Widest tire for '00 GT?

[Blacksahara]

My 2000 GT has factory wheel and suspension. I'm due for new tires and wondering what's the widest tire, or tires if rear can be wider than front, I can run without affecting steering?

I just got into Auto-Xing it so would like a little better cornering.


Also, if I decide to go with new wheels (I like the Cobra R wheels), what's the largest wheel diameter to fill in the wheel wells, and what width wheel and tire should I go with? Factory suspension setup has a large gap between top of tire and wheel well.......would like to fill this in without spending the money to lower it.

Any help appreciated......and pictures would be great to see your setup.

 

[bhuff30]

If you like Auto-X, then I wouldn't go any wider than 245s all around on stock wheels. The stock wheels just don't have enough width to handle a wider tire well.

I'd say you would be a LOT better off to buy street tires, then another set of tires you run at the track. You can pick up a set of take off factory 17s pretty dang cheap to put your auto-X tires on.

I don't think a wider tire will help you THAT much in auto-X. The problem of poor suspension geometry will still exist, preventing you from making good use of a wider tire (no extra tire will be no the ground in a hard turn!).

Having said that, you should be able to run a 275 on a 9" wheel in the front. People here have stuffed some rediculously wide tires in the rear, on some 10" wheels (like 315?!). You might like 275s all around though.

I'd say the tire you choose will have a lot more impact than width. Choose something with big tread blocks and plenty sidewall support. I was very impressed by my Yokohama Avid H4S. With those and a couple other mods, I was running equal to most STOCK miatas on street tires.

 

[Jbauer]

Factory 17s can carry a 275 no problem at all.
The widest tire you can run in the front with no issues is going to be 275.
315s arent really recomended on a 10" wheel.
I've seen 335 in person on 17x10.5s in the rear.

There is no tire rim combo in the world that will fill up your wheel wells without looking bad because that for one: would require a larger overall diameter tire/rim combo- which will jack up the car and make it sit even more like a 4x4.

 

[Blacksahara]

Cool, thanks for the info guys.

Yeah, it would be nice to stay with the same size tire all around since it's a daily driver and I like the idea of even wear..........although, I would consider a wider tire out back.

So, excuse my ignornance, but what is my factory width for my 17's?

Also, should my backspacing/offset change if I go with other wheels, or keep it the same as factory?

I've done the Auto-X once, about a month ago, and will probably do 4 to 6 a year at most. Just mainly for fun, not really to dump money into. I like the idea of keeping it stock to compete...........I have a Jeep that I dumped my money into for wheelin' But, I have seen some good deals on craigslist for wheels and tires and wouldn't mind getting a larger diameter wheel, if nothing more than just for the look.....I dunno. Raising it up off the ground is a good point that I'll have to consider more. Maybe I'll search around for some pics and see if I can get the specs.

 

[hotstang_46]

Your stated goal in your first post........ Cornering...

1. Don't even think about a 275 on an 8in rim. I can't even imagine all the sidewall flex you'd have when cornering hard with that size tire on an 8in rim, not to mention I think it looks stupid. I think you'd most assuredly hurt your handling.

2. Don't know anything about auto x and it's regulations, but the money you'd spend on new rims and tires would give you a real nice start to a great suspension set up. You'd feel like you're driving a new car. I'd definately take that route with cornering being your biggest priority.


get new tires, but instead of the rims.....shocks/struts, springs, Camber plates....$600 bucks or so for all 3 if you shop hard

the widest tire I'd go with on an 8in wide is a 255.....

 

[Jbauer]

I'm running 255 45 on the factory 17- and IMO they look just perfect. I think every mustang with factory 17s need to run that size in the rear. It fill up the rear end gap nicely- but your car will sit about .4" higher in the back. that extra 10mm width does look noticably better than the 245 in the rear too.

Your going to need to lower the car eventually- you can't escape it.

 

[SVT32VDOHC]

If you are gonna auto cross, but the stock 245-45-17's if you have stock wheels. Going wider will cause problems because a 275 isn't designed for those wheels. If you want 275-40-17's get some 17x9 replica wheels.

 

[scupking]

Go with a nice set of 255/45-17s. As others have said, that size seems to work very well with the stock rims. It will be a little wider and a little taller then stock.

