Why the staggered setup?

[rocsteady]

So I see a lot of guys going to a square setup to allow for tire life extending rotations, but I want to know why the GT350 was designed with the staggered setup originally?
I always thought it was a way for the factory to build in understeer, but that doesn't seem to make any sense with the car seemingly designed for people with a track focus. Plus it doesn't seem that understeer is an issue with the front tires being slightly narrower than the rears anyway.
Is it difficult to get a wider front tire to fit?
Anyway, basic question is just what is the design/performance reason that the car comes with a staggered setup from the factory?

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[Inthehighdesert]

Pretty much any performance vehicle street or track is staggered. The basic reason is it gets the power down better.

 

[RagmopInKona]

Pretty much any performance vehicle street or track is staggered. The basic reason is it gets the power down better.

Maybe if you swap on race only tires with no tread . The extra 10mm tread width a,3rd of that being grooves for water displacement isn't going to add up to much if any added traction.
The wider tires look better till you put on threadless tires it is a moot point .

 

[raiderjatt02]

Most of the time OEM RWD cars come staggered because it's just plain safer for the general public. Makes the car more understeer prone vs oversteer prone. Less grip up front, front tires give out at the limit before the rears.

Go with a square setup on these cars and you can immediately feel the difference on track. It's much more neutral and balanced at the limit.

 

[rocsteady]

Most of the time OEM RWD cars come staggered because it's just plain safer for the general public. Makes the car more understeer prone vs oversteer prone. Less grip up front, front tires give out at the limit before the rears.

Go with a square setup on these cars and you can immediately feel the difference on track. It's much more neutral and balanced at the limit.

Kind of what I was leaning towards. So what's the "go to" square setup for the daily driver that also sees track days?

 

[WildHorse]

you wanna be on the power going through a corner. Dunno why some think you need to coast or deaccelerating through it. #rightfootsteeringmatters

 

[Dana Pants]

you wanna be on the power going through a corner. Dunno why some think you need to coast or deaccelerating through it. #rightfootsteeringmatters

Spoken like someone who has never driven one of these cars against the clock with turns involved. The front tires completely nuke. The engine weighs too much and is too far forward.

 

[Egparson202]

Kind of what I was leaning towards. So what's the "go to" square setup for the daily driver that also sees track days?

19x11 305/30/19

 

[galaxy]

I’d vote it looks good! Sue me, but a slightly taller and wider tire with the wider hips of the car is aesthetically pleasing. I like it. Sure, you could play with spacers and offsets to get a square fitment to sit on the car the same, but still.

 

[Jstang23]

The manufacturers make them staggered for a lot of reasons, but mainly its to force understeer vs oversteer. A square set up will outperform every aspect of a staggered set up except straight-line drag racing. You could easily find a set of wheels or your GT350 that have a square set up, like @Egparson202 said with the 19x11 square 305 set up. You'll notice a significant difference in balance

 

[K4fxd]

Just to be devils advocate, why do F1 cars have staggered tires?

305 x 18 front and 405 x 18 rear

 

[Jstang23]

Just to be devils advocate, why do F1 cars have staggered tires?

305 x 18 front and 405 x 18 rear

When you get to that level of racing its about saving the most possible weight without sacrifice too much performance. So for F1 cars the front tires can be smaller than the rears because there is a point where the weight would cause more issues than the extra tire size. Also the amount of downforce on the front of an F1 car is ridiculous and honestly could run with even smaller tires of front and be just fine.

 

[WildHorse]

Spoken like someone who has never driven one of these cars against the clock with turns involved. The front tires completely nuke. The engine weighs too much and is too far forward.

really eh ? 80% of the engine is behind the front axle centerline. The average s550 is 55/45 weight distribution. ALL of the fastest racers in history know that throttle steering helps in getting fastest times around a track. TRACK. Not some stupid pylons set-up in a parking lot.

 

[WItoTX]

OP, ideally, you really want a tire that is slightly stretched, so like .1-.3" narrower than your rim. If you have a 305/30/19 Falken, the tires has an 11.4" contact patch, which gives you that slight stretch that makes your car much more responsive. If you go to 315, you are looking at 11.7, and having run that set up personally, I will tell you the slight pinching is very noticeable at turn in.

TireRack gives you all those dimensions when you buy, so on an 11" rim, you might be at a 295 or a 305, just depending on how the MFG makes them.

 

[rocsteady]

Appreciate all the responses. Very enlightening and informative.

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