I'm thinking of buying new wheels but I wanted to understand the idea behind choosing something like an 8 in front and a 9 in back for example. Obviously it gives the car more of a muscle car look and even traction advantage but how does the maitenance work with things like rotation?

 

Depends on the tire. If you go with a 255, than yes, you can do a 8 in the front and a 9 in the back. But I think when you mention a muscle car look, you are talking a staggered look. Meaning big meats in the back, and slightly smaller up front to give it a more aggressive stance. In this cases, its about tire width and side wall. You don't have to go with a more narrow tire up front.

For example, I run 17x9s all the way around, but run 255/50'17s up front, and 275/50/17's in the back. The larger side wall (50's), gives the car a slightly lowered look, and with the smaller 255's up front, I have an older school look. Some people go with a 45 or 40 side wall tire up front to have it sit a little bit lower and accent it even more.

28hopup also runs a simular setup I think, 235's up fron, and 275's in the rear I think. His car sits really nice.

 

Thanks Todd. Here is the car in street trim:




You're right about the dimensions too - stock Pirelli 235's up front, and 275/50R17 Nitto NT450's in the back. Those are the stock 17x8" Bullitts too. To the OP, I used my handheld tuner to change the speedo by adjusting the tire revs per mile. Obviously, I cannot rotate my tires now, but the improved look is worth it IMO.

 

So what's the life expectancy for the tires in a situation like that? Is it shaved by a quarter or even half? I mean on the other side you don't have to fool with rotation but I would guess that perhaps you are just replacing the rears more often ?

 

John Force style burnouts are what kills my rear tire tread life, not the lack of front-to-back rotation.

Actually, I don't light 'em up on the street. The pic in my sig is me roasting my drag radials at the track. I haven't had the Nitto street tires on for too long, but the seem to be wearing well. I just wished they were stickier in the rain. Faulken is the only other tire co that offers the 28" dia 275/50R17 size tires, and I wonder how they perform in the rain.

Regarding wear on the fronts, well I kept my stock Pirelli's when I had the Nitto's installed, so when the fronts wear out I already have tires to replace them. Once those are toast, I will probably mount up the 255/50R17 Nitto NT450's so my tires match (a mild pet peeve of mine, but not enough to throw away tires with life left in them).

 

Bill,

The Nitto is a harder tire, so tends to last longer, but because of that, its not quite as good in the rain. I too was looking at that same faulkens cause I noticed they are 28" as well. The Faulkens got better ratings than the Nittos you and I run on the street, so i will be giving them a try. Plus I plan to put Faulkens on the wifes mustang once I sell the POS explorer.