ORIGINAL: Valyndiir

I am not completely sure about the technical aspects of lower profile tires, but they should be able to resist sidewall binding better than tall tires would. This means you would theoretically be able to increase the force required to cause traction loss during turning. That is about as far as it goes in regards to performance enhancement. Low profile tires are stiffer which causes the tire to retain its shape better meaning it will have a smaller footprint. Consider the amount of weight you are adding to your car It probably won't help a vehicle built mostly for acceleration. Also do not exceed a tire height 3% over stock because, by mechanical advantage or dis-advantage in this situation, will cause you to apply more pressure to your brakes in order to decrease speed due to the increased momentum given by the increase of tire height. This causes a hideous multiplying factor in temperature. Of course you could upgrade to an aftermarket system offering larger and better designed hardware. Increases in tired height will, however, increase your gas mileage, contrary to a small tire offering better acceleration and deceleration, but making more rotations per mile and making your car less efficient. In conclusion I'll say they are mostly for looks and exceeding 19" will more often cost much more than they are worth. 18s would be just fine for you!

As far as width is concerned, a 1" wide tire will have less surface area than a 2" wide tire and will not be capable of gripping as well. As far as height goes where footprinting is concerned, yes, a taller tire should generally have a larger footprint, but this is insignificant when compared to the compound loss in acceleration as a tire becomes taller. Not to mention your speedometer will no longer be accurate, which is just a pain in the *** to callibrate, at least it was when I had to find speedo gears calibrated properly for my transmission in conjuction with the rear-end set up in my Trans Am. I have only just purchased my 07 GT, so I don't know what it is like on the Mustangs, but they must use a gear somewhere as well. I wish I could tell you maximum insets/offsets, but I have not read enough literature on Mustangs as of yet, I myself am curious about how wide of a tire I can safely install in the rear wells on a 17-18" x 10-11" rim with stock offsets. The characteristics between tire manufacturers however are quite variable and everything I have said is subject to variation. Hope that sheds some light on things.

ORIGINAL: fordfanboy

That sounds like a good plan. It is tough to get 20's to hook at the track on any tire.

Right now I am favoring the M&H's for DR's. My friend Paul has done very very well on them. They are his street tires and he has been laying down 1.5 60's with them. He has a Whipple at 13 psi right now and had a personal best of 6.9 last thursday with a 1.50 60' (1/8)

I was VERY impressed with those tires after that.

ORIGINAL: fordfanboy


As far as the wrinkel effect at the track, many guys make the mistake of over-inflating their tires. Depsite what MT website and many people say, you should not run more than 13 psi in your DR and 12 psi on your slick.