STAGGERED WHEELS APPLICATIONS

What are staggered wheels?

Staggered wheels means the wheels on the back of the vehicle are a different size than the front. Most common staggered fitment will be wider wheels in the rear of the vehicle such as 19×8.5 and 19×10. On some vehicles such as the Acura NSX, Chevrolet Corvette, and others you will find wheels in the rear that are both wider, and usually 1 inch larger in diameter. Typically staggered fitment wheels are found on rear wheel drive vehicles such as Infiniti G35, Nissan 350Z, many BMW applications, Mercedes Applications, Audi, VW, Ford, Porsche and many more.

Is a staggered application ok to use on AWD?

Generally staggered wheels are not recommended for AWD (All Wheel Drive) vehicles. AWD vehicles have been engineered to perform their best with the same size wheel front and back, so you may suffer a decrease in performance and handling of the vehicle. With that said, most vehicle’s computer systems can adjust for the small variance in rolling diameter between the front and wheel tires, and usually do not cause any harm to the vehicle.

Can I put staggered wheels on a front wheel drive car?

In some cases FWD (Front Wheel Drive) cars have enough room in the rear to fit a wider wheel such as the Acura TL but generally speaking you will have to make fender modifications in the rear to fit a wider wheel and tire.  If you want the staggered look with a larger lip in the rear, many wheel companies have introduced a simulated staggered application.  What this means is the front and rear wheels are the same diameter and width, but the rear wheels have a bigger lip.  They are able to accomplish this by setting the spokes on the rear wheels further in the wheel to give it a bigger lip.  Sometimes you can get as much as a 4 inch lip in the rear.

The offset of a wheel is the distance from the hub mounting point to the center line of the wheel. This is shown in the image to the left.

A Zero Offset is present when the hub mounting surface is even with the center line of the wheel.

A Positive Offset is when the mounting surface is moved towards the front of the wheel. This is more common on front wheel drive cars.

A Negative Offset is when the hub surface is moved towards the back of the wheel. A negative offset is usually found on wheels that have a very deep lip.

If the offset of the wheel is not correct for the car, the handling can be negatively affected. When the width of the wheel changes, the offset also changes. If the offset were to stay the same while you added width to the wheel, the additional width would be split between the inside and outside. For most cars, this won’t work correctly, and can cause problems.

Some exceptions to what will and won’t work also depend on the overall look you are trying to achieve with the vehicle. Generally, lifted trucks will run a negative offset to create more room in the wheel well for oversized tires, as lowered and bagged trucks will run a high positive offset to make sure the wheel will clear the fenders when tucking inside the well. The same goes for most cars as well, depending on the particular look you are trying to achieve.

Once it’s explained, offset is actually a very simple concept, and the knowledge of your vehicle and the available offsets for your application can make the entire process of selecting wheels much easier.