No 18 inch wheel eveyone e-mail ford and scream

question... how much do you think an upgrade to the 18 inch fanblades would cost, when they become available? im expecting the upgrade to the concept wheels to cost around 400 dollars, so i was wondering how much more yall would think it would cost to upgrade to the 18 fanblades when they become available.
 
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I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet...
Not only does a larger wheel add more unsprung weight, but it can also rob RWHP (even if the larger wheel weighs less than stock).

I can't remember all the details, but if you watch Sports Car Revolution, you would know what I'm talking about.

I think it has something to do with a larger wheel carrying more weight farther from the center of the hub. In other words, it is easier [for the engine] to turn a smaller diameter wheel than a larger one.
 
As luck would have it... the Speed channel is airing that very episode that I was talking about. According to my Dish Network guide, it will be on at 7:30 pm EDT on Tuesday and again on Friday at 10:30 am EDT.
 
SVTdriver said:
First. The lightning handles like a truck with a big motor. Trucks are not sportscars/coupes. So even with larger wheels. It will never handle anything near to a mustang. The weight distribution is just completely different.

Now as far as the contact patch between the 17's and 18's. Sure with a wider tire you will get more contact patch. But the taller tire adds next to negligible. And the larger rotors need larger tires is not entirely accurate. The porsche has 13 inch rotors just like the cobra. And they fit under the 18's that porsche has for wheels. And a porsche brakes just fine.

Amen! Brother! :nice:
 
Auburnman said:
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet...
Not only does a larger wheel add more unsprung weight, but it can also rob RWHP (even if the larger wheel weighs less than stock).

I can't remember all the details, but if you watch Sports Car Revolution, you would know what I'm talking about.

I think it has something to do with a larger wheel carrying more weight farther from the center of the hub. In other words, it is easier [for the engine] to turn a smaller diameter wheel than a larger one.

exactly. a larger wheel has a hihger rotational inertia.

anyway...who really gives a damn what it comes with anyway? I wish they would offer the GT with the base mustang wheels, or even a set of staped steel rims w/hubcaps, so I can save a grand or two on the option and put that money torard some aftermarket rims.
 
fastmustangII said:
Wheels are getting too big these days. What ever happened to big ol fat tires? Now the tires are like an inch thick..

I know... 15" rims with tall sidewall tires with raised white lettering looks pretty damn cool on old muslce cars, so maybe it iwll look good on the '05 too. Also, with thicker tires, you dont have to worry about destroying your rims on a tiny litle pothole.
 
Auburnman said:
I think it has something to do with a larger wheel carrying more weight farther from the center of the hub. In other words, it is easier [for the engine] to turn a smaller diameter wheel than a larger one.

exactly, you're talking about rotational intertia. you can get the rotational inertia of any rotating object by looking at every little bit of mass and its distance from the axis of rotation, so basically its a calculus calculation. For a hollow cylinder, I=MR^2, for a solid cylinder its 1/2*MR^2, probably the best approximation for a wheel is the hollow cylinder, since most of the mass is at the rim right? anyways, it doesn't matter cause the 1/2 is just a constant factor that cancels out if your comparing two situations.
You prolly all know F=ma, force equals mass times acceleration. Well its pretty much the same with rotation, torque equals rotational inertia times rotational acceleration. Or rotational accel = torque/inertia. If you increase the radius of the rim from 17 to 18, a factor of 1.06, you increase the inertia by a factor of 1.12 since the inertia is proportional to the square of the radius. That means you decrease your acceleration by a factor of 1.12, since the rotational acceleration is inversely proportional to the inertia. And since the linear acceleration of your car is directly related to the rotational acceleration of your wheels, if you were hittin 60 in five seconds, its gonna take you 5.6 seconds now.
Of course this is an oversimplification, but it gives you an idea of how big a role the radius of your wheels plays in straight line acceleration.
 
Wow! That's a really good explanation.

You should have seen Sean Hyland in that episode of Sports Car Revolution...it took him awhile to figure out why they lost RWHP in their Acura car after plus-sizing the wheels
 
Prometheus said:
Maybe its just me... but what is up with tire size inflation these days (no pun intended)? I seem to remember that 16s were big back in the day... anyway, I want to ride in a sports car, not a 4x4. I'll stick with my 17s, which is the limit for me.. but to each his own.



just a quick FYI: plus sizing wheels shouldn't have any effect on ride height. the idea is to keep the same overall tire height, but with less sidewall and more rim. cool?

later
steve
 
2005muzzy said:
The 2005 mustang will be my 5th owned mustang. The thing I'm sick of is that ford always makes the mustang look like it sits a bit high and has a awfull gap between fender and tire.Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of idiots that like the tire almost in the wheel well. but think the tire should fill it out more

I totally agree. I never understood why there's so much gap. All I could come up with is that drag racers need a huge gap in the back for slicks. :shrug: I recently installed Ford C springs on my Mustang and I thought, yeah, that's better, not too much and not too little. Every once in awhile I'll glance at a Stang that hasn't been lowered at all and I'll think, Jeez, what a difference 1.5" makes...
 
RICKS said:
Yes, the M3 comes with 18's, and maybe there is a 19" option. But the M3 is to the 3-series what the Cobra is to Mustang. The M3 rides extremely harsh, and is tuned for the fanatical enthusiast, who wants extreme handling. I don't think the GT should handle "bad", or that handling is not very important. But in reality, even with the 17" wheels, it will probably be a super handler. My point is that the majority of those in the market for the GT would not accept BMW M3 ride harshness. And the GT is NOT an M3 fighter, it's mission is a balance that is more toward the mainstream market (rabid speed-freak Stangnetters are not mainstream, trust me, we're lunatic fringe). I swear, I think the majority of the bitching on this forum is caused by the fact that Ford is releasing the GT first, but everybody's expectations are "Cobra" (although few here want to pony up the dough for a Cobra).

