Need New tires currently have 285 on 18" rims. I can't find any "summer" tires larger than 285 unless in get 17" rims. I don't want drags as it's mostly a street car. Thanks in advanced
What do you use the car for? I personally love the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, and ran them on my GT500n in the front with Nitto DRs in the rear. On my 2000, I plan to run a Toyo R888 all the way around for autocross and track days. BTW, Ive had drags last 20k miles, and my last set lasted me 5k. Its all in how you drive. IMO
I run Nittto 555 Extreme 295-35-18. my car is lowered though http://i.imgur.com/1EnuMWq.jpg I couldn't run a wider tire if i tried!
If you are worried about grip, yea there are benefits to running an extra inch of grip on the tire but the cost / performance ratio is really nill these days.
The technology in a tire today is grippier that the super wides of the 60s/70s.
The tire size 285/295 for our Mustangs is what is optimal for the most grip on an 18" tire. The 17" tire gets more grip because there is room for sidewall flex, that is why 17-45-305's exist.
in the basic sense.... 12" of tire contact patch allows side wall flex to give you almost an extra 1" of contact patch for a second, giving you 24" of contact patch to each tire, on the car when you launch, hence more grip. There is not enough rubber on the side wall of an 18" wheel to do that.
if you want more grip than what a 295-35-18 or smaller tire will give you, you can help grip by doing....
1) firming up the lower control arms to plant the wheels to the pavement,
2) subframes to stop the car twisting when you launch.
3) panhard bar to keep strait line stable and corners predictable
4) torque arm to increase rear grip even more! it also helps launching and wheel hop.
so you are ultimately paying for show when you get any tire larger than 295-35-18" wheel.
you could run 305-XX-18 tire, where XX is the sidewall height. The bigger the number the more sidewall flex you get. but then you have to roll the fenders, change the computer to take into account a taller tire mileage difference and be totally ok that your car will look kind of weird. You will also have to take into account your stopping power because of the unsprung weight.