I need tires, need some good options

Jean20057

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So I need tires on my 05 coupe, but I've never bought tires for a car like this. I mean, I know these cars are prone to sliding in certain conditions, so I need some cheap ish recommendations on decent tires. Not really wanting to spend more than $100 or so per tire, but will go a bit higher if necessary. Any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks in advance!

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stkjock

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So I need tires on my 05 coupe, but I've never bought tires for a car like this. I mean, I know these cars are prone to sliding in certain conditions, so I need some cheap ish recommendations on decent tires. Not really wanting to spend more than $100 or so per tire, but will go a bit higher if necessary. Any suggestions would be awesome! Thanks in advance!

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Please review the posting rules. Moved to Tires sub forum

Michelin Pilot Super Sports.... love mine....check them on Tirerack
For $100 a tire? FFS read
 

fast Ed

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He asked for cheap ... Michelin PSS are not.

IMO the best value these days for a decent performance tire is the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500. Built on a Bridgestone carcass, these things have very good grip dry and wet, and awesome pricing.

https://www.firestonetire.com/tire/firehawk-indy-500

They are available in the OEM 235/55R17 size, and many others if you have different wheels on the car.


cheers
Ed
 

Norm Peterson

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Tire Rack's own testing put that particular Firestone tire up at the top of a group that included the BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2, Dunlop Direzza DZ102 and Kumho Ecsta PS31.


When price isn't of as much concern, it does get pretty hard to top either Michelin's Pilot Super Sport or their newer Pilot Sport 4S.


Norm
 

Gabe

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I'll recommend those Firestone tires too.
I have two friends that got them recently on their Mustangs and they love them.
One's a '98 Cobra, stock 17" size, the other is a Parnelli Jones car, running 19's.
Good looking tire and getting awesome reviews.
 

nawagner

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Another vote for the Firestone'. Just put them on and so far they are great. Quiet, stable and have a predictable feel. Granted I have not had them on a track yet but I like them so far.
 

Strengthrehab

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I've tracked 285/35/19 Indy500's and hit a PB by a second on a 2.3 mile track. They tended to get greasy toward the end of a session, but all in all, they are a good tire.

I've had them on the car for 10k miles and still look new (other than the obvious track wear)
 

RED09GT

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I've had a set of the Firestones since 2016 and for the price, you won't find a better performing tire.
 
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NUTCASE

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Your really not going to get much of anything for $100 per tire. I don't think you can get nitto 555 that low.

Get a credit card just for tires and repairs, then get tires a little more appropriate for the car.

Outside of serious racing I usually reccomend Michelin, Pirelli, and continental in that order.
 

Pentalab

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Typical S197 sizes for that Firestone range between about $100 and $150 at Tire Rack (don't know what size OP is looking for).


Norm
If they are oem, that are likely 235-55-17. On a side note, yesterday I just finished installing new MPSS in 305-35-19 on the rears, cleaned both rear calipers, painted rear calipers, cleaned up the rear suspension, + road gunk on inner fender wells, etc. This afternoon, I will repeat the same deal with the fronts, but with 285-40-18's...and 3 mm HR spacers.

It sounds like that fire stone is a big bang for the buck....cost effective. If it's good in rain /wet /dry, priced right, works good, it's a winner. Tread life is rated at 340. W speed rated (168 mph). With all the good reviews, this is probably an ideal replacement tire for the OP. Heck, it's probably a good replacement period.
 
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Gabe

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OP didn't mention this in this thread but the car is an '05 V6 .... OEM size would be 215/65/16

If the car's not a corner-carver, if it's just your daily driver, then the General AltiMax RT43 gets my vote.
A set of 4 is $362 delivered including shipping from Tire Rack right now, they've got some discount going on that takes off about 10% off the usual $91/ea price.

We have these tires on the wife's Subaru and they've been great for over 3 years now.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=AltiMAX+RT43+(H-+or+V-Speed+Rated)&partnum=165HR6AMRT43&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Ford&autoYear=2005&autoModel=Mustang Coupe&autoModClar=

ge_altimax_rt43hv_pdpcrop.jpg
 

NUTCASE

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For a v6 on stock rims you can get under $100 per tire. Your in a range of not-so-great tires but it can be done.

