Agreed, however I think it depends on the wheels....my taste is not for everyone, infact, I know my taste is in the minority

 

Roy R, your car pulls it off, mainly because the rears have that deep-dish look and breaks-up the large wheel appearance to some extent. Well done.

 

No offense taken at all Nuke. And ironically I agree with what you have said. I'm in my 40s and this is my 3rd mustang. I started with a '71 coupe for 10 years, then a '96 cobra for 13 years. I fell in love with S197 retro styling and had to have one (with a Whipple of course).

And I've struggled with this wheel dilemma for some time. I really like my 18" fanblades with 235/50 tires. But I just kept thinking how nice certain newer mustangs looked with a tasteful retro 20" wheel . . . like Roy's car. Those wheels look awesome. And I like chrome wheels a lot. That's why I scored some classic 5-spoke Enkei LM-1s. Here's a picture of these on an '05 GT. Very similar to fanblades, but chrome and larger. This is Lidio's old car from Alternative Auto. He ran a 245/40 up front, so that helps on a size that works up front. I'm wondering if I could go slightly taller even, as his car was lowered.

 

I feel a flamefest about to begin...

I'm running 255/40/20's on the front, 8.5" wide wheel. 295/40/20's rear on a 10" wide wheel. I ran 275's on the rear for a while but I didn't like the look, tires had too much roll as the wheel was too wide for the tires. I think you could get a way with 275's all around if you're not going to lower it. My tire guy let me mount them up before buying, you might try that to check if they will rub.

BTW, these are sport truck radials and it rides perty decent...esp after last weeks install of the Koni struts and shocks

 

Now that's what I'm talking about. Nice car Grabberorange! Your car looks lowered for sure, and you're running a 255/40 up front. That tells me I can easily at least run that size on all 4 corners without being lowered. I could probably go up to a 255/45 without any troubles. Who cares if they are performance truck tires, they still look great.

Although once you stray from the very popular 255/35 size then prices go up considerably. But I'm still debating on whether a 275 tire on an 8.5" wheel is a good thing to do. I've seen so many positive and negative comments on this that I'm not sure what to think.

And I definitely need to find a tire installer who will let me experiment with different sizes.

 

You might be able to get by with a wider tire than what the tire manufacturer specifies for that wheel width, especially if you weren't doing a lot of hard cornering or any significant flexing of the sidewall. There's also the consideration of being denied an insurance claim if it can be proven that the accident was caused by improper use of equipment or selection of equipment. It's a longshot, I know, but something worth taking into consideration.

 

I agree totally. But some say a 275 tire on an 8.5" wheel is just absolutely wrong and dangerous. Others say they've done it with no problems whatsoever. And I wouldn't be driving super hard in corners so I'm not worried. But still . . . . the manufacturers don't recommend that size tire for the wheel.

I am finding that any size tire other than the most popular sizes of 255/35/20 and 245/35/20 are considerably more expensive. The 245/45/20s are not too bad and getting more popular.

 

wow.. grabberorange1 those don't look like 20s.. looks lowered.. nice..

oh, and +1 for those powered by ford emblems..

 

Yeah I must say that Grabber does looked lowered. Nice looking ride...

 

I see no problem taste wise with putting on a bigger tire. To each his own. Even though our stangs pay homage to their heritage as muscle cars, they are technologically well beyond that era. I find it more pleasing to have pay respect to someone willing to modify their car to suit their own tastes rather than suit mine. It's like the guys with low riders and tricked out suspension...totally not my taste, but I respect the chance they took modding their ride and the thought process behind it. Really think about it and I think you'll agree that regardless of your taste, each one of us might find the pic of the guy with those huge wheels on his stang at the gas pumps was ridiculous, but secretly you think "man, not something I'd do but that guys got some 8@115 to do that!"

That being said, I'd be concerned about safety and a potential performance hit with a bigger wheel. But if you're in it for the style, heck yeah!