ques: handling characteristics of staggered fitment
 

ok... stock wheels whether TII, FD, mustang all use the same size wheel and tire all the way around.

if going to staggered... ie 17x8 and 17x9 fitment on a FC, how would the handling change? i would imagine it would be towards understeer.

am I correct in this?

so ideally having the same size wheels all the way around would be the ideal case right?

The staggered setup I had on an FD with 17"x 8 and 9 wheels seemed to be fine until I put in Stiff RB sway bars which exacerbated tendency to understeer. Having said that, I don't do nearly enough track to have that get in the way of enjoying my car, and I assume it would be the same in your case.

I don't know how aggressive you are on tires, or how your particular suspension setup chews'em up, but there is an obvious advantage to being able to rotate the wheels on a 4 same-wheel setup.

David

supras and vipers come with staggered wheels

So does the Z06... P265/40-17 front (17 x 9.5"), P295/35-18 rear (18 x 10.5").

Depends on the hp level of the car. Viper, Z06, Supra are big hp cars and NEED larger rear tires to hook the power coming out of a turn's exit. Personally I've driven both staggered and same size all around. There is more understeer with the staggered setup on track. The increased understeer instills confidence, but the car is harder to rotate if going into the turn a bit hot. I change my drivng style to accommodate the wheel/tire setup. With same size tires, I have to feed the throttle in slowly lest I over-rotate the car. With staggered, I simply mash the gas, as soon as I clip the apex of the turn :)

As long as you can tolerate the weight, put as much tire on the front as you can fit, just like the rear. This max's out the traction so you get better braking and handling from the fronts as well as traction from the rear (remember I mentioned the weight disadvantage so be sure to watch the tire weight).

Use air pressure, alignment, adjustable shocks, and adj sway bars to balance the car.

how does the weight disantage hurt me on the front... the rears are already heavy due to the 17x9 and 255 tire righT?

I run a staggered setup on my FC....
17x7.5 - 225/45-17
17x8.5 - 255/40-17

Understeer is definately there, but I can make left hand turns,on the street under full throttle without breaking the tires loose, right hand turns are a little too tight and I get tire spin. I took the car with this exact setup to an autocross and the car was understeering like crazy. I had to add a few PSI to the rear to get the car to "slide" the rear around. I think a larger rear bar may help the turn-in issues withou negatively affecting grip.

Are you guys confusing understeer with oversteer?
Maybe it's just the wording.

un·der·steer (ndr-stîr)
To turn less sharply than the operator would expect.

http://www.seansa4page.com/resource/steering.html

Nope, the posters appear to know the difference :) Both FC Rx7s are shown classically understeering in low speed turns--front wheels turned, but car appears to be going straight ahead!

understeer - the car isn't turning as fast as you want it too... also known as tight in Nascar terms

ovesteer - can be induced by throttle on situations or by having the car unbalanced such as under hard braking and then a turn in. Known as loose in Nascar terms

What many people think as drifiting as well.
(but flooring the pedal through a turn means your only braking the rears loose) Colin Mc Rae can break all 4 tires loose and have a controllable skid through a blind corner.