dlazrael

I picked up a set of charcoal '11 GT/CS OEM wheels... 19" and awesome... IMHO, Check my garage for the pics

Norm Peterson

My best guess is that it's different people answering. And partly due to people from before cutting back their forum involvement just tired of answering the same questions. For those who are mainly (or only) concerned with appearance, 20 has kind of been the default wheel size for quite a while - pretty much to the point where 20 is just another part of "the standard modification program formula" that "everybody who is anybody" follows.


18's generally provide better ride quality because there is typically a bit more sidewall height from the higher profiles needed for the tire to have sufficient load capacity. A 255/35-18 would not be expected to ride any better than a 255/35-20, but that 18" size isn't nearly big enough to be properly fitted to any 3500-lb car. The 255/45-18 is, and has about another whole inch of sidewall to flex and take the "sting" out of more of the bumps and roughness.


It would be pretty easy to blame the Mustang's two main (and physically bigger) competitors for making 20's look a little more acceptable in general. The more you see Camaro SS's and Challengers with 20's and short-sidewall tires, the more "common" it starts to look. At that point, people aren't really looking at the proportions critically (like you might when you have to bend over and hoist 60 lbs or more off of and back onto the lugs - even 18's start to look pretty big under those conditions).


The car in my avatar has 18x9.5 FRPP/SVT/GT500 wheels with "3-season" tires and the OE 18x8.5 bullitt-style wheels with the OE BFG all-seasons for the winter. I'm currently looking at either 18x10.5 Enkeis or 18x11 Forgestars all around with 285-wide tires for this year's road course track time. Unless I end up upgrading the rotors past 14" or all of the good 18" tires disappear from the market there is zero chance I'd ever consider 20's (and I'd seriously begrudge being forced into doing so).


Norm

Tanner05

IMO, 20s look better on 10-14 Mustangs and modded 05-09s. 10-14s seem visually more broad and a bit larger overall, so they can carry a 20. Lowering is also a big factor, if you aren't lowered I wouldn't go with 20s.

DAD_23

^ this for sure. If you don't lower and get 20s it will look like truck wheels/tires.

I think the size to get also depends on the type of wheel you are looking to get. Many wheels look great 18s but IMO the "spoke" style like SVE or RTR look a bit better at 19 or 20. You would still of course need to lower with 20s

calistang05

Yeah I ran 20's for a couple of months before lowering mine, and everybody that I seen told me that my car look like I had a lift kit on. Defiantly lower if you plan on 20's.

Andy13186

I have 19s on the front and 20's on the rear. It looks good, but the straight line traction from the rear has not been satisfactory on any of the tires ive tried including pilot supersports. Its fun though. Maybe with a manual 400+ hp car there is simply no hope for traction on street surfaces with anything other than drag radials or some of the very soft compound tires.

TheDivaDanielle

Food for thought:
the 2005 Mustang came with 16", 17" and 18" wheel diameters from the factory.
the 2014 Mustang comes with 17", 18", 19" and 20" wheel diameters.

we're moving on up.

Norm Peterson

But is it really and truly forward progress or are they just chasing what seems to sell?




Norm

TheDivaDanielle

Well those 15" brakes certainly aren't going to fit on anything smaller than a 19" wheel.

2005Redfire6

18s for me