I just wanted to share my thoughts on the non-staggered setup (almost) for any of those wondering or considering it.

I found a good deal on wheels I loved in a 17 x 9 +45 offset and decided to go for it. After I had gotten the wheels I did more research and found that a non-staggered setup may lead to more oversteer (snap oversteer) which could dangerous in the times of emergency. Since this is my DD this concerned me, so I decided to run a non-staggered tire setup to try and compensate. I decided to go with 235/45/17 and a 255/4017 on the back because the sidewalls would be within a millimeter of each other. However, in retrospect I would rather do a 225/45 up front or a 235/40. Before I got the wheels put on I decided to get the Euro alignment to try and counter some oversteer (-1 camber front -2 rear, 6.75 caster, 0.40 total rear toe). I wasn't wild about this because I heard such an aggressive toe would wear the tires much quicker but figured it might be worth it for safety. With the stock AP2 wheels I did feel it made an improvement. I could throw the car into a turn and it felt pretty stable and never felt like the back end would want to come out.

I then proceeded to put on my new wheels and tires. I could definitely feel the difference...up front there was much more grip when small adjustments were made, yet at the same time the car didn't feel as nimble (understandable). However, I did not like it at all! On highway speeds above 70 or so it just felt very unstable and when gusts of wind jerked the wheel the whole body would roll and I had a white knuckle grip the whole drive. When I went into gradual turns it felt very unstable and I was afraid to push the car. Needless to say, I was trying to decide whether to even keep the wheels. It didn't help that the fronts would rub on large highway dips.

I then decided to get the car realigned to factory specs except for the camber. It was a world of difference! It felt more stable right away. I have been able to throw the car into the turns again. I am more referring to first gear left hand turns, I have not pushed it too much at speed yet as I do not want to crash. The grip with the Sumitomo HTR III + is very good (although I forgot what fresh stock Bridgestones are like).

Eventually, I will get wider front fenders up front and then will get some good coilovers so I can lower it some. I may also get a stiffer front sway bar. I hope this helped anyone considering making the decision.

Here are some shots of the setup:

 

Thanks for the review!

I have a set of Advan RS 17x9 +45s waiting for me at home. I'll be putting 255 RE11s at all four corners. I am a little nervous about how the car is going to feel. But like you stated, an alignment can totally change how the car handles.

 

You're welcome! I was kind of hoping at least someone would comment after all that work!

That should be a good setup...do you have your fenders rolled or wider fenders? Or are you just planning to run a lot of negative camber?

I think it should handle fine...is it mainly for street or track? Remember one thing you can do to reduce oversteer is to get a stiffer front sway bar.

Also another thing I thought I heard is that the oversteer can come more when applying heavy braking and turning the wheel, rather than going into a turn without using the brakes, so just be easy till you get used to the new setup haha. Make sure to take pics too!

 

My rears are rolled/bumper tab removed. My fronts are completely rolled and pulled a little. I have a ton of clearance right now on the front with a 17x8 +49(215). I'm thinking the 17x9+45 and 255 will fill the space nicely.

It is a complete street car. And I would definitely like to start with a CR front sway bar. They're very cheap, and I could always upgrade to a thicker/adjustable bar down the road.

 

Check out this suspension setup to address the handling issue with non-staggered wheels/tires:
http://www.motoiq.com/magazine_articles/ar...ion-tricks.aspx

Obviously, you don't have to run the same coilover setup, but just take into consideration what was done with regards to spring rates and anti-roll bars to adjust the handling balance.

 

Bump for being informative.

So with less toe all around, the car felt more stable?

I was thinking the same thing, running 18x9 +40 all around and stagger the tires to combat oversteer, as well as adding a front sway bar of course.

 

If your going to run nonstaggered wheel and tire set, the first thing to do is get a big swaybar in front or at least remove the rear sway bar all together. Trying to combat the oversteer from a square setup with alignment or by running a 235 in the front is counterproductive.

 

Just to share my experience.

I fitted an APR front splitter and then fitted my 17x9 +45 RPF1 all around with 255/40/17 AD08.
The white knuckled ride feel was evident at high speeds and was pretty hairy. I was running my camber at F 2.0 & rear 3.0 with total toe at around 0.40.

After fitting a high mount Voltex wing, the car now feels very stable (if anything biased to understeer) and I run 3.0 deg camber all around.

I think the issue is related to the relatively high amount of lift generated by the rear underbody design of the s2000. Barring an aftermarket rear undertray splitter, I believe a wing would go a long way to solving the issues u are facing. I think that staggering tyres or alignment might better be kept to the last to fine tune handling once the main setup has been addressed.