Did i waste $830 on the wheel upgrade?

GT-03 said:

Good point. Part of the package is the suspension upgrade too. Because of that, it might make getting the 18" wheels from the factory better than waiting and going with aftermarket.

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I was under the impression that Ford made the suspension upgrade SOFTER than the regular 17 inch suspension to adjust the ride for the shorter sidewalls. Don't think I would like that at all!

18" wheels

Jarod said:

I was under the impression that Ford made the suspension upgrade SOFTER than the regular 17 inch suspension to adjust the ride for the shorter sidewalls. Don't think I would like that at all!

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The tires are stiffer because of the shorter sidewalls, that's why the suspension is a little softer-the two cancel each other out so the handleing is great. I think you would like the results- I do!

One of my GT customers went with the 18s and the Eibach springs at the same time.

He came by the shop to relate that it was a LOT STIFFER than before and he was second guessing doing this.

I told him that if Tokico makes the Illuminas for the 05' GT that this would be the way to go.

I have the Tokicos and with the 5-position adjustability you can go as stiff as you want on the suspension and adjust the ride for different driving conditions. Use # 1 or # 2 setting for trips and 3-5 for working it out.

I've had KYB, Koni, and the Tokicos' have been the best.

I have the 05 GT with 17s, will be ordering an 06 next month for March delivery here in England. I'll be selling my 05 for several thou more than I paid, so it just makes sense.
I have decided to go with the 18s, but I am offered two wheel options, premium aluminum and polished aluminum. Living here I have not seen either and the brochure pics don't help - any suggestions will be appreciated.

J DeMolet said:

One of my GT customers went with the 18s and the Eibach springs at the same time.

He came by the shop to relate that it was a LOT STIFFER than before and he was second guessing doing this.

I told him that if Tokico makes the Illuminas for the 05' GT that this would be the way to go.

I have the Tokicos and with the 5-position adjustability you can go as stiff as you want on the suspension and adjust the ride for different driving conditions. Use # 1 or # 2 setting for trips and 3-5 for working it out.

I've had KYB, Koni, and the Tokicos' have been the best.

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Tokico Illuminas are dinosaurs!!!! The new Tokico D-Spec 16 way adjustables are the way to go in aftermarket shocks. P/N DSP-12

crewwolfy said:

Ford isn't going to make an option on their car be dangerous or severely detrimental to performance.

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Rod bearings.

hubec said:

Your friend is right... pretty much. A 17" wheel and tire will outpreform an 18"+ wheel, on the strip and on the road course, not to mention give you a better ride. HOWEVER a larger diameter wheel will usually also be a wider wheel, which carries a wider tire, if this is the case then the extra rubber that it puts on the ground can offset the extra weight and lack of compliance. I have no idea if the factory 18s are wider than the factory 17s (anyone?) if they arn't then you're friend is absolutly right and he will have better outright handling and acceleration than you. Not to mention he'll be able to buy much cheaper tires.

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w-t-h are you trying to say?

Adam2004 said:

18s will handle better because there is less tire widewall to flex when cornering hard. I think your friend is just jealous. I'm not sure what the weight difference is.

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No, the only difference is a 1 inch longer diameter, you can always buy different size tires for any rim.

silverado said:

I would go no larger than 18 inch. Lower your car, get some fat tires (18x9 front 18x10 rear on mine), and install some D-specs for grace and you will have all the handleing performance you will need (for a while)

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Getting fat tires for the rear will cause snap oversteer.

Filling the wheel wells

StangNut, thanks for making this important point. Personally I won't be doing any autocross or that type of driving (more straight line than anything else). I much prefer the additional sidewall. I'll be looking into a set of 17" (wider in the back; 9.5, unless the 11 will fit and look right with it's offset; I will likely make a bolt on rim/tire template for a check on clearance/appearance of 17x11, if checks out I'll test fit the rim as well before mounting tires. (companies basically say on the rims, "If you mount them, you own them")

With what I am leaning toward I will have the same diameter (circum too of course) on all 4 and just a smidge below stock.

