AWD Staggered Wheel Tire Size Recommendations?

[ZYates]

Hi everyone, I recently purchased my 18 GT1 AWD that's bone stock and it has 225/45 tires all around on the stock 18x8 +34 wheels. I purchased a new set of wheels and am looking at recommendations on tire sizes to not mess up the AWD system hopefully. My new wheels are:

18x8.5 +34 Fronts
18x10 +42 Rears

I was advised that they will fit the car, though I could run a spacer in the rear to not have them tuck as much. I was told I could do a 245/40 front and 275/35 rear tire and that would keep it within that 1% threshold but I'd love to get some more opinions from you guys before I jump the gun and get those and potentially mess it up. Any advice, tips, or recommendations is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Snicklefritz]

a 3mm difference front to back OD is negligible. That's within 1mm of the same OD difference with OEM staggered setup on 19" wheels. The variability that develops as the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts staggered makes this a non issue.

 

[ZYates]

a 3mm difference front to back OD is negligible. That's within 1mm of the same OD difference with OEM staggered setup on 19" wheels. The variability that develops as the rears wear twice as fast as the fronts staggered makes this a non issue.

So a 245/40 front and 275/35 rear would be fine? Sorry, I'm new to all of this. Tried to find some pre-existing information online but couldn't come up with much.

 

[Snicklefritz]

So a 245/40 front and 275/35 rear would be fine? Sorry, I'm new to all of this. Tried to find some pre-existing information online but couldn't come up with much.

I remember being new to all of this. Still am, to most of it. But the answer is yes, for the reasons I gave. 3mm difference front to rear OD is negligible. Ima sure KIA designed faster rear tire wear into the staggered AWD setup. I've been replacing rear tires twice as often as fronts on my staggered AWD for over six years.

The only practical difference is that using 18" wheels, your 10mm smaller OD in front and 11mm smaller OD in the rear than when using 19" wheels. I don't know how much that will make your speedometer less accurate - haven't learned how to calculate that, but a number of forum members do. Maybe one will come along.

 

[SRV]

So a 245/40 front and 275/35 rear would be fine? Sorry, I'm new to all of this. Tried to find some pre-existing information online but couldn't come up with much.

Go to this site:

Tire Size Calculator

The best tire size calculator. Use our tire size calculator to find tire size specs and suggested tire sizes. Then check prices for all available tire sizes.

tiresize.com

And go to the 'Tire Comparison' tab, and enter in your front and rear tire dimensions.

For comparison, the tire sizes listed in my sig come out perfect for the Revs/Miles line.