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Tire sizing trade offs?

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  • Tire sizing trade offs?

    I have a '12 Brembo package Mustang with 3.73 gears. The OEM Pirellis are just about shot with 17k on them and the hunt is on for a replacement and i really want something wider than the stock 255/40/19 size. Eventually I plan to get the 18x10 f14 Forgestars but I just am not going to have the funds to do wheels and tires before this set needs to be replaced. Besides I really want a higher tread life tire set on the stock wheels so that when I do get the Forgestars I can get a nice sticky fun tire on its own set of wheels.

    Digging around the web I have found many folks running 285/35/19 tires on the stock 9" wheels that come with the Brembo package. But opinions are very divided on whether or not it is to much tire for the wheel. The other options for something wider than the OEM 255/40/19 size seem to be 275/(35/40)/19 with the diameter either being significantly shorter or taller. Last thing the car needs in stock form is more height. So, that leaves me with three options the way I see it, stay stock, Stay within typical spec for a 9" rim and go 275/35/19 and suffer the further shortening of the gearing or go with a 285/35/19 tire.

    What I can't seem to find is a good technical discussion about what the trade offs really are. Thus far all I am turning up are ' it is outside typical manufacturer spec ' vs 'I run it with no problems trust me' type forum back and forths. What am I really risking with running a 285 on a 9" wheel. Is it dangerous/ Counter productive? Any one have time to point me to a good technical source of information to read up on or have time to clue me in on some real world experience thrashing tires a bit bigger than recommended?

  • #2
    Re: Tire sizing trade offs?

    Pulled this from the 5.0 Mustang thread

    "...And mounting a tire to a narrower than optimal wheel is "possible", it isn't great for performance. Squeezed tires don't sit square on a narrow wheel, and the actual tread section gets cupped up on the ends, effectively making the tire narrower in use than it really is."

    It is amazing that this simple piece of 'why' information is actually kind of hard to find. Guess it is just one of those basic things that no one takes the time to explain and the search engines latch onto all the flame wars.

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    • #3
      Re: Tire sizing trade offs?

      Sorry for the lack of response - looks like we missed your September post completely! Yes, I have seen 285s used on the stock 19x9s, and it is compromised big time. Very squeezed into the 9" wheels. That bit you found in another thread I wrote about is why - the tread gets cupped and doesn't actually touch the ground.
      Terry Fair - www.vorshlag.com
      2018 GT / S550 Dev + 2013 FR-S / 86 Dev + 2011 GT / S197 Dev + C4 Corvette Dev
      EVO X Dev + 2007 Z06 / C6 Dev + BMW E46 Dev + C5 Corvette Dev

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