Staggered setup: Fatter tyres at the front for FWD cars

That is upsizing the front wheels by an inch or two, increasing width say from 165 to 185 while letting the stock wheels be on the rear for comfort point of view. Thus offering greater performance and comfort.

BHPian Slickshift99 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

It’s been a tradition with supercars to have wider and slightly larger wheels at the rear than compared to the front, to aid the RWD setup for greater performance and safety. Going after the various benefits such system has to offer, many luxury RWD sedans adopted this norm too, say the 530D.

Here my notion is, will the vice versa benefit as good on FWD cars? That is upsizing the front wheels by an inch or two, increasing width say from 165 to 185 while letting the stock wheels be on the rear for comfort point of view. Thus offering greater performance and comfort. I have been planning this. So looking forward to your views.

Here's what BHPian Mr.Boss had to say on the matter:

Can be done, provided we have enough clearance with surrounding parts.

Rear wheels being non-steerable (except for cases with all wheel steering, again the articulation is very minimal), it is easy to accommodate wider wheels. Whereas on the front, many surrounding parts clearance to be checked.

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

No manufacturer would put a fatter tyre on the front than the rear. Reasons:

1. Would look w-e-i-r-d!!

2. For 99.99% of car owners, understeer is easier to handle than oversteer. No brand would give the rear end lesser grip than the front. It's a recipe for disaster. As you rightly mentioned, many do give the rear more grip via fatter tyres, but never lesser.

Here's what BHPian akshay4587 had to say on the matter:

The only time you would benefit from a Staggered set up in a FWD car is during a Drag race. This is why you would see FWD Hondas having fat slicks at the front and thin tires at the back. This is beneficial for extra traction, and for the reason that the car only needs to travel in a straight line. In real world, this will turn out to be disastrous.

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