I've been reading a lot about possible tire combinations but have heard conflicting information with regards to using an even tire setup. Just for reference, I have a Performance model with 18" wheels.

On one hand, I have heard people recommend using an even 245/245 front & rear setup will decrease understeer and improve the car's handling. This should be possible since both wheels are 8" across. This option is especially appealing to me since I have the tire feathering issue, and the thought of being able to rotate the front and rear tires is awfully appealing.

On the other hand, I have heard people say that doing this will screw up your ABS, VDC, LSD, etc.

What's the correct opinion??

 

I did that on my old coupe, before trading in for Roadster. I did not experience any issue with the above mentioned. I found it did steer different, but not in a bad way.

 

Honestly, this board has great knowledge and they could probably answer the understeer/handling question. But in regards the the VDC, I'm a mechanical engineer and I can't give you an answer. I could think about all the factors I see and give an educated guess, but only the engineers that designed it can tell you all the variables used in the VDC design and what would be affected. My point, I would not say there is an correct opinion here, because its just that, an opinion. Of course, there's always the trial and error method where you could put those tires on an see/feel.

 

sport compact car magazine did this w/ there project Z

 

The correct answer is that is will most likely cause your VDC/TDS to detect wheel spin even when there is none due to the fact that it measues the difference between the speed of the front and rear wheels and expects there to be a certain margin due to the staggerd setup. That can easily be fixed by simply disabling it with the button. It won't affect your ABS or LSD, however.