Do we “need” a staggered setup? Honestly, I don’t know.
Note: I’m not a racer, though I do drive spiritedly, nor a mechanic. Anything I know is bits and pieces I picked up here and there (mostly Google).
I have an MYP and I have gone square, but primarily because I want to be able to rotate the tires and avoid further curb rashes (already bashed the OE wheels once now). I keep the original wheels and tires for whenever I feel like having some fun or something.
But I’ll throw this out there. According to the Chinese version of the owner’s manual, the height near front wheels is about 167 mm and 166 mm near the rear wheels on the MYP (non-P is 184/182). Keep in mind, this is with staggered wheels. The center of the axle height is about 356 mm front and 363 mm rear.
If you square up the wheels, you end up changing the heights a bit, either raising the front or lowering the rear by about 7 mm. Actually, less because of the measuring location.
This means it goes from a 1 mm negative rake (barely any?), to an 8 mm negative rake. Rake is the angle of the car. Positive rake means nose is lower than tail and of course negative is opposite.
Would that create (more?) lift at the rear? Don’t most people want to reduce lift at the rear? Especially with power going to the rear axle.
Another thing that comes to mind… the rear motor is more powerful than the front motor, so would it make sense to give it a wider tire in the hopes of getting more surface area to put the power to the ground (traction) to get moving? Giving both front and rear axles the same size tires would mean that it could potentially break traction at the rear first if you assume motor output at full blast.
That said, I think for performance, like on a track, having better traction on the rear means you’re less likely to oversteer (out of control) regardless of motor output.
And supposedly, an MYP is geared for track use… or at least more likely than non-performance.