Does anyone know the specifics of the difference between the oem 18" wheel suspension, and the oem 17" suspension ?

suspension

I believe it is recalibrated a little softer to make up for the stiffer sidewalls of the 18" tires. I have this option on my '06 GT 'vert and I love it.

I wish they made the V-6 rims in 18 inch,they remind me of Halibrands!!

The factory 18" bullett wheels are 18X8.5 so they are a little wider than the 17" rims.

fanblades are 18x8.5

Come on guys read the threads. Fanblades are 18x8.5. Which means you can only put 255's on them. I know, I have them and I'm frustrated I can't go bigger. I'm hoping some aftermarket manufacturer will make replica wider fanblades so I can go 285 in the rear. I doubt it though. Meanwhile I'm stuck with what I got. Love the look of the fanblades though. My advice get aftermarket wider rims.

I went with the 18" Premium (bullit-style). I went with the 18s because I plan to drive it year round and will need snow tires. And with a 14" brake upgrade planned... these are the cheapest 18" wheels. At least... the cheapest that look good.

If you want your S197 to handle... 17s are not an option. With a 27" tire, the 17s simply have far too much sidewall. Too much sidewall leads to a lack of turn-in response, unstable mid-corner dynamics, and an unpredictable exit. With the shorter sidewalls of the 18s (really, they are not that short... these are 27" tires afterall!) you will have a more progressive breakaway at the limit as you load the tread in a more linear fashion. With the 17s you first roll the sidewall, then the suspension compresses, then you load the tread. I hated the sidewall squirm of the factory 17" rubber under heavy loading (albeit, this was accentuated by a tall AND narrow tire).

There is an eternal debate with larger wheels and performance benefit and frankly it boils down to personal opinion & taste.
With a lower profile such as 18" you are looking at less sidewall flex during cornering thereby leading to less body roll and greater or sharper response from the suspension.
The cons is in the MI or Moment of Inertia of that rotating mass, increase in unsprung weight. Even if you go for a lighter tyre and the overall weight is the same as a 17" combo, the MI increases as the mass is distributed from the centre. Aesthetically it looks great.

The benefit with a 17" combo is less MI (if you are to switch to a lighter tyre), decrease in unsprung weight and you can possibly choose a manufacturer such as Bridgestone which makes a stiffer sidewal tyre. A decrease in unsprung weight is beneficial for the dampers and is easier on the brakes as well.

There is a benefit of a sidewall flex too. True it adds to bodyroll and negates suspension movement to a certain degree but if the right tyre is selcted then the flex generates what is termed as the "mechanical grip" of the car. Generally speaking during cornering, aero grip of the car is greatly reduced, especially downforce and the car relies on a good mechanical grip. Mechanical grip is generally induced by softening the suspension to a certain extent. (F1 cars is a good example of larger sidewall, to induce mechanical grip, play with tyre pressures and decrease in MI & unsprung weight).

I found the best setup on my Zed4 (with say an ideal ~50/50 weight distrbution) is to go for a staggered setup. In a staggered setup the front is stiffened (combination or one of stiffer springs, dampers or sway bar or all 3) but the wheel diameter is smaller and or the width of the rim is about an inch less. The diameter of the tyre is increased slightly than the rear say about 1/2 of an inch.

The rear wheel is either about an inch larger in diameter and or an inch larger in width. The suspension setup is softer by the use of softer damper, spring rate and or sway bar setting.

This induces what is termed as a slight understeer and you can throttle control the rear to negate this during mid cornering.
Lot of bimmer guys go for the 18" options (18 * 8 all the way around). But i found that the Zed behaves best with 17 * 7.5 (224 45 17) up front & 17 * 8.5 (245 40 17) in the rear, with slightly less wheel offset in the rear (in crease in rear track). It's staggered and the softer sidewalls of the Contis complements the factory suspension setup.

On my Benz the wheel diameter is an inch smaller than the rear (14" & 15") and so is the width. The Benz needs more understeer induced due to increase in natural weight distrbution towards the front and increase in rear brake bias.

I have two more sets of wheels for the bimmer (non staggered)just in case I feel like playing around but I have'nt switched to them

Maximum Motorsorts uses a 17" rim (Konig Villain 17x9) on their track car even though they have 18" offerings.