Staggered wheels on a QUATTRO?

[cyanidecologne]

Is anyone running a staggered wheel setup i.e. 19x8 in front and 19x9 in rear and if so how does the quattro run and are you throwing any CELs from it?

[michgo]

As long as the tire sizes are within 3% of each other you are OK.

Ex: front 205 / rear 235 Thats within %3 of each other so you dont kill your quattro.

[Quattro]

^^is correct, there is some stats on it like...the inner barrel are the same or something

[akaEsCo01]

I'm running 20x8.5 front and 20x9.5 rear.

Go to 1010 Tires Tire Size Calculator to check your tire sizes and make sure they are good.

[Capt. Obvious]

Read up:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123289

[Phrost]

^ What they said. They will be the same diameter which is good, but with different widths you'll either have to stretch the rear tires with the same size all around or else decide on a ratio that is a very small difference in overall diameter.

[srsly]

I'm new to Audi's but with the G35x sedan you just had to pull the AWD fuse

Audi could be and prob is comletely different

[joec500]

I'm new to Audi's but with the G35x sedan you just had to pull the AWD fuse

Audi could be and prob is comletely different

I am not familiar with the infinity AWD system, but ours is mechanical, so it is impossible to disable quattro without some heavy duty mechanical modifications or hacking off the drive shaft ;)

[INTEGRATION]

If you don't baby your car when driving: drivetrain failure
If you try to take turns: more understeer than stock
If you don't buy the right tire sizes: even faster drivetrain failure

[jmars]

^^^^^^ X2............... Outside of looks with the stag set up what does it benefit??.....understeer sucks

[a4dc89]

IMHO totally not worth it on our cars. just for looks, you will get much worse performance

[EuroA4]

It's amazing how much inaccurate information you guys are throwing out there. You can absolutely run staggered wheels with the proper wheel/tire sizing and you will not have drivetrain problems or increased understeer. It's all in the set-up. The only significant downside is the lack of ability to rotate your tires.

[Capt. Obvious]

It's amazing how much inaccurate information you guys are throwing out there. You can absolutely run staggered wheels with the proper wheel/tire sizing and you will not have drivetrain problems or increased understeer. It's all in the set-up. The only significant downside is the lack of ability to rotate your tires.

At least SOMEONE around here knows what they're talking about.

If you know what you're doing and have your suspension set up to correct for the wider rear contact patch, your car will handle just fine. Hell, when I had 10's in the rear on my car I could induce oversteer with ease without use of the e-brake.

[INTEGRATION]

^ That's called throttle lift-off. Anyone can do that with the right technique and skill.
But now if you take Physics into the equation- understeer.

[EuroA4]

^ That's called throttle lift-off. Anyone can do that with the right technique and skill.
But now if you take Physics into the equation- understeer.

Please elaborate how exactly a wider contact patch in the rear will cause understeer. I'm pretty sure Cptn. Obvious was not talking about lifting throttle to induce yaw.

[INTEGRATION]

Think about it this way.

Cars that use staggered setups are typically cars that have a tendency to oversteer heavily. So more rubber in the rear increases grip in the rear allowing for the more contact and traction that you mentioned. Here's the part no one thinks about! This works for cars that are mostly RWD, NOT ALL 4WD or AWD cars. So Mr. Obvious' B6 as well as the B7 A4s have a 50/50 power/torque/kinetic energy distribution. So for a technique that is used to promote balance in the form of understeer...is added to a car that understeers already. Hey, wouldn't that make it understeer more?!

[fast_audi]

I am running a staggered setup. Don't worry youll be fine

[johntesi]

The main point is to allow more grip during throttle induced oversteer, which is the problem with rear-wheel drive. Many cars, including the BMW 135, for example, understeer UNTIL you give em gas. When a wheel is spinning one way, it isn't going to be able to provide grip towards lateral acceleration that also requires grip. Euro has a point, as do you. If you took an E55 around a turn in neutral, it would push as bad as our Audis. However, mash it right before apex and the car will be t3h driftaaazzz1!!1!!

