Tire selection help needed

[10GreyGT]

All,

I need you assistance, pictures are a plus. I have been searching/reading about tire sizes for a week now.

I have a 2010GT with fairly new tires on it 235/50/18. AM had the matching wheels in 10" onsale so I bought two of those for the rear. Fronts are to my knowledge 18x8.

The car is a spring/summer/fall DD. It probably won't see any type of track unless I get a job where I don't work most weekends.

The car is stock height to my knowledge, I bought it used so I don't know for 100% certainty. I can post a pic when I get to a PC if needed.

I would rather not lower the car. I had a lowered 85GT and scraped on everything on the wonderful PA roads.

So... I have come up with these options:
Front 255/45/18 - 27"tall
Rear 295/45/18 - 28.3"tall

Front 255/45/18 - 27" tall
Rear 285/40/18 - 27"tall

Front 245/45/18 - 26.7" tall
Rear 275/40/18 - 26.7" tall

Option 1 would give me the fuller wheel well and classic muscle car look, but it would also affect gear ratio.
Option 2 would give me near stock height and gear ratio.
Option 3 would give me shorter that stock height tires, better selection/availability and lower gear ratio. But I don't want the tires to look stretched on the wheel.

Thoughts?

Thank you

Edit to add: I do have a sct tuner to recalibrate speedometer

Edit to add pic

 

[claudermilk]

Looks stock height to me. Got that 4x4 look.

I'd go with option 2 if it were me.

 

[10GreyGT]

Thanks for the reply!

My only reservation about option 2 is selection. I could run the 555s, and probably would if I go with that option. I'll have to research how they do in street/wet weather/DD role.

I thought about lowering it but the front looks like a major pain. I saw a set of springs that were 1" front and 1.25" rear that I thought would be good for my application.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I think you'd be hard pressed to notice the difference between Option 2 and Option 3 even if they were mounted on otherwise identical cars sitting nose to nose in a parking lot. Option 3 isn't enough lower than stock to matter. Only half of the 0.3" difference comes out of ground clearance.

My opinion on 275/40's on 10" wide wheels is that they aren't particularly stretched at that width, certainly not enough to look stretched (that size is officially OK'ed for wheel widths all the way out to 11").

I don't like the idea of 255/45's on 8" wides though - 8" is really not wide enough to give good cornering support to the tire tread and you may end up with tire wear issues on the outer shoulders. 245/45's would be at least a little better off in this respect. Not exactly great, just slightly better.


Please take the time to find out exactly how wide the front wheels are. If you can measure the outside to outside dimension, the wheel width is about one inch less (because wheel width is measured at the bead seats where the tire sits). At 9" wide, Option 2 would probably be your best choice. At 8" or even 8.5", I'm going with Option 3.


Norm

 

[10GreyGT]

Thanks for the reply.

I am pretty confident the fronts are 8" wide but I will attempt to get a fairly accurate measurement with them on the car.

I really like option 3 for the simple sake of more availability. That was what I was originally going to get then I started reading and looking at pictures...and the madness started.

245/45 is too wide for a 8" wheel you think? Per general tires website the approved width is 7.5"-9.0"..asking because I don't know, not because I am in doubt.

 

[fast Ed]

Option 2 and 3 sizes are available in the Continental Extreme Contact DW ... excellent street performance with good grip dry or wet, and a smooth ride. And yes, your OEM wheels are 8" wide, so 255/45 is the max. width suggested for them.


cheers
Ed

 

[Norm Peterson]

245/45 is too wide for a 8" wheel you think? Per general tires website the approved width is 7.5"-9.0"..asking because I don't know, not because I am in doubt.

Technically, 8" is an acceptable wheel width for a 245/45, but the car will handle a bit more precisely with another half inch for that size and be a little more satisfying to drive. 245/45 isn't exactly a big tire for a 3500+ lb car, and it could use the help. Both of Ford's 18" wheel options for 2008 were 8.5" wide, and were fitted with 235/50 tires.


Norm

 

[10GreyGT]

Thanks

I have low mileage 235/50's on all 4 corners now. Originally I wanted to just get rear tires and continue to use 2 of the current tires I have on the front.


Tire selection in 285/45/18 (27" tall) isn't as vast. Example: the General Gmax tires I have on the car don't come in that size. That would force me to buy new fronts to match the new rears. That led me down the whole replacing them all with a alternate size road.

I appreciate the replies. I have enough money to do this once and want to do it right.

 

[Go GT]

I have seen threads where guys lower just the rear of the car with Roush springs, if you want to investigate that option. But you don't have a chin spoiler so what is it you're worried about scraping in the front? My 07 is lowered on FRPP K springs and I have a chin spoiler, I'm only concerned with scraping in parking lots with the big curbs, but I usually back into a spot. I also have 18's.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I think it's more about lowering the front being a bit more complex of a job than the matter of lowering it an inch being too much.


