Quote:
Originally Posted by gmzanatta
50/50 distribution isn't going to help in deep snow, you need those rear wheels down for good traction.
As for the square set up, with this amount of torque on the low end, it honestly won't matter. Plus, I find staggered much easier to control when in a skid, larger contact patch out back to regain control.
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(bold is mine)
Except that's not how snow & ice work...
On low friction surfaces, you want a smaller contact patch, to provide more weight/pressure over a smaller area and thus get more "bite" out of the sipes (or studs) on the tire. This is why narrower tire setups are better in the winter, along with the fact that narrower tires will "cut through" deep snow more easily.
Obviously with the amount of torque this car has, if you drive it like J. Clarkson you're gonna have a problem in the winter... doesn't matter how well-setup the tire & wheel package is.
I'm just surprised that BMW doesn't spec to a square setup and I can't figure out what their reasoning is. Unless it's something along the lines of BMW doesn't
sell a square set of wheels (with appropriate offsets), leading them to instead suggest the staggered package that they do...?