Unless you specify you have a v6 most people on here think you have a GT at least.
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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If they are oem, that are likely 235-55-17. On a side note, yesterday I just finished installing new MPSS in 305-35-19 on the rears, cleaned both rear calipers, painted rear calipers, cleaned up the rear suspension, + road gunk on inner fender wells, etc. This afternoon, I will repeat the same deal with the fronts, but with 285-40-18's...and 3 mm HR spacers.

It sounds like that fire stone is a big bang for the buck....cost effective. If it's good in rain /wet /dry, priced right, works good, it's a winner. Tread life is rated at 340. W speed rated (168 mph). With all the good reviews, this is probably an ideal replacement tire for the OP. Heck, it's probably a good replacement period.

Couldn't help but notice you have 285/40/18's in the front and was just curious about the need for adding 3mm HR spacers? From my understanding, they supposedly clear the front strut/studs without needing spacers by 1/8" In fact, it was Gabe who brought it to my attention in which he also posted pics from his car that show they do clear without the need for adding spacers. Also, are your 285/40/18's mounted on OEM GT500 18x9.5 wheels or are they wider than 18x9.5"?
 
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Pentalab

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Couldn't help but notice you have 285/40/18's in the front and was just curious about the need for adding 3mm HR spacers? From my understanding, they supposedly clear the front strut/studs without needing spacers by 1/8" In fact, it was Gabe who brought it to my attention in which he also posted pics from his car that show they do clear without the need for adding spacers. Also, are your 285/40/18's mounted on OEM GT500 18x9.5 wheels or are they wider than 18x9.5"?

My fronts are chrome AM bullitt wheels. 18 x 10 with a 45mm offset. Last year few years, I had em on the rears..and the spokes barely clear the oem calipers. I can just get the thickness of a house key to slide in there. On the fronts, when using 275-40-18,using same 18 x10 x 45 et, they clear on the inside, but only barely clear by a hair width on the outside, the spring retainer thingy's that come with the hawk HPS pad assy ( oem front 12.4" rotor / 2 piston calipers). A 285-40-18 on same rim will clear on inside, but same issue with clearing the spring retainer thing's on outside. 42mm is optimal for the fronts really. So installed H+R 3 mm hubcentric spacers.... problem solved. I had already lost one of the retainer devices on the outside. 45-3 = 42 mm effective ET.

On a similar note, I finished installing the new 19 x 10 x 48ET chrome bullitt rims on the rear last night. ( MPSS 305-35-19). Now these rims clear the spokes by a country mile vs the 18 x 10 x 45 ET... go figure. Deeper dish on the 19 x 10's too, (3" vs the 2.5" dish on a 18 x 10 x 45 ET).
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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My fronts are chrome AM bullitt wheels. 18 x 10 with a 45mm offset. Last year few years, I had em on the rears..and the spokes barely clear the oem calipers. I can just get the thickness of a house key to slide in there. On the fronts, when using 275-40-18,using same 18 x10 x 45 et, they clear on the inside, but only barely clear by a hair width on the outside, the spring retainer thingy's that come with the hawk HPS pad assy ( oem front 12.4" rotor / 2 piston calipers). A 285-40-18 on same rim will clear on inside, but same issue with clearing the spring retainer thing's on outside. 42mm is optimal for the fronts really. So installed H+R 3 mm hubcentric spacers.... problem solved. I had already lost one of the retainer devices on the outside. 45-3 = 42 mm effective ET.

On a similar note, I finished installing the new 19 x 10 x 48ET chrome bullitt rims on the rear last night. ( MPSS 305-35-19). Now these rims clear the spokes by a country mile vs the 18 x 10 x 45 ET... go figure. Deeper dish on the 19 x 10's too, (3" vs the 2.5" dish on a 18 x 10 x 45 ET).

