'19 GT staggered height/width setup

[Cascadian]

My plan is to put 275/40r19 tires on 19x8.5" +30mm offset fronts and 305/35r20 tires on 20x10" +48mm offset rears. I have seen photos and talked to a few people so I am fairly certain they fit with no rubbing issues on stock suspension. However, my question is how bad will the performance suffer with running the wider tires on these wheels. I'm not tracking the car and I rarely get a chance to do much spirited driving. Mostly just a weekend cruise around car, and it might become a daily driver soon. I just wanted to get a few of your opinions about whether the handling going with these tire sizes would be noticeably bad during relaxed commuting or only starts really being an issue when you are pushing the car hard around corners. Your expertise and opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

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[Cascadian]

I might also consider a 275/35r20 on front with 20x8.5" +30mm offset wheels. I heard that running the 40 series tire makes it a little easier to fit on the smaller width wheel? Also, trying to keep the sidewall height appearance close to the rear, so I think the 275/40r19s would be better. 0.3" more sidewall vs 0.8" less than the rears.

 

[Norm Peterson]

8.5" really isn't a wide enough wheel for those 275/40 tires, 9" being the tire industry's recommended minimum wheel width for that size. While it's probably do-able, cornering is likely to feel a bit 'soft' and the car a little less willing to start turning, as a too-wide tire will tend to "roll under" more than it probably should under any given level of cornering "enthusiasm".

I'm guessing that you've spent time shopping at American Muscle, who seem to market a lot of their stuff based on price alone.


Norm

 

[NightmareMoon]

275 fits a 9.5” wheel well and a 8.5” wheel badly, if at all. I wouln’t put one on anything less than a 9” wheel.

a 305 is designed for an 11” wheel.

if you’re paying good money for new wheels and tires why not find some that fit better? 11” wide rear with 10” front wheel options are practically growing on trees around here.

 

[Cascadian]

I have checked with the tire manufacturer and 8.5” wide wheel is the very minimum of the recommended range for the 275/40 series tires. With a 35 or 30 series tire the minimum is 9”.

I’d still like to hear some first hand experience what it’s like to drive on tires wider than the rims. Is it really that noticeable? I’d really like to keep these tire sizes (mainly for the height since I don’t plan to lower the car and want to fill the wheel well as much as possible).

Another option I found is to run SVE wheels 19x10” in front and 20x10” in rear. The main problem is availability of the wheels I like in those sizes and they cost $400 more. Unfortunately, they don’t make them in a 20x11” option.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I have checked with the tire manufacturer and 8.5” wide wheel is the very minimum of the recommended range for the 275/40 series tires. With a 35 or 30 series tire the minimum is 9”.

I’d still like to hear some first hand experience what it’s like to drive on tires wider than the rims. Is it really that noticeable? I’d really like to keep these tire sizes (mainly for the height since I don’t plan to lower the car and want to fill the wheel well as much as possible).

Another option I found is to run SVE wheels 19x10” in front and 20x10” in rear. The main problem is availability of the wheels I like in those sizes and they cost $400 more. Unfortunately, they don’t make them in a 20x11” option.

Yes I've run on wider tires than the wheels (9" wheels, 285/35 tires). Your results will vary quite a bit depending on how stiff the sidewalls are on those tires. Continentals, for example, have very soft sidewalls and will roll over badly and feel very vague if mismatched like that. Very stiff competition tires you can get away with it.

 

[m3incorp]

Hmmm so far, everyone has recommended against it.

Am I reading this correctly? You would rather close the tire gap height 1/8"-1/4" and possibly have the car drive bad or dangerous, instead of mounting wheels and tires that are made to fit correctly and handle 'CORRECTLY'?

 

[NightmareMoon]

SVEs are usually on the more affordable end of the spectrum for good quality flow formed wheels. Most wheels cheaper than SVEs are just cast, easy to bend, and quite heavy FWIW. Check the weight and construction type on the wheels you're considering. If they don't list it, its likely cast construction.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I have checked with the tire manufacturer and 8.5” wide wheel is the very minimum of the recommended range for the 275/40 series tires. With a 35 or 30 series tire the minimum is 9”.

I spent quite a bit of time researching that, and what I've found is that 9" is generally the min-recommended width for almost every tire sold in 275/40-18 at Tire Rack.

