275/35/19 tires on stock Brembo/Track Pack wheel?

[mrgtx]

Guys, I've nearly narrowed down my suspension choice and I'm about ready to order...but I need tires as well and I'm looking at a couple of options for wheels, one of which is to hold the budget for next time and just get the optimal tires for my current wheels.

275/35/19 is about .5" shorter than the stock 255/40s (which is possibly a good thing for my 3.55 axle car) and offers some excellent tire options...

Any downsides?

Any opinions are very welcome!

 

[Boaisy]

Is this for daily driving or on the track?

 

[claudermilk]

The OD difference shouldn't be a problem. It's within 2% of stock. i have 285/35 on the stock 19" wheel with no real ill effects on the street.

 

[mrgtx]

Is this for daily driving or on the track?

Mostly daily driving. I live in CT (which is in the middle of winter hell at the moment) and my Mustang only comes out on nice days...usually backroads hooning. I would like to get back into autocrossing (casually) and possibly take the car out for a track day.

The OD difference shouldn't be a problem. It's within 2% of stock. i have 285/35 on the stock 19" wheel with no real ill effects on the street.

This is encouraging!

 

[cbass]

I use a 275/35R19 on a much wider wheel for my fronts, but it works quite well and has had zero rub issues.

 

[Boaisy]

Well to start off, anything is better than the Pirelli's. I've only put on All-Seasons since then since I DD the car more than track. Now that I have a separate track tire/wheel set, I'll just be putting All-Seasons on in the future.

Other than the factory, I've only had two sets on the Brembo wheels. The first one was the Bridgestone Potenza Pole Position, and the other is the Hankook Noble2's. The Hankook's were relatively new for the Brembo wheels about a year or two ago which is why I decided to try them. It is a very hard compound compared to other offerings available. As far as ride quality, they are nice on the street. Pretty low noise, ride in the wet pretty well, and I did have to trek home one night in the snow. Didn't have too many issues in the snow other than applying too much power. I do not like these for track use, even if it is TnT and Autocross. Not enough grip for our cars.

I love the Bridgestones. The reason I had picked them is because we had tried them on my dad's IROC-Z, and those tires are the only ones that gripped well in the wet weather (for that car). I found the Bridgestones to be the best for both DD and Track, and it was pretty good in wet conditions. As far as snow, I don't think I encountered any while I had the Bridgestones on, so I can't really say how those will perform. I've already decided to go back to the Bridgestones after I wear these Hankook's out.

My previous car, I had gone from Bridgestones to Yokohama AVID ENVigor's, and if they ever offer those for the Mustang, that is one tire I would consider. They rode really nice, quiet, cut through water like nothing, and for that particular car, were quite grippy. Sadly, Yokohama doesn't offer a lot of good tires for the Mustang.

 

[NDSP]

I run 275/40/19 on my brembo wheels for daily driving. Works well and looks good because it fills the wheel wells nicely.

 

[Lucky_13]

Not sure if this is a consideration for you or not, but check the load ratings on 275/35. I recall when I looked they were a fair bit lower than what the OEM 255/40s on my Brembo were rated

 

[mrgtx]

Thanks, guys... great input.

I run 275/40/19 on my brembo wheels for daily driving. Works well and looks good because it fills the wheel wells nicely.

This was my original plan but they're .6" taller than stock (essentially lowering the final drive...which isn't what I want) and the options are somewhat limiting. The 235s have a lot more choices and reduce the diameter by .45", a less significant diameter change and it's one in the performance improvement direction.

...but I'm obviously not convinced, which is why I'm asking.

Not sure if this is a consideration for you or not, but check the load ratings on 275/35. I recall when I looked they were a fair bit lower than what the OEM 255/40s on my Brembo were rated

A good point but I didn't see any tires that wouldn't handle the load of the Mustang which has an average of ~925lbs per corner. It looks like most of these are rated for 1500lbs per corner.

 

[claudermilk]

Sounds like similar use as mine. I am running 285/35 on the wheels. Right now I'm on BFG Sport Comp-2 (thanks, GoodGuys ). Previously I ran the Bridgestone Pole Position S-04s; those went through DD, autocross and a track day. No problems at all with them except for the track day chewing about a year of DD use off the tread...

 

[csamsh]

When I first started autocrossing, I ran 265/35/19 RE11's (back when we were in STX), and later 275/35/19 Pilot Super Sports. My car was still a daily driver then, and it did fine with both sizes.

