squared vs staggered tires and wheels

[marjen]

So I am researching to death my summer wheels/tires purchase, sorry to the poory vendors on this site who are being awesome in helping me And still have some questions about the various setups.

I am looking to get a close to flush setup. Looking at 19" wheels. Trying to decide on rim and tire widths.

1. Staggered wheels. Is it only possible to get a flush setup with staggered wheels? Can the same be almost achieved with a staggered tire setup on the same size wheel? Like 255 front 275 rear on a 9.5 wheel?

2. Are there disadvantages to staggered setups vs square?

3. Is it better to stagger the wheels and tires? Or can staggering just the tires be similar?

4. Which is better for a street only daily driver where best handling is preferred?

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[yjack]

I recommend Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 for daily street driving. Wider range of operation temperature, be able to handle light snow, and it last forever with 45000 tread warranty. The dry grip is actually better than summer only PZero. Pilot super Sport is also a good choice if you want summer only tire, I believe the tread warranty on that is 30k miles.

 

[marjen]

Tires are going to be one of the following.

1. Michelin Pilot Super Sport
2. Bridgestone Potezza S-04
3. Continental Extreme Contact DW

I am just trying to figure sizes and square vs staggered.
On the tires not sure if I will really benefit from the extra cost of the MPSS. Its about a $300 difference from the others and all have great reviews and test results.

 

[yjack]

Tires are going to be one of the following.

1. Michelin Pilot Super Sport
2. Bridgestone Potezza S-04
3. Continental Extreme Contact DW

I am just trying to figure sizes and square vs staggered.
On the tires not sure if I will really benefit from the extra cost of the MPSS. Its about a $300 difference from the others and all have great reviews and test results.

out of those I think only MPSS offered tread wear warranty?

 

[Grimace427]

For a daily driver I highly suggest a square setup so you can rotate and extend tread life. Staggered setups are primarily for aesthetics. Go 19x9" with 255/40/19 tires at all 4 corners. My first tire choice would be the Michelin Super Sports but I currently have the Continental DW tires right now and they are superb. Long tread life, very quiet and smooth, excellent dry grip, top tier performance in the wet, and do very well in cold temps.

out of those I think only MPSS offered tread wear warranty?

Just to clarify, they will not warranty the tires if you wear them out. The warranty is to cover defects only and lasts for 30,000 or 45,000 miles depending on the model. You can't just go and drive crazy or do burnouts and expect Michelin to replace them for free.

 

[yjack]

Just to clarify, they will not warranty the tires if you wear them out. The warranty is to cover defects only and lasts for 30,000 or 45,000 miles depending on the model. You can't just go and drive crazy or do burnouts and expect Michelin to replace them for free.

Treadlife warranty is a limited warranty. Actually manufacture will reimburse the cost if the tire wears out prematurely, assume you don't abuse it. For me its just a good indicator of how long those tire will last. Also for stagger fitment, the rear tire warranty will be cut into half.

information from tirerack:

The treadlife/mileage warranty only applies to the original owner and the original vehicle. Proof of purchase and vehicle mileage on the original installation date are required. The consumer is also required to prove that the tires were properly inflated, rotated and aligned, replacing worn suspension components as necessary.
Since according to most states' laws, tires become legally worn out when they reach 2/32" of remaining tread depth (identified when the tread blocks/ribs wear down to the bars molded across their tread pattern), all tire manufacturer treadlife/mileage warranties specify pro-rated replacement will only be consider when all four tires reach that point.
The tire manufacturers also maintain that if the tires have been properly maintained throughout their life, all four will wear out evenly at approximately the same time. However, if the worn appearance indicates the tires weren't properly maintained, the tire manufacturer will not be obligated to honor the treadlife/mileage warranty.
Assuming that the tires have been properly maintained and have worn down evenly to 2/32” of remaining tread depth, let's review how consumers receive their value. Our example will be a set of tires backed by a 5-year/40,000-mile treadlife/mileage warranty.
If a driver evenly wore all four tires down to 2/32" of remaining tread depth in 30,000 miles, they would be offered a new set of equivalent tires from the same brand that would be discounted from their current retail price by 25% (prorating the value of 10,000 of the 40,000 miles of wear they didn't receive). The driver would be required to pay the percentage difference between the warranted mileage and the mileage actually received as well as the cost of mounting, balancing and installing the replacement tires.
Treadlife/mileage warranties are also subject to time limits set by the tire manufacturers with most expiring 4-, 5- or 6-years from the date of purchase. This means that a 5,000 mile-a-year driver purchasing tires warranted for 5-years/40,000-miles would see it expire 5 years from the date of purchase even though they had only driven 25,000 miles. There would be no warranty consideration due if those tires wore out after that.

 

[marjen]

Having trouble finding wheels i like in 19x9. Also wanted a little wider look, would 275 all around work? Would that work up front?

