Does Stagger wheels impact handling

[gmoulds]

Guy's
Recently put a set of Vertini Magic wheels on my MY12 SS, 20x8.5 with 245/30 Front and 20x10 275/30 Rears.
Have a noticeable change in Handling with the car now prone to Wander with road surface changes , plus heavyer steering.

I woudl have through keeping similar 245 width tyre on the front would not change the steering feel .
Tyre fitter tells me that the wander is just me not use to the Stagger wheels.

Anyone have similar experience of comments?

Grahame

 

[B-Man]

different tyres can have alot to do with it.
i had some awesome dunlop lemans lm600, car drove perfectly. went to get them again and they were discontinued so they suggested some dunlop monzas, car was wandering all over the place and pulled to the left or right depending on roads
same rims, same wheel alignment just different tyres

 

[ducker85]

I regularly change from my heavy staggered HSV wheels to my lighter 9.5 square setup and notice no difference in handling.

 

[davey g-force]

I don't get that with my staggered setup either.

You're right, the fronts are not much wider than standard, so it shouldn't be tracking like that.

Did you get a wheel alignment done when you got the wheels? It may be that...

 

[Grennan]

I didnt notice any difference either.

Sometimes by going wider wheels on the front you tend to track a lot more with the grooves in the road but youve only gone a 8.5 on the front so I cant see that being a huge issue.

 

[Pollushon]

How much of a profile change was there? If you've gone from somewhat flexible to rigid as cement (which tyres alone can do) you're absolutely going to wear it in the tracking department because you've lost lateral absorption.

 

[Sean880]

Recently put a set of Vertini Magic wheels on my MY12 SS, 20x8.5 with 245/30 Front and 20x10 275/30 Rears.
Have a noticeable change in Handling with the car now prone to Wander with road surface changes , plus heavier steering.

I would have thought keeping similar 245 width tyre on the front would not change the steering feel .
Tyre fitter tells me that the wander is just me not use to the Stagger wheels.

1. If you have gone from the stock 18 inch wheels and tyres to the 20 inch and lower profile tyres it will feel different.

2. If you have gone from the quality stock bridgestone tyres to some cheap tyre brand commonly fitted in wheel and tyre packages sold (such as the base tyres sold by Ozzy Tyres in their Vertini wheel packages) then you may definitely notice a difference in how the tyres perform.

3. Your wheel alignment may be crook and most likely is if your steering is heavy and the car is wandering. Just because it may have been done again since you fitted the new tyres does not mean it has been done correctly.

4. Wander has nothing to do with fitting the staggered 8.5 inch/10inch wheel set up you have selected.

I summary I would put it down to tyres and wheel alignment, especially the latter. If the wheel alignment has been done correctly there should be no significant change in steering effort that you mentioned. You will have some increase in weight with the 20 inch wheels and tyres compared to stock 18 inch set up but not so much that the steering effort is significantly affected and you are still running a 245 wide front tyre.

By the way you should have 245/35 /20 tyres on the front not 245/30/20 (which has a very short tyre wall on a 245 tyre) as you mentioned in your post. The 30 profile tyre is only 656 mm in diameter (compared with 680mm diameter for the 35 profile) and a poor match to the diameter of the rear 275 30 20 tyres(which are about 675 mm diameter). So if you do have the 30 profile tyre up front I would change them for the correct 245 35 20 size.

 

[vc commodore]

It won't feel heavier nor wander....maybe go back to this tyre place and ask them what the standard fitament to the HSV'S is and if he has ever driven one to see if they wander....

In otherwords, the person you spoke to is a knob that has no idea what he is talking about

 

[Immortality]

The only difference I would expect with staggered tyres would be brake balance but unless you drive at the absolute limit if the braking system you would probably never notice.

I too think it sounds like an alignment issue. One time when I had an alignment done the guy changed it, said the steering would be more responsive which it was however it did tend to wander a bit more as well. Once you got used to the new alignment it wasn't an issue for me.

 

[gmoulds]

Guy's
Thanks for the input, Should have said before went for Falken Azenis Tyres, had them in the past with reasonable results.
I'll take the car back for another alignment as car handled great before the change. Sean the Fronts are indeed 245/35/20