Ok I called AM today...
The guy convinced me that the 18s are the better way to go since my car still has a good inch or so gap between the top of my tire and fender well with my current 17s. The 18s should close in that gap. Also his opinion after physically seeing both the Anthrocite and Hypercoated wheels is that he thinks the Anthrocites look better. So with this all said I think I will go with the 18 Anthrocite setup. He then said the 18inch wheel layout for the Anthrocites on their website are incorrect..

He said he would set me up with...
- 275/35s for the front
- 285/35s for the rear
I told him I hated those shoestring tires and didn't like 35s so he said he would change both to 40s...
So here is what I would get...
- 275/40/18 front
- 285/40/18 rear
** He said my current lugnuts should work too..

Ok, now after all that I found they are out of stock ....
Hopefully he said I can get them next week.

 

Well, 35s look better IMO. Granted, it's an 18" wheel, but it's certainly enough tire. Handling will be better than with a 40.

 

Hey PC,
My question is how much difference in height is a 35 vs 40. I guess this is measured in millimeters right? So 5 millimeters difference is not much.
Since my drop is only 1.25 front and back, my goal is to completely fill the gap as much as possible. My thought was that with the 35 height tires there would still be a bit of gap.
Also I was informed by people with 35s that those tires absorb more shock from the road then a taller tire so you feel more vibrations. So this is why I thought a 40 might be better. But again, I don't think there is much difference between a 35 and 40 is there?

Do you have 18 inch wheels on yoru car PC? How much is your drop? Your stance looks sweet.

 

I hope I don't throw too much of a wrench in your plans here. I HATE the 18" combos from AM because the front wheel is a deep dish wheel. I think deep dish on the front just looks silly. Check out the pics on their site to see what I'm talking about. It might not bother you so much.

http://www.cruizinconceptswholesale....HEELANDTIREPKG

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...Wheel-Tire-Kit

ETA- I just noticed AM now offers an 18x8 Anthracite Bullitts. I would get the 18x8/18x10 Anthracite Bullitts with 265/35-18 and 285/35-18 Nitto NT555 tires. $1391.12 with the discount code I can give you.

 

I have 17s and my drop is....low, but thanks. I think it's as low as you can go without fully compromising the suspension geometry without having coilovers, haha. I have bilstein dampeners and H&R super sports.


the 35 is only 5 mm smaller, but it's also a ratio with the first number. I can't really explain the science of it myself, but say you have a 275/35 tires, and a 265/40 tire, they would really look about the same height since the sidewall would just begin to wrap around sooner on the 275/30, whereas the 265/40 will have a more 'straight' edge look to it.

But if you have a 275/35 vs a 275/40, that will make the over all diameter of the tire larger, and will have an impact on your speedometer/trip thing/etc.

My rear tires are 315/35, and at the time of this pic the fronts were 275/40s, you can tell how the rear tires wrap around quickly and the tread starts where as the front tire has a pronounced (and worn-out ) edge.


And I'll go ahead and say 275s suck up front, at least with 17x9" wheels. After I went to 255/40 life has been much better.

 

Hey White,

I have taken a look at the 18x8 and 18x9 front wheels
From the photos I see, I personally like the 18x9 deep dish front better.

18x8 front (Non Deep Dish)



18x9 front (Deep Dish)


But you think the 35 tire height would be better than the 40?

 

Hey PC,

Yeah I was going to go with the HR Super Sports initially cause it was supposed to add up to a 2inch drop in the front. The American Muscle guy told me for my car that would be to much of a drop and convinced me to go with the HR Race springs.. Those just applied a 1.25 drop in front and back. It's was hard though cause I wanted to do the full 2 inch. So now I am just trying to make up for that by adding the 18 wheel.

I read how they come up with the height of the tire.. The number is basically the percentage of half the width of the tire. So if I am adding a 275x35 in the front
the math would be 35% of 275 or .35x275 = 96.25mm Tall . This is my understanding anyway...

