Apples vs Oranges, staggered vs square: my experience using both on various non-Bmw vehicles.
I used a staggered setup on my first car (1956 Chevy) back in 1967; I used stock 6.70-15 bias-ply Atlas tires (bought from an Enco, now Exxon, service station) on the front, and put the new Firestone Wide-Oval tires in the rear. They were red-striped G70-15, bias-ply, and cost a bunch for a 16 y.o. kid, but not as much as the reproductions at Coker Tire do now($574 each).
With the sagged rear leaf springs raised up, and the staggered tires mounted, my Chevy looked great, but it aquaplaned like hell on my first drive in a heavy rain. Eventually, I learned to control it on snow and ice, too, but radials weren't a thing, yet, so I made do with bias-ply.
Next staggered setup was 12 years later, on my '86 S-10 extended cab pickup. I stuck with the stock 215/65-r15 tires on front, but added 255/60-r15 tires on back. I bought Dunlops for both ends, attracted by a buy two get two offer, and talked my way into getting the staggered set cheaply. I saw that the big Dunlops had a wide groove down the middle, which reminded me of the look of the dual tires on a late-'30's Auto-Union racer, so I just had to buy them.
That setup worked well, and the larger tires on back helped with handling and supporting heavy loads after I modded the springs and shocks. I used the same combo for another 16 years, before the S-10 got T-boned.
Then we get to my '66 Chevelle; I tried different staggered tire combos for different reasons, with different results.
First: when I bought it as a resto project, it had 6"x14" Cragars on front, and 10"x15" Cragars on back, with nearly new tires (215/70r14 front, 315/70r15 rear). It had air shocks on the rear, to make clearance for the 315's, but the left shocks airline blew out a few weeks later and the big tire and rear quarter panel had a severe interaction. After that, I went to 215/65r15 fronts and 275/60r15 on rear (still on Cragars), while it was still a street/strip car. No more air shocks, though.
Second: as a race car only, I used different front tire heights (to vary reaction times at the dragstrip) and went to using 4" "pizza cutter" wheels there,too. On the rear, I used 28" tall racing slicks on 8-10" wide wheels (M&H or Hoosier slicks on steel wheels to start, Mickey Thompson's later on).
However, on successive street vehicles, I've stuck with a square setup, both for ease of use (spare tire, rotation issues) and generally better balance and handling. And because, as an old guy, my experimental days are past.
I'm even OK with my X5' skinny 235/65r17's on Style 57 wheels. But, if I had the money to burn, someday I'd like to get some larger All-Terrain tires on it, just because.
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