Staggered vs Squared Wheels
What does staggered mean? What are staggered wheels?
When the term “staggered” is used- it means that, in a set of wheels, one pair within the set will be different than the other.
Staggered wheels can be a different width than the rear or different diameter than the rear or both width and diameter are different than the other pair while still sharing the same fundamental styling and design.
Staggered configuration is commonly used in NON-All Wheel Drive application, so cars that are Front Wheel Drive (FWD) and Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) will most likely utilize the staggered setup.
RWD cars that want staggered width means to run wider wheels in the rear and less wide wheels in the front. This configuration is popular within muscle cars or cars with higher torque, and need wider wheels (coupled with wider tires) to assist with traction. Staggered Diameter setups where the front will be a smaller diameter than the rear wheels can be seen on a Corvette, where it comes factory with staggered diameters as well as widths.
In some front wheel drive application, where more grip is needed in a straight line (i.e drag racing), people typically run wider in the front than the rear.
It's not unheard of to see a front wheel drive (and all wheel drive) application, in terms of staggered setups, run a rear wheel drive application (wider in the rear although the front wheels drive power). Some individuals enjoy the aggressive look, and can care less of the functional purpose in running staggered setups.
What does squared mean? What are squared wheels?
Squared means the set of wheels will all have the same width and diameter.
This is the most common configuration and can be found in any application.
It is recommended to keep squared setups in all wheel drive (AWD) and front wheel drive (FWD) applications.
This is important to note, when there is no need to provide additional traction in a certain area of your application, a square setup will work.
Common misconception is that because a vehicle is rear wheel drive, they should run a staggered setup. There are several factors as to why one would run a staggered setup versus a squared setup - in the end it depends on what an individual's goals and achievements are within their build.
Let us know if you have any additional questions on staggered or squared setups or if you were needing a quote and information on wheels in general! We are always happy to help and inform! Thanks for reading :)