[AllEyesOnMe]

Hi Everyone!

I have a 2018 BMW X2--yes, not exactly the right place to post this, but the X2 forum is literally dead. So I thought I'll have a better response here!

Anyways, I'm planning on getting aftermarket wheels to widen the stance as well as improve handling. I've started doing some research on whether wider stance (or tires) would provide better handling. And to be honest, there are proponents of both sides. Since this is going to be a street car (with spirited driving) and not a track car, I thought even if I'm wrong and wider stance doesn't improve handling, the effects should be minimal.

The stock wheels that came with my X2 is a squared setup: front and Rear: 19x8.5 +35 || 225/45/19

I'm looking to get a wider stance look for the rears and have decided on either a 19x10 or 19x10.5 on 295/35/19 tires. This should put me at less than 1% difference compared to my stock setup.

My question is, should I be going for a squared setup with this? I've never seen anyone do a squared setup with a 295 wide tire in the front.

What would be the pros and cons of this setup in terms of handling?

If I were to go with staggered setup, what width should I go in the front? I'm thinking 255/40/19.

Of course, I don't want to sacrifice handling for looks at all. My primary focus is to improve handling (or at least not make it worse than stock). Any input / advice is appreciated!

[N420i]

An almost 300mm tire at the rear is definately going to worsen handling in this car. Not to mention it's gonna make it significantly slower.

What stock tire and rim sizes and what engine do you have on this thing? Is it the Xdrive version or just FWD?

If it's the FWD I wouldn't go anywhere beyond 225/40r18 for handling, both front and rear. If you really want that extra width, 235 max.

FWIW I'm running a tuned 420i with 420nm of torque and over 270hp and I'm wearing 225s both front and rear and I'm not left wanting for grip... And the thing isn't slow in the track either. Jarama in Madrid is a handling track and the last time I was there (first time with this car) quite a few people with more powerful cars got spanked.

If you're going for stance, probably some lowering springs and struts or coilovers and rims with a lower ET or some spacers will do it for you. Admittedly wide tires look really cool but on a 200hp FWD or part time AWD car anything too wide will kill acceleration (because of the weight and added drag) and will make the car feel less nimble.

[alohasurftoad]

running a normal staggered setup on a front drive bias x-drive will increase understeer and worsen handling.

what i would do is change just the tire size on stock wheels to 245/40/19 square or 255/40/19(slight oversize) square.

or run aftermarket 19x9 or 9.5 with 255/40/19 square.

[AllEyesOnMe]

Thanks for the recommendations guys.

It is a FWD bias X Drive with 228bhp. I will be going with piggyback and a downpipe very soon, which should put it in the range of 290bhp.

I really love the wide stance on some SUVs (eg. X5M, X6M, Porsche Macan Turbo) but I want to keep it at stock height. Fender gaps to me are completely fine (and preferred) as it's an SAV.

It's sad to hear that a staggered setup on an FWD bias X-drive will increase steering as I don't think I will be able to run fat tires then... What's the science behind this?

[N420i]

Originally Posted by AllEyesOnMe

It's sad to hear that a staggered setup on an FWD bias X-drive will increase steering as I don't think I will be able to run fat tires then... What's the science behind this?

The science is that you're effectively running an already understeery FWD car (since it's only AWD under acceleration and only when the front wheels are slipping, and then it'll be 50/50 at best) and by using a staggered setup you're giving it even more grip at the rear while keeping the same grip at the front end. It'll wanna keep going straight when you get to a corner...

Also keep an eye on the widest tires that BMW allows on X2s, since going too wide might be physically impossible due to the tire rubbing on the strut or the wing...