Does staggered fit set-up affect handling????

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hindesbeans

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Joined
May 14, 2008
Messages
58
Location
Cambridgeshire
Car
E220 & SLK230
Hi all,
I am thinking of putting a 18" AMG staggered set up on my C200K elegance w203, but i am concerned that it could adversly effect the handling of the car???? It has been mentioned to me that cars with AMG wheels on from factory are set up to work with staggered fit.

Secondly how much harsher will the ride be from a 17" to a 18" be?
A - alot
B - a little
C - hardly notice the difference

Thanks for any help
 
Hi all,
I am thinking of putting a 18" AMG staggered set up on my C200K elegance w203, but i am concerned that it could adversly effect the handling of the car???? It has been mentioned to me that cars with AMG wheels on from factory are set up to work with staggered fit.

Secondly how much harsher will the ride be from a 17" to a 18" be?
A - alot
B - a little
C - hardly notice the difference

Thanks for any help

I originally had standard Sports Edition staggered 17"'s. I then changed to staggered set up on AMG III's 18's, (18x7.5 front 18x8.5 rear) which i will be going back to on Friday :D. At the mo i am on 18x8.5's all round. With any increase in wheel size you will notice a difference especially when you hit a pothole, so the ride will be that little bit harder, but i don't think it will adversly affect the handling of your car as MB fit staggered set ups to many of their cars as standard or options. Hope that helps.
 
I agree.

Wouldn't say it would aversely affect the handling, should give better grip in dry weather if anything, might tramline slightly more.

You'll notice a slight difference in ride comfort if you've already got 17" wheels (they look like normal elegance wheels in the picture though?)

Tyres will be slightly more expensive also ;)

Will
 
Thanks guys, and well spotted Will. They are normal elegance wheels, but different people are telling me different things. Some friends are saying buy 18's they look 100 times better and the ride is the same, and other friends are saying dont go 18's go 17's as the ride will be much better.

Confused :confused:
 
18's will look a lot better.

They will affect the ride quallity but not that much (personal opinion).
I run 225's on the front of mine and there's no tramlining whatsoever.
Just make sure you get the correct offset.

The only real problem is when you fit bigger dia wheels, to get them to look right useualy requires lowering the suspension a little. This will take a liitle more comfort away from the ride.

.
 
18's will look better on a lowered car but the tyres might look skinny on a standard height one.
The ride quality will deminish due to less air and they will tramline more due to the lower profile sidewall, but if you want the look and sharp turn in then 18's it is.
 
It will tramline a lot more and can get more unsettled crossing white lines in the wet
 
You then cannot do front/rear swaps and if you also have directional tyres then a given wheel becomes wedding to original location. No rotation nor even a side to side swap to even out tyre wear is possible.

May not be an issue for you, but easy to forget!
 
The answer to the question is simple:

Yes!

However it is all about degree's and what we find acceptable, I don't like the effects the wider, low profile tyres have but it is very much an each to there own situation.:) What no one has mentioned yet is that the wider you go, the more 'fun' you will have regarding traction on wet grass and don't forget you will need a lot of tread to disperse any water that is laying on the road surface. My advice is not to let the tread get to the absolute minimum legal requirement. It's your life and unlike cat's we only have the one. Look after it. :D

Good luck,
Regards
John
 
Just a thought, a C270 CDI without Sport pack (i.e. thinner wheels etc) is in a different VED class to the same model with Sports pack (I think that's true? Due to increased emissions?)

So if one "ugrades" one's car to the bigger wheels does one incur the higher VED? Assuming one is honest and informs the insurance company?
 
What no one has mentioned yet is that the wider you go, the more 'fun' you will have regarding traction on wet grass and don't forget you will need a lot of tread to disperse any water that is laying on the road surface.

Good point. I have 245s on my C-Class and it's completely useless in the snow. And I mean completely useless. Winter tyres would help, but still not as good as leaving it at home and using the wife's car!!
 
if the questions is staggered vs non staggered, the answer is better handling.

18`vs 17`s , 18`s will always tramline that little bit more, and feel a little bumpier due to the lowwer profile tyres.
 
I have recently upgraded from 16s to 18s on my W203 and I'm really happy! The ride is a little harder but it is still very good and no where near as bad as I thought it would be :)

I can't see there being any issues with the staggered setup. My standard wheels were 7" front and 8" rear :)

I don't think my car needs lowering either I can always post some pictures if you like ;)
 
I have recently upgraded from 16s to 18s on my W203 and I'm really happy! The ride is a little harder but it is still very good and no where near as bad as I thought it would be :)

I can't see there being any issues with the staggered setup. My standard wheels were 7" front and 8" rear :)

I don't think my car needs lowering either I can always post some pictures if you like ;)

Think the matter of lowering is down to personal taste. If you're happy with how your car sits then keep it as it is. I rarely carry passengers so issues of suspension / lowering are not and issue for me, but i do feel the odd pothole Getting to know where the nasty ones are.
 
In theory, and you'll only notice this if you drive to the limit of the car, the idea of a staggered setup is to have more grip at the rear than the front.

This makes the steering lighter, so reducing the requirement for power assistance and giving more feel, than having wide tyres all round.

Also it means that in an ideal 50/50 balanced world, the front wheels, with lower grip, will slide first, giving an understeer reaction. This way you can correct with a throttle lift without fearing snap oversteer, or if on a track with a right footload of throttle and a big poweslide, or just carry on understeering safe in the knowledge that the cars best crumple zone is going to hit the first solid object and you will get the most benefit of the seatbelts and airbags, not the side of the car which is more likely to result in injury.
 
This is all good stuff and i have learnt so much in a little under a day, thanks to all for your help and comments, I think i am going to bite the bullet and go for it, after all "you're a long time dead" as my old Nan used to say, God bless her.

Bigmacplease, some pics would be very nice
 
Hi

I notice a difference in economy when i swap my 17" to 18". As much a 10%. Hard to quantify but real.

230K
 
Any ideas how much my set of excellent condition 15" elegance wheels would fetch, approx.
Tyres are all Avon zz3 195/65/15 three of which still have lots of life (prob 4-5mm) and one is brand new 400 miles ago
 
£100-200?

Maybe have a look on eBay to see if any similar sets have sold :)

Will
 
Hi 230K

increased fuel may be down to the profile of the rear tyre!!!!
for example
If i were to run 255/35/18 on the rear of my car i am lead to believe that the rolling distance would be correct.
However if i elect to put on 245/40/18 (for comfort reasons) then the rolling distance would be incorrect and aledgedly when traveling 70mph on the clock, i would in fact be doing more like 73mph.
So if you equate mph into miles then for every 73 actual miles you travel your mileometer only registers 70.
This equation although probably a pile of the preverbial, would answer 5% of the up to 10% you are talking about !?!?!?!?!?!
 

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