Anyone know why the BMW M3 (e36) has wider wheels at the back than the front? what is the purpose of this?

Question

How does this effect the car, handling etc

Answer 1

The car is rear-wheel-drive - the engine drives the rear wheels only, and the front wheels do the steering.

Wider rear tyres aid traction - the ability to transfer engine power into forward motion. They also increase rear lateral grip, preventing rear-wheel slides unless provoked.

Wider front tyres would increase front-end grip, but at the expense of steering weight, feel and response. Also the additional unsprung-mass of wider front wheels and tyres could cause reduced steering responses on bumpy roads.

Therefore the optimum wheel and tyre size for the front of a high-powered rear-wheel-drive car is often narrower than for the rear.

Answer 2

Yes, some have the staggered setup. I know that 95's don't but I know what 98's do. (I have a 98).

I am not sure if they started in 96 or 97.

The sizes of the wheels are both 17.

The sizes of the tires are....

FRONT: 225/45 ZR 17
REAR: 245/40 ZR 40

That' is what I am running at least.

The larger rear wheels give better grip during accelleration and cause the car to understeer more than the non-staggered setup.... however.... I can still get mine to oversteer a turn just fine. ;)

Answer 3

It's rear wheel drive, so the rear tyres are wider to give more grip and to get the power down cleanly.

Answer 4

Rear wheel drive. More rubber on the road. Better traction. Better grip.

Answer 5

its the principle rather than the car, if you look at dragsters, funny cars etc, power is no good unless you can transfer it to the road, so wide tyres allow you to get more power down as it disperses the power, however if you dont have the power it works the other way too, more drag/friction = less speed and worse fuel economy