Can't Decide on 17" or 18" Saleens
 

I have a 04 Silver Mustang GT. It is completely stock except for a grill delete and chin spoiler. I am in need of some new tires so I want to go ahead and get the Saleen rims that I've been eyeing for a while. Since my car is not lowered and I don't plan on lowering it, I want to know what size will look better on my car, 17" or 18". I have read numerous threads on this forum about this and am afraid that if I go with 18" my car will have that high 4X4 look since it hasn't been lowered. I also don't want the wheel to stick out to much from the fender/wheel well. I have attached a pic of my car. I appreciate any help you guys can provide.

18's will help fill that fender wheel gap from the fender tot he tire!

Just gotta think about the price of tires too, 17's will be cheaper thats for sure!

+1 what he said. Tire price for 17" will be cheeper.

Also the 4x4 look you're worried about is the gap from the top of your tire to the top of the wheel opening in the fender, so a larger wheel will fill this gap and look less 4x4. Lowering springs also decrease this gap.

If you have your heart set on the Saleen style wheels you may not have a choice. I'm pretty sure all I've seen in that style are 18" wheels. If you've found a place that sells them in 17" sizes please post a link.

I thought about this for awhile myself. I went with the Saleen 18's. I havnt posted pics yet.... in fact I only mentioned what I bought to one other member. But def. spend the extra money and go with 18's. Besides, they dont make 17" Saleen rims so if you want em' you have no choice!

well they make replica ones, just not authentic Saleens

going with 18's is NOT going to help fill the gap because of the smaller sidewall on the 18" tire. When you go from a 17 to an 18" wheel you want to try to keep the wheel/tire combo close to the same total height so you don't throw off your speedo. What you are gaining in wheel you are loosing in tire for the most part.

Actually a 245/45/17 combo is ~25.68" in diameter
while a 265/35/18 combo is ~25.30" in diameter

That makes the 18 inch wheel actually smaller than the 17 making the fender gap larger. You can check out different sizes using a tire calculator like this one...

Tire Calculator

yeah i have yet to find 17' Saleen wheels replica or not yet. +1 on posting a link if there is one.