[LampyB]

when i bought my car the previous owner was running an 18" setup, 225 tires in front, 235 in back. every time there was any kind of bump, groove, or unflat surface in the road the car would pull like a motherf*cker to one side or the other. thought i was going to hit someone in another lane every time it happened. this is just my experience though...completely flat surfaces were totally fine.

[1sicknickel]

Don't do it you will end up having kids and get aids. Kidding. Both EuroA4 and Capt. Obvious are on the right track

[EuroA4]

We're talking about two things here...

#1 RWD cars have wider rear wheels to increase grip. And because they understeer so much this helps to overcome that when throttle is added and additional grip is needed. The key here is that the additional power is what start to make the car come around neutral and then possibly oversteer...the wider contact patch simply helps keep the car planted while doing so.

#2 We started discussing drivetrain issues due to a staggered set-up and this was concluded that as long as the overall height dimension of the wheel/tires are the same (or within 1-3%) you will not negatively affecting the drivetrain system.

However, I still don't see how the additional contact patch in the rear of an AWD car (given it is the same overall height) could ADD to the understeer. Our cars understeer because they are heavily front end weighted.

Plus by adding a beefier rear sway bar you can overcome alot of understeer your experiencing...and make the car feel more neutral. I went to the staggered set-up before upgrading the rear sway bar, and I did not feel any additional understeer due to the wider rear tires...if anything it felt more controlable because I had better grip from tires. When I added the RS4 rear sway it then felt much more neutral and I feel more confident in the corners.

[R1NSE]

I don't understand the benefits of putting a staggered setup on our cars. I always thought it was to add more grip on RWD cars to increase traction and prevent "tail whip" in turns. I am not super knowledgeable when it comes to cars but I can't see it doing any good in an AWD or a FWD vehicle.

I would leave the rims the same and just use spacers. That way you can still rotate your tires.

[InTTruder]

TT drivers do it all the time on quattro. Keep your OD as close as possible. That is all.

[INTEGRATION]

Oversteer due to forcing the car to "power-over" does not equate to fast cornering. Then you guys forgot to take the extra weight in the rear into the equation in addition to the 50/50 front and rear split. Are we talking about the physics of racing or the the physics of attracting cockfests?

And the OEM RS4 sway bar itself doesn't help much. I can tell you that much, 22mm is very weak compared to 29mm.

[johntesi]

Word.
29 rear is where it's at, and even so (combined with a 35 front) the car is nowhere near a mean oversteering machine. But the difference from stock S-Line to 29 is certainly dramatic and noticeable. Power oversteer isn't fast cornering; consequently, preventing it is the idea behind wider rear tires.

[Lewie06A4]

Quick questions guys, what does a wider tire have to do with our quattro driving the wheels. Wouldn't it make sense that as long as you keep the front and back tires the same height, as in the same overall diameter of the wheel within 3% of each other you'll be fine??

Like running a 22inch tall tire up front and a 24inch tall tire in the back. You'll have problems then. But a 8 inch WIDE tire up front and a 9Inch WIDE tire in back should have no effect on the quattro system.

[EuroA4]

I guess I'm in the minority then...so be it. I'm not trying to argue really, just stating that the staggered wheel set-up I have does not seem to understeer with coilovers and RS4 rear sway the way it did stock.

[a4dc89]

Quick questions guys, what does a wider tire have to do with our quattro driving the wheels. Wouldn't it make sense that as long as you keep the front and back tires the same height, as in the same overall diameter of the wheel within 3% of each other you'll be fine??

Like running a 22inch tall tire up front and a 24inch tall tire in the back. You'll have problems then. But a 8 inch WIDE tire up front and a 9Inch WIDE tire in back should have no effect on the quattro system.

The reason for the worry is that it could mess up the torsen diff cause the weight is heavier in the rear and so is the resistance to the ground.

[Lewie06A4]

The reason for the worry is that it could mess up the torsen diff cause the weight is heavier in the rear and so is the resistance to the ground.

Uh oh tell that fat bitch to get out of the back seat! Guess you shouldn't tow anything either.

Yeah that makes no sense, I think that's the last thing you have to worry about is the wheels being heavier in the back so it's going to mess something up. If this was true then you couldn't get a BBK up front because the rotors are much heavier than the back pair so it would mess something up.