SC set up tires/wheels

[5.0Black]

Hi Everyone,

I have started doing some research, but have not found much regarding super chargers and summer tires for street use that can help me put some power down. I wanted to give some information on what I have found and see what you all would recommend by comparison.

For the sake of time I will only provide suspension and power adder add on's as I don't think drivetrain mod's will make a difference. My 13 GT track pack has a Roush Phase 1 kit with VMP tunes (91 and 93 octane) along with the Ford Racing Adjustable suspension kit (drop is ~1 inch according to Ford). My current tires, which are still new, are Michelin PS4S tires 255/40/ZR19. The car is just a handful presently in gears 1-2 and sometimes 3rd. I planned to upgrade my tires and wheels later, but I feel after my last scary experience I need to expedite my plans for it. Power wise VMP stated I should be around 600-625hp at the crank, tq wise I am unsure. I told them my tire size at the time of tuning so they may have made the car more conservative in the bottom end.

I would love to stick with Michelins as I think they make a great tire, but it has been fairly hard to find PS4S beyond 285mm tire, at least on tire rack. I know there is a sacrifice on what is more important but there are some wonderful twisty roads in my backyard. Looking for a good summer tire that gives great handling but helps me put down more of my power to make the first 3 gear's safer. From what I have found 19x 8.5 inch wide tires up front would be ideal given I have the OEM brembo's and 19x10 inch in the rear. Tire wise it seems like 255/40/zr19 is more than good enough and a minimum of 285mm would be required in the rear. From what I have read 10 inch wide rims in the rear don't require any spacers and fit fine while being safe on a 305mm tire under aggressive cornering. The other tire I was considering were the Nitto 555G2 tires. I can find this in a 305mm, but this set up will cost me more as I would have to by matching fronts. What are your thoughst on 285mm vs 305mm on my car as well as wheel sizes given my power?

 

[Riddick]

You need a drag radial or a toyo r888 if you want to hook. No ordinary tire is going to get the job done. For longevity I would suggest the Nitto 555R as wide as you can get. There are better drag radials available but these will last the longest by far and still provide good traction.

I would go with a 305 hands down, if you decide on Nitto they do run a tad narrow. I have 18x10s with tons of clearance still running a 305/40/18 Nitto 555R. On my last set of wheels I ran 20x11 with a 315 and it still cleared on a lowered car.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[fuelforfire87]

+1 on the nitto NT555R 305/40R18. Running that tire as well. Good traction on the street and also the longest life out of any other drag radial. Hard to find drag radials in 19" so I would recommend going down to at least a 18" rim in the rear to gain gain some sidewall for more traction. The NT05R comes in a 19" 305/35/19 if you're dead set on sticking with 19". Also Mickey Thompson makes their ET Street SS in a 305/35/19.

 

[5.0Black]

+1 on the nitto NT555R 305/40R18. Running that tire as well. Good traction on the street and also the longest life out of any other drag radial. Hard to find drag radials in 19" so I would recommend going down to at least a 18" rim in the rear to gain gain some sidewall for more traction. The NT05R comes in a 19" 305/35/19 if you're dead set on sticking with 19". Also Mickey Thompson makes their ET Street SS in a 305/35/19.

Thank you for the response. I am still researching all of this. My first crack at really messing with changing tire width/sizes so its a learning process for me lol. I would like to stay 19 inches if possible. The drop on my mustang currently is perfect for me, I fear if dropping to an 18 that a fatter tire may look a little more funky, or ruin the drop that it has. I am also looking into doing BMR UCA and LCA to aid in traction as well. I didn't do them previously because I was concerned about NVH. Wheel wise I am really liking the looks of the RTR tech 5's in gloss black. Figure 10-10.5 in the rear and 9.5 in the front.

You need a drag radial or a toyo r888 if you want to hook. No ordinary tire is going to get the job done. For longevity I would suggest the Nitto 555R as wide as you can get. There are better drag radials available but these will last the longest by far and still provide good traction.

I would go with a 305 hands down, if you decide on Nitto they do run a tad narrow. I have 18x10s with tons of clearance still running a 305/40/18 Nitto 555R. On my last set of wheels I ran 20x11 with a 315 and it still cleared on a lowered car.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

Thanks! Yea I looked into the Toyo R888, the tread life seems to be in line with the cup 2's, which would basically mean swapping tires every year/~5k miles. I think the main concern I have with the Nitto's is cornering ability vs the Michelins. I know it is a trade off between handling and straight line traction, just looking for the right balance. Yea, I have nixed anything at this point that doesn't come in a 305mm for the rear lol.

 

[5.0Black]

Just as a sit rep. Right now I am looking at Vorshalg Momo SF 20 wheels, it is really the debate of square 11 in wheels all around with 305mm Michelin PS4S tires, or 10 in front 285mm and 11 in 305mm back. Main difference will be if I want to pony up extra money for what is required to run 11's all around vs nothing extra.

