if he walked everywhere he wouldn't have had to deal with it either. not sure your point. not everyone wants to drive what you like.

 

If SW had a full size spare, SW wouldn’t have been towed. I just question the value of staggered tires…

 

a full size or even mini spare is actually a separate issue to staggered. steve has no spare, but even a mini donut could have been used on any of the 4 wheels to get to a tire shop.

as to the value of staggered, i question the value of full time 4wd you revere for people whose idea of off roading is a big mall parking lot.

staggered wheels/tires look better, provide more traction to the rear, and are standard on almost every car with performance credentials.

but yeah, if one has awd/4wd or rotating tires is important, then staggered is not the way to go.

 

I prefer a square setup because I like being able to rotate my tires. Also how do staggered wheels look better? You can’t tell the rear tires are wider unless you take them off and compare to the front.

 

This experience has shown me, I would like a temporary spare. A temp spare would have gotten me home without a tow, and I could have dealt with the situation with the car safely in the garage.

Now with that said, excluding the bizarre two tire issue with the Pacifica this is the first time this has happened to me (a sidewall tear that rendered the tire totally unusable) in 25 years. If the flat had been a nail AAA would have plugged it at the roadside or I could have used the slime kit and been on my way, its a pretty unusual occurrence. But, I think the what, 10 inches of floor height it saves me to not have a temp spare in the trunk is worth trading in for a temp spare.

The staggered wheels, on this kind of car (AWD, luxury sedan) I think the staggered wheels aren't worth the tradeoffs. I would rather they be square.

 

you can tell if you see the car from the back in particular. bmw's have used staggered setups on most vehicles forever, and in particular they've used wider tires overall (f/r) for a certain look. it works.

understand. my g90 had the temp spare and i needed it a few months into driving it! stupid nail. but allowed me to get to tire shop, get tire repaired, and back on the road quickly.

i agree. staggered best for sports cars / sedans but not really needed on big flagships.

 

That was the other part of it, I had to leave the car at the shop that does my tires which isn't in an upscale place, and my car sitting in that big empty lot at night stuck out like a sore thumb...would have rather it sat in the garage on a temp spare until the tires came in

You can buy one, some people on MBWorld have them but they take up the whole trunk

 

Good

@SW17LS if you had full size spare, you would be better off than a donut. Once you put the full size spare tire on, you can can then go to any tire shop at your leisure. A temporary spare imposes limitations and restrictions on you.

And technically, you’d risk damaging your full time four wheel drive system on your S560 with a temp.

 

Are your OEM tires RFs? I'm surprised that you don't have a spare.
Staggered tires won't prevent you from getting a spare, even when the tires are RFs. It's an option for some brands. Many squared set up vehicles no longer have a spare. Most EVs don't have spares either. I'm not sure how people feel about this. I either have to have RF or spare, esp. if I use it for road trips.

I think staggered tires look better when on the right ones. You can still rotate. You rotate left-right.

 

I don’t think there is any car that comes with staggered tires and a full time spare with full time four wheel drive.

No idea

 

The closest I have seen to that was my IS350. It was AWD, with a staggered setup, but with a donut/temporary spare.

 

Pretty fair assumption to make, considering only 3% of new cars sold come with a spare tire as standard, full size or not. I believe the only AWD car that comes with a full-size spare is the Subaru Outback.

Combine that overall rarity with the fact that the only cars typically equipped with staggered wheels/tires are ones where driving dynamics are highly valued, having a spare taking up half the cargo space and adding 100 lbs to the curb weight isn't exactly top priority. It's totally possible, just generally not desirable.

 

My grandparents 2010 C300 sport has a staggered setup which is overkill for 200 hp entry level luxury sedan. And it’s certainly not obvious from eye level that they’re staggered.

 

Even historically that would be unusual to have full time full size spare with staggered tires

I only question the value of staggered tires when it comes to having a flat that sidelines the car....

 

I want a full size spare tire.

Even if it means I have to drive a bigger car that has room for it.
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