S197 wheels on a Fox

I know a lot of guys have asked about running this setup and the general reply was there was too much backspacing.

Well in the Nov '06 MM&FF on page 168 they tackle the issue of running S197 wheels on a Fox

Unfortunately, the 18's won't work. They hit the strut in the front.

The 17's fit, but only if you use the SN95 axles in the rear. They claimed the backspacing was perfect and there was no fender rub.

They didn't specify if they were using 94-95 spindles or 96-later spindles up front, but the shot of the car with '06 17" wheels looked pretty good.

One thing though, you can't use S197 size tires. You gotta change to the fox-sized 245/45/17's

Maybe i'll look for a set of 05+ Bullitts for my Fox now. I kinda like how they look since they appear to have darker spokes than the 03-04 bullitts (which were darker than 01-02)

Well, the S197 tires are narrower (235 vs 245) but they have a taller sidewall (55 vs 45) so it will throw off the speedo and it might rub the front fenderwells since the tire has a larger diameter.


The reason this is interesting is because if you go to saleen.com, they sell take off Mustang GT parts. A set of 4 bullitt wheels with tires (Pirelli P-zero Nero) for $300 a set or $90 each wheel individually. If you take the tires off and sell them, you can recoop much of your original cost and you have basically new rims. A new 05+ bullitt is $140 each from Ford.

Another interesting item is the 12" brake setup off a GT for $60 for the pair of rotors, calipers and lines. If i didn't already have 13" brakes, i might have bought a pair just to see what it would take to put on a Fox