I wasn't quite sure which you had, so that was my reason for asking lol. Now that I know you have 18x10's, I can see the reason for needing to add 3mm spacers with 45mm offset, as most 18x10" sizes used up front are best recommended between 40-42mm offset to provide enough clearance for both the inside and outside without having the need for adding spacers. Therefore I can understand how tight your clearance issues were before adding them, same for when you had them on the rears. So for 18x10's, I agree that 42mm is optimal for the fronts and between 40-42mm would be optimal for the rear, depending on the dish size depth of course :shrug:
 

Pentalab

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45 mm ET is perfect for the rears..for a 18 x 10. A 40-42 mm would poke out a bit. As is the 45 mm will cause the side wall to just poke out.
On these new 19 x 10 x 48 mm ET ( 305-35-19)... the offset is even bigger (48 mm). This works out good.

But you are correct though, 18 x 10 x 42 mm ET on all 4 x corners means easy rotation... and no front spacer required. But a 3mm spacer is no big deal.
The oem front studs are longer than the oem rear studs. Even with the 3mm spacers installed on the fronts, I still have MORE excess thread on the front vs rears. The 3mm HR hubcentric spacers fit like dream. They are chamfered on the inside for the big diam hub. Slides over it like a glove, snug fit. The 5 x lug holes are precise, fit like a glove.

I have seen other brand of spacers that I would not use. Big hole in the middle is not hubcentric, way too big in diam, + either the 5 x lug holes are way too big in diam, and /or the 5 x lug holes are not holes at all but slotted or oval. Tons of slop, gravity pulls em to the bottom, then folks complain of an unbalanced wheel.

Rear oem studs are not long enough to handle any spacer period. Front studs are long enough to handle up to a 5mm spacer.... but that's it. This is on my 2010 GT.
 

Gabe

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I had 19x10s with 48mm offset on the front with 275/40/19 tires, perfect square fitment on the wheels. The wheels fit with no issues but I used a small 4-5mm spacer to bring out the wheels a bit for a more flush look.

I had 20x10 rears with the same 48mm offset, it was the best-fitting rear set-up I've had yet. Tires tucked inside the fender, no hitting, no rubbing.

There are so many 20x10's out there with 38-40mm offset, it drives me nuts. Putting a fat tire on those WILL result in rubbing over bumps, if lowered at all.

I have a set of AMR's sitting in the basement now, 18x10 with 45mm offset. They'll be a great fit for the back but if I want to run a 285-295 front tire I'll need to install my small spacers on there. Oh well.
 

06 T-RED S/C GT

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45 mm ET is perfect for the rears..for a 18 x 10. A 40-42 mm would poke out a bit. As is the 45 mm will cause the side wall to just poke out.
On these new 19 x 10 x 48 mm ET ( 305-35-19)... the offset is even bigger (48 mm). This works out good.

But you are correct though, 18 x 10 x 42 mm ET on all 4 x corners means easy rotation... and no front spacer required. But a 3mm spacer is no big deal.
The oem front studs are longer than the oem rear studs. Even with the 3mm spacers installed on the fronts, I still have MORE excess thread on the front vs rears. The 3mm HR hubcentric spacers fit like dream. They are chamfered on the inside for the big diam hub. Slides over it like a glove, snug fit. The 5 x lug holes are precise, fit like a glove.

I have seen other brand of spacers that I would not use. Big hole in the middle is not hubcentric, way too big in diam, + either the 5 x lug holes are way too big in diam, and /or the 5 x lug holes are not holes at all but slotted or oval. Tons of slop, gravity pulls em to the bottom, then folks complain of an unbalanced wheel.

Rear oem studs are not long enough to handle any spacer period. Front studs are long enough to handle up to a 5mm spacer.... but that's it. This is on my 2010 GT.
Unless I misread your previous post, didn't you mention that when you had the 18x10's with 45mm offset on the rears, that the spokes barely cleared the OEM calipers and when used up front, they clear on the inside, but only barely clear by a hair width on the outside? as the spring retainer that come with the hawk HPS pad assy ( oem front 12.4" rotor / 2 piston calipers). A 285-40-18 on same rim will clear on inside, but same issue with clearing the spring retainer on the outside.

From what you described, it would appear as though an 18x10" wheel with 45mm offset isn't exactly optimal let alone perfect for the rears, but rather 47-48mm offset would seem to be more optimal IMHO :shrug:
 

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