Worth noting...the 265 and 275 put the exact same amount of tread on the ground, within an 1/8" or so IIRC, and the 265's sidewalls seemed to be happier, so 265 would be my preference

 

[Norm Peterson]

All last summer and most of the fall I was running tires that were a little over one whole inch shorter than OE, with no ill effects whatsoever.
285/35-18's, 25.9", FWIW. I will probably replace the current set of 3-season DD 255/45-18 tires (27") with 265/40-18's (26.3") without thinking about differences in tire height at all.

As to the load capacity issue, the 275/35-19's I looked at seem to be Load Index 96 tires in "Standard Load", which is exactly the same load index that the OE 255/40-19 Goodyear Supercar tires are rated at. You don't even have to do any load capacity compensation with higher (or lower) inflation pressures.


FWIW, Load Index 96 in Standard Load corresponds to Load Index 100 in Extra Load, so in case you see any XL tires in 275/35-19 you'll want to see 100 rather than 96. The SL and XL load capacity vs inflation pressure tables are "offset" by 4 L.I. numbers from each other.


Norm

 

[claudermilk]

All last summer and most of the fall I was running tires that were a little over one whole inch shorter than OE, with no ill effects whatsoever.
285/35-18's, 25.9", FWIW. I will probably replace the current set of 3-season DD 255/45-18 tires (27") with 265/40-18's (26.3") without thinking about differences in tire height at all.

I'm probably overthinking this a bit, but the only disadvantage would be worse final gearing.

Since I have 3.73s I already have poor gearing for autocross. So, in my particular case for now going that much smaller an OD is probably not great. I'm thinking about swapping to 3.31 (after paying extra for 3.73 OEM install..sigh), then tire OD is less of an issue.

 

[Boaisy]

I don't have an issue with 3.73 for autocross.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I'm probably overthinking this a bit, but the only disadvantage would be worse final gearing.

I figure it cost me about 2.5 mph off the top of 2nd and maybe 5 mph off of 4th. If I was still autocrossing, that may or may not be important. Locally, on street tires with a 4.6L and 3.55's, probably not.

On the big tracks it is getting close - as in 5900+ rpm in 4th close, and it did force some changes in where I shift as well as adding a couple of shifts per lap on at least one track. It's only partly a case of the lower speed capability in each gear - the greater mechanical advantage means I need less distance (and less time) to get up there.


Norm

 

[NDSP]

I don't have an issue with 3.73 for autocross.

I guess it really depends on your course designer. I usually don't either, because in my region the courses have a tendency to favor the miata crowd, but there has been a few days where I needed less gear. I have 3.31s in the garage, just haven't done the swap yet.

 

[claudermilk]

Yep, it depends on the course and how fast you are. For a while I had no issues, but now when there is a longer straight I will hit the rev limiter in 2nd had have to make the decision to go to 3rd or breathe the throttle a bit & ride out the end of the straight. This happens more at the retired airbase venue (El Toro) than at the parking lot venue.

I would like to think the fact that I am starting to run into this means I'm getting faster & not just several of the courses simply had long WOT opportunities.

 

[mrgtx]

After all this, I broke down and ordered up some 9.5" wide wheels to either make better use of 275s or to have the option for 285s.

So now it's down to 275/35/19 Dunlop Direzza DII Star Spec or 285/35/19 Bridgestone Potenza RE-11.

Both cost about the same...Dunlops are closer to the "ideal" width for the rim but they're narrower and a tiny bit shorter. Bridgestones put a bit more rubber on the ground and they're closer to stock diameter.

Is one tire going to be significantly better than the other?

They shall be consumed through enthusiastic backroads driving and a handful of autocross events...I'd like to get a few seasons out of them (~5,000 miles/year, fair weather only).

As always, your expert opinions are worth their weight in gold to me!
Thanks.

 

[csamsh]

Those are both good tires- can't go wrong either way. I haven't run the Dunlops...I have run RE11's. I would expect the Dunlop to be faster but the Bridgestone to be nicer on the road and in the rain.

 

[claudermilk]

I have very limited experience here, but will put in $0.01 anyway (hey, it's a forum). I just ran the RE-11As the first time this weekend and was very impressed. Excellent grip, great breakaway & communication. They also showed amazingly good wear after a day of abuse at the track. The 280 wear-rated S-04s got beat up worse. I was running 275/40-18 (no, those are not listed anywhere online. However, they are on my wheels, so they do exist).