Why did you say you thought your 275s sucked on your 17x9 wheels?

 

Don't like 275s in the front because wider tires track the road easier, so they would make me follow every small dimple, curve, and line in the road. Also, when turning at full radius they rub against the inside of the fenders, and control arms, and now I no longer have ABS are result (though don't really need it). The ABS sensor wires for the front brakes run right behind the fender wells and the rubbing of the tire against the fenderwell first melted the fenderwell then chewed right through the cables. Then that must have tripped something in the TCS module because even after replacing the cables I haven't got any ABS.

Difference in width is substantial

 

Hey PC,

That's strange you ran into that rubbing problem, and sorry to hear that you did.

American Muscle seems to have sold 275 front width combinations to many people and you are the first persons I have heard complain of rubbing and wearing through ABS lines. AM claims that their tire combinations have been thoroughly tested and found not to rub.
Maybe your HR Super Sport 2inch drop contributed to the rubbing. That is interesting though and I will have to send a poll out to try to get others feedback on that.
I may just have to stick with the smaller 255 width in the front to play it safe.

 

The lower cars are usually the ones that have the issue, anyone with super sports or the Eiabach Pro kit has the same issue with rubbing.

 

Yeah, that is another reason why they preached to me against doing the 2 inch drop.
Hopefully using the 18inch wheels to makeup for the extra gap I won't have the rubbing problems. AM told me the 275x35 or 40 x 18 should fit the front of my car without rubbing.

 

I do like the deep dish in the front to for some reason

 

So far I think I will order this... And use White's coupon (Thanks White).

18s Anthrocite $1,404.99

• (2) 18x9 Anthracite Deep Dish Bullitt Wheels
• (2) 18x10 Anthracite Deep Dish Bullitt Wheels
• (2) NITTO Extreme Performance NT555 275/40-18 Tires
• (2) NITTO Extreme Performance NT555 285/40-18 Tires
• Free Mounting & Balancing
• Free optional nitrogen fill
• Fits all 1999-2004 Mustangs

I am leaning toward the 40 height cause
- It is only about 1/2 inch difference in 35s
- The 40s will absorb less road shock making for a better ride quality
- The extra 1/2 inch I believe will completely close in my fender gap making it look better

I hope to place order next week cause they said they are currently out of stock on those tires.
I know I have been procrastinating on this, but to me new wheels on your car is like a major transformation and I want to make sure I am doing it right.
I like to do as much research as possible before I fork out 1400.00 dollars. Plus I think by expressing all the angles this will help others to better decide their new wheel purchase too .

Here is a helpful link to an AM tech article showing the best tire to wheel fit on the 94-2004 mustangs. This is helpful
http://www.americanmuscle.com/99-04-tire-sizes.html

 

Nice choice, I think you made the right decision with the Anthracite. I still am not a fan of deep dish front but as long as you like them that's all that matters.

I am getting bored with my wheels. I am tempted to replace them with TSW Nurburgring's in 18x9/10

 

Hey White...

I think you should get the Anthrocites too and we can be twins...haha.

I am like you where you don't like the deep dish fronts, I don't like those shoe string tires.
Like in your picture those tires look like 30's or like an inch high. I seen a mustang today where a guy had those shoe string tires ..they were 30's on a 20 inch wheel.. I thought it looked terrible.
I can somewhat appreciate the 35 only if it is tucked all the way into the wheel well with no gap. Other than that I think 40% is the way to go where you have like 4 inch high tires. But I think the 18 inch wheel is nice to be used to fill the gap and make the car look more lowered without lowering it to the point of causing poor ride quality.

 

Here's a white mustang with chrome bullits... Don't look to bad.

 

I like those too, that's what I had planned to put on my post college-graduation/big boy job Mustang. lol

Chrome on white, however, really not a fan. Not a fan of chrome at all on Mustangs to be honest.

 

I have learned over the 3yrs I dont like chrome much anymore