Staggering tires

I run totally different height tires on my car...they are 2.5" difference in height!
Committing to AS tires, you really cut your options down for staggered sizes in 18. You won't want a 285/35-18 as it is about 1.2" shorter than your stockers! The 285/40-18 is only a few tenths shorter than stock. If are dead set on getting AS tires you should get deep dish 18x9s all the way around with 275/40. I don't know what the FR500s weigh as I mainly got them for looks. I can tell a huge difference between the weight of the 235/50 on the fanblade compared to the 285/50 on the FR500!!!!! The car is much quicker on the stockers, BUT doesn't handle anywhere near as good.

Here is a good pic for comparing the diffence in tire height


Here you can see how much shorter the 285/40 is than the 285/50 (above) (that is Laura's tire/wheel on the back of my car)

Oh snap, I just replied on Mustangforums to ya......sorry didn't see it here. Good Luck though, I got my setup through American Muscle, decent joint to work with.....and I went with the recommended tires............However my wheels are not Deep Dish, I wasn't going that route.....it's not my bag baby ;p

275/35-20 (10") rear 255/35-20 (9") front with no issues, just check the wheel offset and get the right set. Ask Laura about that...

svtwin73 wrote:275/35-20 (10") rear 255/35-20 (9") front with no issues, just check the wheel offset and get the right set. Ask Laura about that...

Lol, ain't that the truth.......

Well, now I'm looking at Nitto 555's lol. They seem to be extremely popular. Knowing they are a summer tire, but they seem pretty alluring for those dry months.. Anyone have the joy of using them in the colder weather and/or in the rain? Or just experience with them lol.

Also how is handling and cornering with this setup? My mustang don't corner well to begin with having stock suspension, but just curious what it would do to it.

I ran the 555 dr's for quite a while. Pretty decent tire. I'm not in the habbit of driving my car in the rain but the couple times I got caught in the rain they seemed fine. And that was w/ most of the tread gone.

i am picking up the 555rs for the rear. 315/35/17 ( i think). the 555rs are probably the most popular dr for the street with the cobras. decent reviews in the rain too. prob not great for a dd though

Oops, meant the Nitto extreme performance NT555 tires, not the drag ones.

They come cheaper from discounttires.com but just a quick link.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/nitto-nt555-285-40-18.html

I had the NT555 on my car and they were good in all areas except for near/below freezing and snow! They aren't meant for that and it shows quickly! I couldn't even get around well in a light dusting of snow a few years ago, but just this Tues/Weds, my OEM BFGs did really well in the 3 or so inches that were on the ground. Ask Ed how the NT555 is in the snow and I'm sure you may see some colorful language The Dunlop SP Sport 9000 puts the NT555 to shame though!

hmmm, I'll take a look at those Dunlop SP Sport 9000. Do you currently use them as your summer tire? I'm thinking of maybe going the summer/winter tire route..

I am soooo going to get chewed out by my dad.. he doesn't like me throwing money into my car, especially now after I wrecked it. He is so closed minded and doesn't understand why I love mustangs (I still board with my parents). That is another reason why I am a bit reluctant to get another set, plus I have to find a place to store them.

kooldawg6 wrote:I had the NT555 on my car and they were good in all
areas except for near/below freezing and snow! They aren't meant for
that and it shows quickly! I couldn't even get around well in a light
dusting of snow a few years ago, but just this Tues/Weds, my OEM BFGs
did really well in the 3 or so inches that were on the ground. Ask Ed
how the NT555 is in the snow and I'm sure you may see some colorful
language The Dunlop SP Sport 9000 puts the NT555 to shame though!

Seriously, these cars were not made for snow!!! I don't care what kinda tire you put on it!!!

alkemist wrote:hmmm, I'll take a look at those Dunlop SP Sport 9000. Do you currently use them as your summer tire? I'm thinking of maybe going the summer/winter tire route..

I am soooo going to get chewed out by my dad.. he doesn't like me throwing money into my car, especially now after I wrecked it. He is so closed minded and doesn't understand why I love mustangs (I still board with my parents). That is another reason why I am a bit reluctant to get another set, plus I have to find a place to store them.

Yeah, he's probably wishing you would stop wasting money on your car and move the hell out already!!!

Oh and IMO, Duncraps are one of the worst tires out there. That's just me though.

The Dunlop SP Sport 9000 is a summer ultra high performance tire and I'm not even trying to run them in the wintery stuff. I've never had a problem with them yet and they were on there from early March up until about a month ago (20K miles or so). They aren't cheap at near $300 a corner

I called Nitto, about the 555 before I bought them ( I Run 555's all the way around not the R's just the Street 555's ) But anywho, they told me they do not recommend using these tires below 32 degrees, due to the rubber gets hard (freezes) and well then your SOL! Someone else threw out there keep the stock tires and wheels, and run them in the winter. I'd say that's pretty darn good advice.

Besides, with that new crap they put on the roads, up here anyway, no way in hell would I want to run a nice set of wheels in the wintertime.

vack wrote:I called Nitto, about the 555 before I bought them ( I Run 555's all the way around not the R's just the Street 555's ) But anywho, they told me they do not recommend using these tires below 32 degrees, due to the rubber gets hard (freezes) and well then your SOL! Someone else threw out there keep the stock tires and wheels, and run them in the winter. I'd say that's pretty darn good advice.

Besides, with that new crap they put on the roads, up here anyway, no way in hell would I want to run a nice set of wheels in the wintertime.

I had a few instances when the temps dropped and they wouldn't hold as well as they did in warmer weather, but that is common with nearly all of that performance type tire. i was still very plesed with their performance and they are relatively inexpensive The only reason I replaced them with the Dunlop was because I wanted a taller rear tire and Dunlop are taller than the Nitto. I knew from the start, to keep my stockers as I'd be switching out during the winter. Also, I bought another pair and mounted the DRs on them. Not the best wheel for drag racing, but it kept the cost down and the wheel is a perfect fit for the MT.

Spring-Fall setup


Drag racing setup




Winter setup


..and here are some other great comparison shots of the size difference of my nice weather setup
Yes, those are the same diameter wheel. The rear tire makes it appear to be an optical illusion...