Hey guys, Im having a hard time trying to decide what I should get for a set of tires. My stock ones are pretty close to worn out and I just found out one has a nail in it...

Next year I plan to hit the track a few times through the year so I need something with performance. Road track, not drag track. But I also use my mustang as a daily driver about 7 months out of the year. It never sees winter, but does see rain. However I could probably avoid rain if necessary. As far as upgrades its completely stock, but Im hoping for a tuner/cia and a suspension upgrade for early next year

Im a total newb to tires and would love some feedback from fellow mustang owners.

Thanks
Kevin

 

what size and width rims?

 

Im not exactly sure offhand. I believe their the stock gt premium wheels.

 

17" or 18"?

The 17's are 17x8.

The 18's are 18x8.5.

You could move up to either 255/50-17 or 255/45-18 without upgrading the wheels, although for road course work on street tires you really want rims that are relatively wide for the tire size that you choose instead of being down at the minimum recommended width for the tire.

For the track time you'll want a summer performance tire for the better cornering response. Don't get too carried away with treadwear numbers or treadlife guarantees - they don't mean too much with track time thrown into the mix.


Norm

 

Mine are 18's. So I can go upto 255/45 with my 18". what brand should I go with? I see alot of people going with nitto, I'd have to go to the states to get them but I probably will anyways because of the huge price difference.

Also would I have any troubles with the wider tires on the front?

Kevin

 

Within the Nitto lineup, the best choice for a dual-purpose street/road course car is the NT05 (not the NT05R, which is a drag radial).

I'm running the original Goodyear Asymmetrics in 255/45-18 on GT500 wheels, but I might switch to the NT05's in 275/40-18 next time around. I've never noticed any problems, and 255/45-18 was the OE front tire size on the 2008 GT500's (on 9.5" wide rims).


Norm

 

when I go to the nitto website and type in 18'' wheel ford mustang I get choices of invo, motivo, and nt555. Do they make the nt05 for my rim?

 

i have the nt555's and i like them, but i know they could probably be better

 

with a treadwear of 200 how fast will day to day driving wear them? Ill probably only see the track once or twice a year.

 

Looks like the only 18" size that's really suitable for the car is 275/40-18, which needs a wider rim than 8.5".


As long as you have an alignment that suits your driving and keep your pressures good, you ought to get 10,000 miles per 100 treadwear in up to moderately hard street driving. Autocrossing and track days will shorten that some, but it's kind of hard to say by how much.


Norm