 

[5.0Black]

Update. Went ahead and ordered the Vorshlag Momo RF 20 wheels. I decided on going staggered as I did not want to mess with camber plates at the present time. The front set up are 19x10's and the rears are 19x11's. Please note the rear's require an adjustable pan hard bar. Tire wise I will end up purchasing Michelin PS4S 275/35/ZR19's for the front and Michelin PS4S 305/30/ZR19's in the rear. The wheel's will take 8-10 weeks to come in, I will post updates as I get them.

 

[SHIFTYBUSINESS]

I have a set of the new Nitto R555r2 305 35 r19. So far I'm happy with them, first real tire Iv'e had on the car. Hooks fairly well in 2nd and all of 3rd none of which happened before.

 

[5.0Black]

Hello Everyone,

It has certainly been a long road between Vorshlag moving their facilities, tires being on back order and tossing more power at my car. I have put roughly 600 miles on my car and I wanted to share my initial impressions.

Untitled by Sean C, on Flickr

Untitled by Sean C, on Flickr


The installation of the wheels, tires and alignment went very smoothly according to the shop that handled this. While I know looks are subjective, I just couldn't be happier with the design and contrast pop of he heavy metallic silver against the tuxedo black body of my Mustang. I find the design is enough to be a subtle attention grabber, but not overdone.

Untitled by Sean C, on Flickr

Going beyond the looks of the wheels, they fit fantastically well (pun intended for the wheel well). I don't know what offsets Vorshalg is using to get an 11in wide rim to fit like OEM, but they did it. There is no poking, which means my paintwork can sleep more soundly at night. Now onto the part that most people will probably care about when searching for a wheel and tire set up, performance.

Untitled by Sean C, on Flickr

Both handling and straight line performance feel like a marked improvement. I find that my Mustang is able to carry and hold more speed in a corner, but what is more important is that the car feels more composed than before. Perhaps it is my imagination, but it just seems like my car doesn't get as squirrelly and I can get on the throttle sooner on my corner exit.

Moving to straight line thrills. I feel my original post was underselling how poor my tractions were. Gears 1-4 could all bite you. White this set up isn't perfect, there feels to be a noticeable difference. Launching the car is hard and something I am still figuring out. I find myself pedaling the car and if I am too aggressive I will have to provide some counter steering. From a roll things are a little better in 1st, but it is a dicey gear imo when going to WOT that requires loads of finesse. 2nd gear gets better, from a roll you really don't to worry much unless your road is trash, or you just mash the throttle. A mild ease into WOT hooks. Going from 1st to second under WOT is dicey. I have gotten it to hook, but I have also had the rear tires spin some. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd on out is all easy day. No traction loss or remotely scary experiences to report. Same can be said from a roll. I haven't done any of these launches and pulls back to back, and I do feel the weather could be playing a part in my traction. Right now the temps are low to high 50's during the day, which isn't really ideal for a grippy summer tire lol. I think once warmer weather hits traction will continue to improve.

Final thoughts, so far I am beyond happy. I wasn't going for a street legal radial. I wanted to keep the OEM wheel size and find a tire that would provide a noticeable impact on WOT traction while increasing lateral grip. This set up has done just that. I feel I can now enjoy my Mustang for the first time since going SC'd.

Untitled by Sean C, on Flickr

Notes:
-Wheels: Vorshlag Racing Momo RF 20's. 19x10 front and 19x11 in the rear.
-Tires: Michelin PS4S 275/35/ZR19's for the front and Micheline PS4S 305/30/ZR19's in the rear.
-Information note listed Vorshlags web page that they will tell you via phone: 19x10's front and rear require nothing extra for fitment. 19x11's need an adjustable rear panhard bar in the rear, and if using 19x11's in the front you will need adjustable camber plates. The wheels do not come with TPMS/valve stems and the stock lug nuts work just fine.
-Power: 587rwhp and 525tq (91 octane) tuned via AED.

 

[GNBRETT]

At 600 whp with 19 inch rims them Michelin's are gonna be a skating pond going down the hi way! There is really no point in making that much HP with useless tires like that.

Those pilot sports work great in the rain as I have them on my DD Golf R but its useless for making power and hooking up!

At least put a decent DR on it before u end up in the woods!

 

[5.0Black]

I don't have issues hooking up on the highway. I stand by the feedback I provided. It is not perfect, it has its faults, and it is a noticeable improvement that I am happy with. I am grateful for the feedback I received here and it gave me some great starting points. Ultimately the trade off in tread life as well as handling vs straight line traction has to be made. I wanted the best balance I could have, and given that my Mustang will see course time, a DR was a no go. I have one set of wheels that I need to find balance on all aspects. My research has lead me to this and I am happy with my results.

 

[Riddick]

Car looks good on that set up. The PS4s are a pretty damn good tire, as Brett said just be careful with them.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

[5.0Black]

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

No I hear you, and I appreciated Brett's concern lol. As Uncle Ben said "With great power comes great traction issues." A thin max performance summer tire on a high hp/tq car can bite you easily. Some people just aren't aware that you have to finesse a high power car on thin summer tires in its lower gears especially. EDIT: The last sentence was not addressed at anyone in here, wanted to clarify.