 

[bhuff30]

Most suspension mods will bump you out of the stock class. You can do struts and shocks, and I beleive tires of they meet requirements, but that's it. Stock classes tend to be very competitive and difficult do well in, especially with a mustang. You'll be up against camaros with a lot more power and a factory pan hard bar in the rear . I ran in street mod in the 88 2.3, and it was a lot of fun. It was usually only me, or me and another duface who had to many wierd mods, so I got several first place plaqs for it. haha

First of all, do not put a 275 on a factory wheel and expect it to go around a corner. It may 'fit' but nothing less than a 9" wheel is recommended for a 275x40 by any tire manufacture. In the rear, a lot of people get away with it, and don't expect it to corner or handle well, but that doesn't mean it right!

The factory wheel actually measures closer to 7.5", but it's still called an 8".

 

[hotstang_46]

If things have to be "stock"....

couldn't he put a bullet/mach 1 ...shock/strut/spring conversion on and be good to go?

 

[Mustang5L5]

1994-1995 Cobras came factory stock with 255/45/17's on 17x8 wheels. Ford backed down to a 245 on the 8" wide wheels after those years

 

[Blacksahara]

Cool, thanks again to all that replied.

If I stay with the factory wheels (8") it sounds best to go no wider than a 255....that's cool with me, every little bit helps.

Didn't even consider doing any suspension mods, but it's a good point, considering I have 130K on the stock components.........I know they'll need replacement soon anyhow, so why not upgrade! I'll just have to review the rulebook to see what all I can do, and still stay within the stock class. Any links or recommendations to suspension mods?

In my first Auto-X, I thought I did well, beating out a Camaro SS, Charger SRT8, a couple other Mustang GT's.....I think I got 6 out of 10 in my class. Didn't hit any cones in the 5 runs I did either.....maybe I wasn't pushing it hard enough either. I shaved off 6 sec. from my first run to my fifth run, but I did have a passenger for the first two runs. One thing I noticed was if I went through a corner to hot the front end would plow through the corners....felt like the outer tire was hopping across the pavement. I was able to kick out the ass-end pretty good when I needed to. Coming off some of the corners the inner rear would light up pretty good.....lots of fun!

I run the elcheapo tire-rack Sumitomo tires ($63 per) and have 65K on 'em, so I imagine spending more to get a stickier tire would help. Although the fact that they are almost bald probably helps somewhat!

 

[scupking]

Cool, thanks again to all that replied.

If I stay with the factory wheels (8") it sounds best to go no wider than a 255....that's cool with me, every little bit helps.

Didn't even consider doing any suspension mods, but it's a good point, considering I have 130K on the stock components.........I know they'll need replacement soon anyhow, so why not upgrade! I'll just have to review the rulebook to see what all I can do, and still stay within the stock class. Any links or recommendations to suspension mods?

In my first Auto-X, I thought I did well, beating out a Camaro SS, Charger SRT8, a couple other Mustang GT's.....I think I got 6 out of 10 in my class. Didn't hit any cones in the 5 runs I did either.....maybe I wasn't pushing it hard enough either. I shaved off 6 sec. from my first run to my fifth run, but I did have a passenger for the first two runs. One thing I noticed was if I went through a corner to hot the front end would plow through the corners....felt like the outer tire was hopping across the pavement. I was able to kick out the ass-end pretty good when I needed to. Coming off some of the corners the inner rear would light up pretty good.....lots of fun!

I run the elcheapo tire-rack Sumitomo tires ($63 per) and have 65K on 'em, so I imagine spending more to get a stickier tire would help. Although the fact that they are almost bald probably helps somewhat!

Haha I just ordered the 255/45-17 version of the HRTZ ($67 a tire). I will see how they are. I don't do Auto-X, I just want to go strait fast.

 

[Blacksahara]

Cool, yeah, I'll most likely order that same when the time comes (next couple of months before inspection). Will have to check and see if there is a 255/40-17, otherwise the profile is larger than factory.

The one thing I noticed with this set was they seemed to cup slightly on the outer tread within the first 10K or so. I also had to get them rebalanced. My factory tires held up great with no uneven wear and no need to rebalance for 65K....it's just that the sidewalls got hairline cracks in them......could've prolly went to 75 or 80K on the factory tires if it wasn't for that. But at double the cost I couldn't see buying them.