Tire suggestions on staggered wheels, to stretch or not to stretch.

[lorge1989]

Few questions that are all related.

Most likely I'm going to pick up some SL500 wheels from a friend for a really good price. The thing is they are staggered and in order to run them without rubbing I will need some stretch. The question is how much?

Specs:

Rears:

18 x 9.5 et 40

Front:

18 x 8.5 et 35



IMGP3467 by lorge1989, on Flickr


IMGP3466 by lorge1989, on Flickr

I have no pictures of the fronts on the car.

Originally I was going to run 215/40 on the front and 225/40 on the rear. But now I am considering auto-xing the car, and that would be silly IMO.

So bigger is better here, I was thinking 225/35 and 235/35. Would it be worth the change? Can I get a wider tire still?

I don't plan on being really competitive in the class I will be in but I don't want to give myself too big of a handicap at the same time. Any suggestions would be very helpful! Especially pictures of the same spec wheels.

edit: How the car looks is important as well. I always have been function>form, but when a wheel shows up this cheap I have to jump on it.

[Nollywood]

Few questions that are all related.

Most likely I'm going to pick up some SL500 wheels from a friend for a really good price. The thing is they are staggered and in order to run them without rubbing I will need some stretch. The question is how much?

Specs:

Rears:

18 x 9.5 et 35

Front:

18 x 8.5 et 40



IMGP3467 by lorge1989, on Flickr


IMGP3466 by lorge1989, on Flickr

I have no pictures of the fronts on the car.

Originally I was going to run 215/40 on the front and 225/40 on the rear. But now I am considering auto-xing the car, and that would be silly IMO.

So bigger is better here, I was thinking 225/35 and 235/35. Would it be worth the change? Can I get a wider tire still?

I don't plan on being really competitive in the class I will be in but I don't want to give myself too big of a handicap at the same time. Any suggestions would be very helpful! Especially pictures of the same spec wheels.

edit: How the car looks is important as well. I always have been function>form, but when a wheel shows up this cheap I have to jump on it.

Going wider than 235 on a B5 would most likely rub. Personally, I would ditch the idea of stretched tires, and get tyres that fit the rims, and more importantly wheels that actually fit the car. Regardless of how cheap a set of wheels are, I would reject them if they do not fit the car, with the use of the right tires.

I imagine your B5 is quattro?

[lorge1989]

Going wider than 235 on a B5 would most likely rub. Personally, I would ditch the idea of stretched tires, and get tyres that fit the rims, and more importantly wheels that actually fit the car. Regardless of how cheap a set of wheels are, I would reject them if they do not fit the car, with the use of the right tires.

I imagine your B5 is quattro?

They are cheap and I think they will look great. No spacers or adapters needed, all I need is hubcentric rings.

And yes, it is quattro.

If I go with 225/235 the difference in circumference of the tires is about 1.18%

If I go with 215/225 then it is about 1.3%

Not sure if that's why you asked, but I have thought about it.

Just found these pictures and I really don't feel like its that much stretch. Same specs as mine.



If I can fit a 225 and 235 in the front and back I am definitely going to do this. So I guess my next question is will they fit? I'm currently on stock sport suspension, but will be getting coilovers before I put these on.

[Nollywood]

^^^ Those tires look fine, not over-stretched.

I have run staggered wheels, with tires giving 1,3% differencial front-to-rear, and whilst they looked great, handling was unpredictable in certain conditions. There was a tendency for the rear to step-out without warning, and often at highway speeds, there was a feeling of driving in crosswinds, requiring periodic steering correction. I've had this scenario on a B6 3,0 Avant quattro, and a B4 RS2. The slight difference in rolling diameter wasn't enough to cause differential issues, but it certainly affected the way the car behaved in terms of handling.

Will a 235 section tire fit a B5 rear? I would say yes. Much depends on the profile, the brand (some tires have squarer shoulders and may rub) and how low you're looking to go.

[DeathKing]

Its not the question of a 235 tire, its a that size on a frickin 9.5" et 35 rim!

For what its worth I am in the same predicament as you - cheap wheels with not ideal specs, currently stock sport but plan on getting coils, but I believe I can make them work. So I say go for it and make it work the way you want! I have no idea if the 225/235 will work, but its a slight stretch both front and back so I think there is defintely a chance it could. Do you plan on rolling the fenders?

[lorge1989]

I can roll the fenders if need be, I'm not against that LOL. If I was just going for, oh no I have to say it, "stance", then these would be perfect. Except I'm not...

I'm really concerned about the slightly different rolling circumferences now, after what Nolly said. Hmmmm...

[ballinb5]

For the fronts you will be fine as long as it doesnt rub on the inside because of the ET. For the rears, depending on how low you want to go, you will need to stretch it a little bit.

I am running the same setup as you basically - amg's 18x8.5 et 30 front and 18x9.5 et33 rear with 225/40 tires all around.

I would stick with all four tires the same to keep the rolling diameter the same (i heard stretching doesn't actually effect it at all)

Edit: reference photos

[ianwpb]

Did you have to find an independent or performance shop to stretch tires for you? I can't imagine tires plus/kingdom/boys stretching tires.

Tires plus was doubting that 225/45/17's would fit my 17x7.5s AND fit on my car! Lol.. It amazes me at how clueless these guys at these shops can be.

[lorge1989]

For the fronts you will be fine as long as it doesnt rub on the inside because of the ET. For the rears, depending on how low you want to go, you will need to stretch it a little bit.

I am running the same setup as you basically - amg's 18x8.5 et 30 front and 18x9.5 et33 rear with 225/40 tires all around.

I would stick with all four tires the same to keep the rolling diameter the same (i heard stretching doesn't actually effect it at all)

Edit: reference photos

225 40 all around hmm, that could be done. And stretching def does not effect the rolling diameter. Never really thought to run the same tire lol.

Did you have to find an independent or performance shop to stretch tires for you? I can't imagine tires plus/kingdom/boys stretching tires.

Tires plus was doubting that 225/45/17's would fit my 17x7.5s AND fit on my car! Lol.. It amazes me at how clueless these guys at these shops can be.

There's a few shops in Buffalo that will do it no problem. It really isn't all that hard, like you said the dummies at the chain shops just don't want to touch that stuff. Honestly i don't blame them.

[DeathKing]

Same tires all around would make everything easier actually. Stretch for fitment and no problems with quattro, the question is what size....

[ballinb5]

Can someone explain to me how stretching tires does not affect the rolling diameter? It does not make sense logically and I am about to buy new tires and wanted to confirm it.

[ianwpb]

Can someone explain to me how stretching tires does not affect the rolling diameter? It does not make sense logically and I am about to buy new tires and wanted to confirm it.

The only way to change the rolling diameter would be to remove part of the contact patch, which does not happen when you stretch a tire.

[lorge1989]

When you stretch tires the only part you are stretch is the sidewall. The contact patch like he said ^ remains unaffected. The contact patch has a set circumference and even if you wanted to it would be nearly impossible to stretch that in a significant way. In theory you could put a 195/45 on a 10" wheel and it would have the same rolling diameter if you put it on a 7".