Questions about FR500 wheels and tires

[Reimann]

I need to get new tires for my '02GT and thought while I was at it I might was well put on some different wheels. I really like the FR500s and I think I am going to go with the original Ford 18-inch FR500s, not any of the replicas. I'll probably order them from Partshopper. My questions about them are about tires. 1990StangLX recommended I put 265/35R18s on the front and 285/35R18s on the back. While I trust Beau's judgement I'd like to get a few more people to weight in on this before I spend a lot of money on them. This is just for a daily driver road car, not a racer of any sort. If these tires are good for these wheels/car where is the best place to get them at? Can I get these at any tire store or do I have to go online somewhere? Does anyone know of a place online that I can order the wheels with the tires already mounted?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[stang976]

great rim choice.. but i wouldnt put such wide tires on the front. i would go with 225 or 245 on the front and 275/285's in the rear.

 

[Reimann]

You're not feeding me a bunch of are you?

 

[rpburnette]

I agree, great choice. I was actually considering getting the FR500's as well. Does anyone know if they will fit a 02 GT with cobra front brakes.

Let me know what size tires you end of getting.

 

[stang976]

You're not feeding me a bunch of are you?

 

[Reimann]

Would different sizing throw off the spedometer? If so, what size should I go with to make it read right?

 

[87gn2]

tire diameter determines how the speedo reads. stock mustang gt diameter is 25.7". yokohama avs sport 285/35/18 is 25.9, no big deal. unless i'm stupid the fronts don't matter, so you can go with the 265/35/18 which is 24.4". if you want the same diameter front and rear 235/40/18 is 25.7", but a taller sidewall on the front than the rear looks a little weird.

remember that 18" ride quality sucks ass.

edit: the bigger the wheel, the bigger the brakes you can fit inside it.

 

[Indiana]

You can figure out the over all size of the setup you want and compare to what you have now. If you go with bigger wheels, but shorter side-walls it may not change enough to matter.

The formula is:
Wheel size * 25.4 + ( 2 * width * sidewall) = total height

Wheel size in inches, width in mm and sidewall as a percentage.

An example- 18" wheels, 285/35's

18 * 25.4 + (2 * 285 * 0.35) = 656.7mm or 25.85"

17" wheels 285/40's

17 * 25.4 + (2 * 285 * 0.4) = 659.8 mm or 25.97" (Actually taller! but only by 0.12 inches.)

I don't know how accurately manufacturers size thier tires though.

 

[87gn2]

Yes, sometimes tires can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

 

[highvolts]

Check this out to know the speedo differences between tires.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[Marks5.0!]

I agree, great choice. I was actually considering getting the FR500's as well. Does anyone know if they will fit a 02 GT with cobra front brakes.

Let me know what size tires you end of getting.

yep they will fit with the cobra brakes
as far as tire sizes i would go for 265/35 in the front and 285/35 in the rear

 

[kah9911]

Great link. That one is getting saved.

 

[Reimann]

Thanks for the help guys. I am more confused then ever! ^_^ Lets just simplify it this way; If I go with 18-inch FR500s with 265/35/18 on the front and 285/35/18 on the rear is my spedometer going to be off or will the car's ride quality suck? If the answer to both of those is "no" then that is what I will go with.

 

[Marks5.0!]

if you want the speedo to be exact then i would just run 275/35, there the same height as the stock 245/45
http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct/brochure/info/tmpInfoTireMath.jsp
theres another site where you can compare your current size with what you want to run

 

[millatime]

do yourself a favor and save some money...get the same diameter front and back so that you can rotate your tires

 

[Ghostface]

definitely not 225 in front with 9 inch wide wheels, the wheels will stick out for sure. I have 245/40/18 on my fronts and my rims are 8.5 inches wide up front. i have about a 1.7 inch drop and no rubbing ever, and also no tramline, plus it looks perfect imo.

 

[Reimann]

So 275/35/18s all around for it to run right and not have a crappy ride? (my head is starting to hurt) Now, can I get these at any tire store?

I think tomorrow I am just going to go to a wheel/tire store and talk to them and see what they say. Hopefully someone there will have had experience putting 18-inch wheels on a Mustang.

 

[Reimann]

Oh, and any brand preference? I kinda favor Goodyears but that is just because they have a kickass blimp!

 

[Dallasgt01]

i have 265/40r18s front and 305/30r18s rear i am lowered bout 2"s i just got to NTB and have them dismount the tires and flip them

 

[DriveGT46]

I have the FR500 on my 98 GT. AWESOME wheel!!!!! Front wheel sticks out a little bit, but makes the front end look a little meaner. I have 265 all around. I would like to get wheel spacers to match the rears with the front width wise. Over all i love them. I have parelli P7000 265/35/18. They handle awesome. I also got mine from wheelreplicas. Great Customer Service.