"Where's the trick hood"

"Where's all the scoops"

"Where's the more aggressive body styling"

"Where's the 19" wheels"

"Where's the 6-speed"

"Where's the IRS"

"Blah blah blah..."


The GT is not positioned in the lineup to be the holy grail of Mustang performance. It's supposed to be a great bang for the buck, great handling, great sporty looks, and easy to live with for a large segment of potential owners. And Ford will sell a TON by sticking close to the formula. If you want to lower yours, upgrade to bigger and fatter wheels, and so-on, well...... what a concept. MODIFY your Mustang!! Not to mention I'm certain an 18" wheel option will be forthcoming, if you'll just quit holding your breath and shivering, and just wait a bit. You guys just have ZERO flippin patience. You want everything, NOW, as if the design/engineer/manufacturing process involves a wand, a robe, and a top hat. If I see another "how hard could it be?" I'm gonna puke. Believe me, spend 15 minutes with a real automotive engineer that works for any of the Big 3, and you'll realize it's crazy how much work they have to do. These guys aren't "bozos". I'd be willing to bet that if a Ford chassis engineer came on Stangnet, that they could summarize the reason the 18" wheel option is delayed, and everybody here who's been moaning would sit back and go "Oh, wow, I hadn't thought of that....". They've obviously got something delaying them or giving them fits. Better they work it out, rather than just say "screw it, just bolt the 18's on the cars".
Amen Brother - I work for a tire supplier and can list several considerations that Team Mustang engineers have to grapple with to get 18" wheels and tires into production:

1. Road loads go up dramatically with 18" wheels and tires. This would require them to re-validate all durability loads into chassis components and body structure.

2. Weight of 18" wheels and tires may push the car into the next weight class (ETWC). This will require them to re-certify the car for emissions, and fuel economy. This will affect FE labels and CAFE. In addition, it would double the number of prototypes they need to do the certification testing.

3. TREAD Act starts to go into effect this year and next year most cars will be required to have tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). This will drive different wheels with unique cross-section and wheel drop to package the TPMS RF sensors. They may have decided not to tool up and 18" wheel and then have to do a new one next year for TPMS.

4. 18" wheels and tires will have higher rolling resistance which may push the car over gas guzzler threshold.

5. 18" wheels and tires may require unique suspension, steering, ABS and TCS tunings due to changes in unsprung mass, tractive properties of the tires, etc... Again this will require proper validation and incremental prototypes.

6. Last but not least, I am told that Mazda 6 and Mustang goes down the same final assembly line at AAI. They may not have enough rack space, tire mounting equipment, tire balancing equipment to handle all combinations of Mazda and current Mustang wheels. Lead time for new assembly tooling may play a role in timing of 18" wheels and tires.

Other than that it should be a no brainer for them to introduce the 18" wheels and tires and make a killing!
 
shatner saves said:
What are you getting excited about? If you don't wan't 18's don't buy them! The '05 comes with a really decent 17" wheel option. After you burn the factory tires off, you can probably get some wider ones if you want. Your car, your money. At the same time, who are you to say what belongs on my mustang?

The "mustang's ain't supposed to handle good" argument is tired and lame.

Who said "the Mustang ain't supposed to handle good"??? Maybe some on this board, but certainly not I. I'm one saying it should handle even better - with IRS. And I'm not saying what belongs on your Mustang... I said the aftermarket can supply. I said don't screw them all up.
 
SVTdriver said:
First. The lightning handles like a truck with a big motor. Trucks are not sportscars/coupes. So even with larger wheels. It will never handle anything near to a mustang. The weight distribution is just completely different.

You've obviously never been to a track where Lightnings play. They can hold their own.

FYI
'04 Lightning weight distribution - 57% Front 43% Rear
'04 Cobra weight distribution - 57% Front 43% Rear

From the SVT website.
 
Just to let you guys know, in that little estimation i did about the effect of larger rims on acceleration, i made a big mistake. That kind of a difference in acceleration would be observed if the mass of the car was negligible. Like say the work required to linearly accelerate the car as a whole was nothing compared to the work required to accelerate the spinning of the wheels. So if you were comparing two super lightweight chassis with super lightweight engines, one with 17' wheels and the other with 18', then you'd see something close to that difference in 0-60 times. It wouldn't be too hard to actually figure out the difference for real car though. I'll do it some time later though, i'll post again when i've figured it out.
 
GTPlus said:
You've obviously never been to a track where Lightnings play. They can hold their own.

FYI
'04 Lightning weight distribution - 57% Front 43% Rear
'04 Cobra weight distribution - 57% Front 43% Rear

From the SVT website.

I had no idea the Cobra's were such great track cars. From what I have heard. They suffer some oil issues when trying endurance racing. I do know that Kenny Brown has a track car. But there are not a lot of Cobra's running road races.
 
Aesthetically, I do like 18's. They look really good on the show cars that have been circulating at the auto shows. That being said, I have the Bullitt's on my current GT and I like the look. I really don't have an issue settling for a 17 inch rim.

I don't even have an issue with losing 10mm of tire width.

My problem is the profile. How can they offer this car with a 55 profile tire? That's a pretty big change from the 245/45/17 I have now. I don't get it. If 18's aren't available from the factory, I won't even opt for the 17's.

I'll drive the car of the lot with steelies and drive right to my local tire shop. :D