Norm

 

[10GreyGT]

Norm nailed it. I have never done struts before and being fairly new to the area don't have any "good friends" or contacts I would feel right asking for help. I have done many Jeep lifts when I lived "back home" so suspension isn't foreign to me.

The back appears to be pretty simple, the front looks sketchy unless I get new struts and assemble everything. Re-using the front struts looks like a accident waiting to happen....for me.

I do have a CDC chin spoiler to put on once the weather gets nice.

 

[ECILOP4165]

If you really want some Damn good tires I would HIGHLY Recommend Nitto INVO tires, they ride good, have low road noise and when heated they hook great! The treat pattern is very odd and is made for channeling water. IMO They are a perfect DD tire that can also hook up at those stop lights. See if they have option 2 in the INVO's.

 

[13726548]

Thanks for the reply!

My only reservation about option 2 is selection. I could run the 555s, and probably would if I go with that option. I'll have to research how they do in street/wet weather/DD role.

I thought about lowering it but the front looks like a major pain. I saw a set of springs that were 1" front and 1.25" rear that I thought would be good for my application.

Nitto 555s are just fine for street use and even for occasional track use. And they wear well too. I've had mine for 45k miles and they still have quite a bit of tread on them.

As for lowering, if you get new struts, springs, and strut mounts all at the same time it won't be that difficult since you're removing & installing the whole assembly.

 

[10GreyGT]

If you really want some Damn good tires I would HIGHLY Recommend Nitto INVO tires, they ride good, have low road noise and when heated they hook great! The treat pattern is very odd and is made for channeling water. IMO They are a perfect DD tire that can also hook up at those stop lights. See if they have option 2 in the INVO's. ��

Thanks. I still don't even know what size I am going to get. But those INVO's look like they would be a good tire for my area.

Nitto 555s are just fine for street use and even for occasional track use. And they wear well too. I've had mine for 45k miles and they still have quite a bit of tread on them.

As for lowering, if you get new struts, springs, and strut mounts all at the same time it won't be that difficult since you're removing & installing the whole assembly.

Unless I get a new job my car only has about a 10% chance of getting to any type of track. I need something approved for DD duty..dry weather, rain and maybe even light snow if I *need* to take the car on a emergency out of town type trip.

My original plan was to re-use the current struts but I have learned that is undesirable. I will get new struts and built the assembly like you are saying, I am comfortable doing that.

Thanks for the replies!



Tire size:

The thorn in my side seems to be the 8" wheels I wanted to use in the front. Ignoring the lack of variety in 285's for a minute, I thought about 245/45 Front and 285/40 Rear but I am afraid the 245's will bulge more than the rears.

I think I may try to return the rear wheels to AM and either scrap the idea or wait until I find a deal on another set. Maybe anthracite bullitts or something in 18x9 and/or 18x10.

 

[johnnyv8]

Please lower that- As long as you stay between 27" to 28" tall tire, you'll be fine. I have H&R lowering springs and it lowered my car 1" in the front, and .75" in the rear. I never had any issues when I DD it. Today is a different story thanks to the On3 turbo kit it now has. The picture below is it lowered with Continental DWS 255/40/18 (27") in the front and Continental DW 275/45/18 (28") in the rear. All the tires being recommend here are great. I know there is a thread on here with discount tire and ebay doing $100 off for every $400 you spend and their prices are already very low. I'm not sure if that deal is still going on. If you do decided to lower it, I'd recommend some better shock/struts- American Muscle has some Koni on sale and I highly recommend them. I believe a set of 4 would be under $350 shipped.

 

[10GreyGT]

Jonny,

Thanks for the reply. Seems the ebay discount tire deal expired...my luck

 

[johnnyv8]

Jonny,

Thanks for the reply. Seems the ebay discount tire deal expired...my luck

that sucks, would of been a good time to get two rear tires that are wider. If you decided to lower it, I would get the koni shocks/struts and that deal ends at the end of March (Americanmuscle).

You can check out Tirerack as well, sometimes they have steals as well. I got those 275/45/18 DW dirt cheap because they where blowing them out- Prob cuz they are a weird tire size.

 

[10GreyGT]

I just bought them from discount tire direct. 245/45 for the front and 285/40 for the rear. The $100 off expired on the 17th but they gave me a deal. My first order with them and it was very positive experience.

Once I get these tires on I will see how "bad" it looks and ponder lowering it again. I would probably go with BMR as they have a package with springs and dampers...but with my luck by the time I save the money to do it they will be more expensive.


Thanks everyone for all of the help!!

 

[fast Ed]

So did you go with the Conti DW rubber?


cheers
Ed

 

[10GreyGT]

I did not. I got the Nitto 555's.

I know I said I wanted something more of a street tire but I think once I get my bonus from work I am going to sell my current winter beater truck for one a little more reliable. Not that I have had any problems with it but I haven't really tested it on a longer trip. It has nearly 190,000 miles on it. So my Mustang will sit all winter and I shouldn't *need* to drive it.