup I have coilovers. What do you guys recommend for good cornering? Should i have the same measurement all the way around or different?

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[NightmareMoon]

I have 275/35/20(fronts) and 305/35/20(rears). Measuring center cap to top of fender. 14 7/8 (front) and 15(rear). Since the sidewall on the rears is taller. The gap by default less on the rears. With my setup I have coilovers. What do you guys recommend for good cornering? Should i have the same measurement all the way around or different?

If you're measuring from the center cap to the fender, it doesn't matter if you have a monster truck tire on there or a thin profile tire on an 18" wheel, it won't affect that measurement. The gap between the tire and fender would change, and your height off the ground would change, but not the center cap to fender.

You're asking the right question tho, which is how much should I lower the car to best benefit handling, and IIRC a good guideline (I'm repeating back what others have said here, I don't have the math) is to go no more than about 3/4" lower than stock, which I think is about 14.5" (its close to the same front and rear +-0.1"). You could go slightly lower in the front and you could lower the rear as much as 1/2" more. Much farther than that and you're loosing valuable suspension travel and may be hitting the bump stops too often.

Lowering the car isn't entirely a good thing. You get a little benefit from the lower center of gravity (similar to widening the track of the car), but your roll center drops a lot more than that, causing body roll will be worse than at stock ride height unless you do something to change your control arm geometry. -3/4" is about as low as you should go before the roll center is negatively affected too much... unless you're modifying your front control arms or something.

 

[TireSlayer]

I am setting the rear drops to 3/4 right now. I cant go under that as my setup will not allow it.

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