 

[yjack]

Having trouble finding wheels i like in 19x9. Also wanted a little wider look, would 275 all around work? Would that work up front?

Yea, lots of people running 275 in the front.

 

[Grimace427]

Treadlife warranty is a limited warranty. Actually manufacture will reimburse the cost if the tire wears out prematurely, assume you don't abuse it. For me its just a good indicator of how long those tire will last. Also for stagger fitment, the rear tire warranty will be cut into half.

information from tirerack:

The treadlife/mileage warranty only applies to the original owner and the original vehicle. Proof of purchase and vehicle mileage on the original installation date are required. The consumer is also required to prove that the tires were properly inflated, rotated and aligned, replacing worn suspension components as necessary.
Since according to most states' laws, tires become legally worn out when they reach 2/32" of remaining tread depth (identified when the tread blocks/ribs wear down to the bars molded across their tread pattern), all tire manufacturer treadlife/mileage warranties specify pro-rated replacement will only be consider when all four tires reach that point.
The tire manufacturers also maintain that if the tires have been properly maintained throughout their life, all four will wear out evenly at approximately the same time. However, if the worn appearance indicates the tires weren't properly maintained, the tire manufacturer will not be obligated to honor the treadlife/mileage warranty.
Assuming that the tires have been properly maintained and have worn down evenly to 2/32” of remaining tread depth, let's review how consumers receive their value. Our example will be a set of tires backed by a 5-year/40,000-mile treadlife/mileage warranty.
If a driver evenly wore all four tires down to 2/32" of remaining tread depth in 30,000 miles, they would be offered a new set of equivalent tires from the same brand that would be discounted from their current retail price by 25% (prorating the value of 10,000 of the 40,000 miles of wear they didn't receive). The driver would be required to pay the percentage difference between the warranted mileage and the mileage actually received as well as the cost of mounting, balancing and installing the replacement tires.
Treadlife/mileage warranties are also subject to time limits set by the tire manufacturers with most expiring 4-, 5- or 6-years from the date of purchase. This means that a 5,000 mile-a-year driver purchasing tires warranted for 5-years/40,000-miles would see it expire 5 years from the date of purchase even though they had only driven 25,000 miles. There would be no warranty consideration due if those tires wore out after that.

I'm a Mercedes technician and I've dealt with the Michelin Warranty many times, they have a minimum tread measurement that below which they will not warranty the tires. On a Mustang, getting the tires to wear out evenly is damn near impossible, and even so relying on the warranty to cover the tires on a performance car thinking you can drive as aggressively as you want is misguided.

 

[Budwise]

You can do a squared setup 19X9 - 19X10 without issue, just do some research and make sure the offset will play nice. 275-295 will do nicely front and back.

GetYourWheels.com and Need4SpeedMotors are both excellent vendors and a wealth of information.

 

[yjack]

I'm a Mercedes technician and I've dealt with the Michelin Warranty many times, they have a minimum tread measurement that below which they will not warranty the tires. On a Mustang, getting the tires to wear out evenly is damn near impossible, and even so relying on the warranty to cover the tires on a performance car thinking you can drive as aggressively as you want is misguided.

Yea, I agree its more of a marketing tool as far as the tread life warranty goes. For me its just a rough indicator of how long the tire will last if drive normally.

 

[marjen]

I have been talking quite a bit to a couple people. All very helpful. Just trying to get feedback from the folks here as to which setup performs better.

It seems a couple of the setups i have looked at would require 5mm spacers up front if I go 9.5 due to issues getting caps to fit. I assume that would not be an issue?

 

[Grimace427]

Yea, I agree its more of a marketing tool as far as the tread life warranty goes. For me its just a rough indicator of how long the tire will last if drive normally.

If you're talking about a family car that sees a lot of miles I guess it could be more beneficial, though I've never seen it actually work the way it says on paper. Customer wears out their tires, they buy new ones.

It seems a couple of the setups i have looked at would require 5mm spacers up front if I go 9.5 due to issues getting caps to fit. I assume that would not be an issue?

If you talk to any of the vendors on here they will get you a setup that works without any extra HARDWARE.

 

[Budwise]

Im running 19X10 squared with no spacers. If anyone tells you you'll need a spacer then they're selling you the wrong offsets.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Didn't see anyone bring it up yet, but the staggered tires are also there to protect the driver. Big beefy rear tears allow the mustang to compete on a drag strip, but also intentionally introduce a little bit of understeer.

Now judging from the reviews, my guess is they ended up with more understeer than they expected due to the new suspension. But with that said, when you launch a global performance vehicle with 435 HP that is designed to be highly accessible, you need to keep driver safety in mind. I can't speak for team mustang, but I would not be surprised at all if they intentionally staggered them with the assumption track heavy users would buy their own setups anyways.

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