Staggered Diameter Wheel sizes?

Is there any benefit to running an 18 inch wheel at the front and 17inch at the rear combo?

I've seen a few cars in the U.S run this way, but is it only an advantage whilst Drag racing, or would it be a benefit on the track too,

i.e running 245 x 35 x 18 front, 285 x 40 x 17 rear

Almost the same diameter wheels, maybe run a 45 profile on those rears to compensate for sidewall flex

I cant run a 17'' combo all round due to 6 pot brakes at the front

Dunno if it's even an advantage drag racing - I did it at TOTB last year but so I only needed to take one set of rear wheels in the car with me for the drive down - my UK 17s with BFG DR's on them.

Cheers,

Brian.

So how did it feel handling? Did you even notice?

The contact patch on a 285 45 profile should be pretty big I would have thought

It was fine in a straight line anyways, didn't feel any different. For the handling course I put my matching 18" rears back on as I didn't think the DR's would be too hot on that and didn't want to mince them up with lateral cornering forces when they're supposed to be for straight line grip.

Ideally I want a full set of Toyo R888's for the full set of UK 17's and use them for everything.

Cheers,

Brian.

Is there any benefit to running an 18 inch wheel at the front and 17inch at the rear combo?

 

I've seen a few cars in the U.S run this way, but is it only an advantage whilst Drag racing, or would it be a benefit on the track too,

 

i.e running 245 x 35 x 18 front, 285 x 40 x 17 rear

 

Almost the same diameter wheels, maybe run a 45 profile on those rears to compensate for sidewall flex

 

I cant run a 17'' combo all round due to 6 pot brakes at the front

Interesting. I would also like to know this as I have 19's on my new car and its killed the track handling. I'm trying to find a combo of 18" front (min size to clear my KAD 6 pots) and 17" backs.

Keep us updated if you experiment

I've only heard of running the smaller wheels on the rear for drag racing.

My Corvette has different wheels front and rear, but in this case it has 18's on the rear and 17's on the front. (This is the stock fitment) I guess the smaller wheels on the front is to sharpen up the steering on turn-in and/or fast direction changes.

Not sure of there is any advantage TBH, but it seems to handle very well indeed.

Lotus (who might know a thing or two about cornering) fit smaller wheels at the front. 16" front 17" rears on the Elise/Exige...the Esprit used to use 17" fronts and 18" rears.

Lotus (who might know a thing or two about cornering) fit smaller wheels at the front. 16" front 17" rears on the Elise/Exige...the Esprit used to use 17" fronts and 18" rears.

And they had a fair bit to do with the Corvette design process back in the days of the C4 too.....

Yeah I have 19's just now, it was a thought to keep em...for all of about 5secs;)

But in theory it would be better off with a staggered setup due to you having less contact patches on the 19's, would be far stiffer than the 18/17 combo but better than 19/19 I reckon

The stock tyre sizes compensate for sidewall flex, very balanced on a neutral suspension setup

Was hoping Mr CW would have an input;)

But the real question is does the pros outweigh the cons between(for me) the 18/17 combo or the 18/18 combo with the relative tyre profiles?

Lotus (who might know a thing or two about cornering) fit smaller wheels at the front. 16" front 17" rears on the Elise/Exige...the Esprit used to use 17" fronts and 18" rears.

Yes but they're mid engined...they have the weight of the engine to create the bigger contact patch, and a little less weight at the front, hence why I would suspect they use the bigger profile on the front...better for turn in as suggested too and more tyre flex, so less body roll

I can only try and design my car with what I have, a big lump at the front and almost no weight at the rear, good for oversteer but its not always required:innocent: or wanted!