Do you guys think that 18" wheels are too small for the S197 Mustangs? I have an '07 GT and can't decide whether to go with 18's or 20's. I do like the shelby series wheels from american racing in 20 inch. I'm still not sure though. Is there a loss of handling or performance with the 20's?

 

20" are going to add unsprung weight to the car, so you might end up handling a little differently. You'll also end up having not much tire on the rim. That said, 20" rims DO fit quite nicely inside of the S197.

Personally, I think the 18" are the way to go on a 05+. They fill up the wheel well enough to give an aggressive look, they wont kill the ride too much due to a shorter tire, and don't cost an arm and a leg when it comes to tires.

 

Bigger = slower.

He really nailed above IMO. Personally, I would never go with any rim larger then an 18 on a Mustang. Not only will it slow the car down, but make your traction suffer when launching. But, if you prefer the look....

 

20's slow even a GT down a lot. I test drove an auto GT on 20's and couldn't for the life of me get the tires to break loose

 

Yeah, good call fellas. I'm going to have to go with some 18's, but the question is: staggered or non staggered wheels? I've had some 10.5 on the back of my stang before, but I like to rotate the tires and a tire that wide for the rear is just not as avaliable at the local tire shop as other sizes.

 

what mods do you have planned? if you're gonna be adding a lot of power, you might need the wider tires to help with traction.

 

Your basic bolt on's, gears and eventually a blower. How wide would you recommend?

 

9" front and rear. Keep them the same size. Makes tires easier and cheaper.

there's no need for super wide tires on the S197's.. they have better rear end setup which gives more traction (and more wheel hop but that's another story) than the SN95's. Going wider than 9" rim will only add unnecessary weight to the rim, exactly the same way as 20's would. Keep it simple 18x9 all around.

 

I agree with redneck. With 9" you can go with 275's and they will look great. I have an off-set on mine and run the 315's in the back, but as a third car, I only put about 5k miles a year on my car, so I really don't care about tire wear and rotating.

 

That makes sense to have the 315's on a car that's only used sparingly, but for a daily driver the 275's would be just right. My stock wheel/tire setup is still brand new and will do for now, but in the mean time I will be concentrating on the performance mods first. I have the 18x9's on my list for sure though! Thanks...