I did find an exception in the Hankook Optimo H426, but you can't use that number as a general minimum wheel width for all 275/40-19 tires. Especially given that the H426 is a poorly rated tire (dead last in its category).


Norm

 

[8GTOKLR]

255/40 on 8.5
295/35 on a 10.0

305's bulge to much on a 10 inch rim

Anything over 255 will need 9 or greater

 

[Cascadian]

I appreciate all the opinions and discussion... and to address m3incorp. No, I am not trying to make the car "drive bad or dangerous". The internet is full of Safety Sallies though, so I was looking for someone with first hand experience about how much the performance degrades for day to day commuting. As I mentioned, this car does not get tracked or driven aggressively on mountain roads. The wheel and tire upgrade is definitely for form over function. I understand most people disagree with that, and in many instances I would too. Just not trying to spend an extra $500+ for performance that will never be needed for a commuter. I was hoping, as a newcomer, to join this forum and be able to pick the brains of people with first hand experience. Nothing wrong with wanting to hear a couple accounts before I am convinced, right?

That being said, thank you NightmareMoon and Norm Peterson for the info. I will have to maybe rethink my tire and wheel choice to find something with better matched sizes. By the way, you mentioned 10/11" wheels are easy to find. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction? Only ones I have been able to find with correct offset was on AM or LMR. I was talking to someone at N4S / Project-6GR, but they never got back to me. I probably wouldn't trust them anyways after hearing what you guys are telling me because he was recommending a 325 rear tire on an 11" wheel and 285 fronts on 10s. Both oversized again. He sent me several customer cars and they all looked great, but I suppose going with something like that would drive bad or dangerous?

 

[MidwayJ]

I appreciate all the opinions and discussion... and to address m3incorp. No, I am not trying to make the car "drive bad or dangerous". The internet is full of Safety Sallies though, so I was looking for someone with first hand experience about how much the performance degrades for day to day commuting. As I mentioned, this car does not get tracked or driven aggressively on mountain roads. The wheel and tire upgrade is definitely for form over function. I understand most people disagree with that, and in many instances I would too. Just not trying to spend an extra $500+ for performance that will never be needed for a commuter. I was hoping, as a newcomer, to join this forum and be able to pick the brains of people with first hand experience. Nothing wrong with wanting to hear a couple accounts before I am convinced, right?

That being said, thank you NightmareMoon and Norm Peterson for the info. I will have to maybe rethink my tire and wheel choice to find something with better matched sizes. By the way, you mentioned 10/11" wheels are easy to find. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction? Only ones I have been able to find with correct offset was on AM or LMR. I was talking to someone at N4S / Project-6GR, but they never got back to me. I probably wouldn't trust them anyways after hearing what you guys are telling me because he was recommending a 325 rear tire on an 11" wheel and 285 fronts on 10s. Both oversized again. He sent me several customer cars and they all looked great, but I suppose going with something like that would drive bad or dangerous?

285 on 10s is pretty standard and not a poor fit like 275 on 8.5s. A 325 on an 11 is wider than ideal but probably ok for your purposes.Tire selection isn't great in 305 or 315/35r19 so I've seen people go to 325 for that reason.

 

[NightmareMoon]

SVE (aka LMR) has good options for 10/11 wheels at friendly prices for the quality.

P6GR are good wheels, but getting ahold of N4SM seems to be spotty these days. MMR has some options. Apex has 10/11 options (SM-10 or EC7). All of those are good choices, but typically cost a little bit more than SVE (but still a good deal IMHO for the quality).

 

[Cascadian]

SVE (aka LMR) has good options for 10/11 wheels at friendly prices for the quality.

P6GR are good wheels, but getting ahold of N4SM seems to be spotty these days. MMR has some options. Apex has 10/11 options (SM-10 or EC7). All of those are good choices, but typically cost a little bit more than SVE (but still a good deal IMHO for the quality).

Thanks for the info. I had a look and it doesn’t look like MRR or Apex carry any wheels in 20” diameter. I’d really like to stick with 20” rears. The SVE S350 wheels don’t come any wider than 20x10” but they sell all their staggered wheel setups with 305s in the rear. Is running a 305 on 10” rear wheels acceptable? I’m wondering if the tire roll issue would still be a problem if I had 275s up front on 10” wheels?

 

[Cascadian]

My other option is to go with the American Muscle wheels and 255/40r19s on the 19x8.5” fronts and 285/35r20 on the 20x10” rears.

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