Stagger????

[Wabbitkilla]

Well as has been said that is below the 20mm stagger recommended, they will fit but handling will be more risky.
Rear overall diameter will be greater than standard and you will notice it being harder to accelerate.
Ant it will still feel like a badger on ecstasy is trying to dig up through the seat.

[Anonymous]

You can get a 225/45 under at a big squeeze as that is what im on, but i would say that 40 would be the up most biggest to go to.

[Markb]

When does the snap oversteer come in to play........ I only use the car at weekends and have given it the boot now and again on some bendy country roads,i have never felt the car doing anything out of the ordinary and i only have 205/50/16 on the rear instead of the 215s.

[Wabbitkilla]

Probably the less stagger you have (if any) the higher the probability of snap.
Obviously the harder you drive the car and closer to its edge the higher the probability of it catching you.
Mixing tyres also affects that probability, you may be a great driver and will control it when it occurs, you may not react in the right way or quick enough when it happens to avoid an accident involving just yourself or other people.

[ChrisGB]

When does the snap oversteer come in to play........ I only use the car at weekends and have given it the boot now and again on some bendy country roads,i have never felt the car doing anything out of the ordinary and i only have 205/50/16 on the rear instead of the 215s.

When you get to the limit of adhesion of the tyres. If you have the correct stagger with matched make and model on both axles, the fronts will generally slide a little before the rear in any given situation. If you don't have enough stagger, it is more likely that the rear will let go first. In normal road driving, as long as you never reach the limits of grip, you will probably be OK. On the other hand, if / when you are involved in something like an emergency lane change or unexpectedly run onto some marginal surface mid corner, you could end up in an accident that you would have avoided with the correct setup.

This is a car that is a finely balanced mid engined device. Fitting the wrong combination of wheels and tyres is likely to mess it up. The thing that worries me is that the more people go for an incorrect setup (especially novices that don't understand the car and don't take the trouble to learn) the higher the insurance premiums go.

Chris

[onion86]

The thing that worries me is that the more people go for an incorrect setup (especially novices that don't understand the car and don't take the trouble to learn) the higher the insurance premiums go.

A lot of people will take the advice of a garage and may never even see the forum, I think 'most' will happily put a cheap ditch finder on one corner and send you on your way... so at least they have an excuse. I'm more worried about the people that refuse to believe the advice on here as they haven't had an accident yet and just put same sizes all round... they have no excuse!

[Sepp]

I get what you gys are saying about a stagger set up but i prefer the square - i think. Never had a stagger set up but the car only has standard wheels. So 195 15 50 all round.
There is a front and middle underbody reinforcement and a front strut bar. On a dry surface it initially understeers (very briefly), then neutral (a bit longer) and then oversteer.
I love oversteer  s:D s:D
In the wet i have to be very careful indeed and fully agree with GB and others. One's got to know one's own and the car's limits.
From what i'm reading, to go staggered would make for a car that is even more of an understeerer?
Perhaps going for bigger wheels and rubber exagerates all these characteristics?

As for snap oversteer - nah. The old 911, VW, Skodas with rear engine and swing axles - they were snap oversteerers. I've driven an old Skoda with a stronger (non standard) engine and it was fun!

Cheers

[wallzaveerz]

Weren't the pre facelift cars on the same size all round any way?   Mine is an 01 on standard wheels with 195/50/15s all round.  The rears are approaching the end of their life, I'm assuming from the advice on here that 205/45/15s are the way forward for the replacements?

[StuC]

THESE are the standard wheel/tyre specs and no the stock PFL did not have matching tyres sizes on each corner. Only the wheels were the same size.

[K T M Rider]

Only the wheels were the same size.

same diameter, different widths though Stu   s:) s:)

[StuC]

Only the wheels were the same size.

same diameter, different widths though Stu   s:) s:)

  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  what he said ^^  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[trevsmr2]

Only the wheels were the same size.

same diameter, different widths though Stu   s:) s:)

I thought it was only the rears that went to 16s ?

[mrzwei]

Yeah, I got this wrong on another thread, the fronts are 15x6 and the rears 15x6.5

[StuC]

the fronts are 15x6 and the rears 15x6.5

+1, that's what the link i posted says. I just forgot!  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[wallzaveerz]

Double checked after my post and they are staggered, god knows where I got the 195/50/15 thing from.  185s on the front, 205s on the back