Stock 18 inch vs 17 in wheels

[RNAIL]

Well ladies and gents, been some time since I posted. Gave up my '97 3 years ago and missed it ever since.

I've decided to purchase a new 2006 GT. I test drove one the other day, and loved the ride and handling. I believe it had 17 inch rims. Started doing some research later and found out that some come with 17 in rims and others are upgraded to the 18 inch rims. I like both, but the polished aluminum 18 in look real sharp.

Question - is there any noticable difference in ride quality with the 18 inch rims - i.e harshness.

I'm over 40 now, so I'm not looking to mod it too much. I will enjoy the pleasant cruising and an occassional spirited drive. Guess I'll probably have to go test drive again - oh well!

 

['06 stang]

I have drove both and I like my 17's alot better.

 

[GOLDENPONY]

Wheels

I have the 18" Fan Blades on my '06 GT 'vert and I like them a lot. Ride is good, handling is great. When you order 18" wheels, they re-calibrate the suspension so you still have a good ride. By rights, the tires should last a bit longer because of slightly larger diameter. I think they look better in the wheel wells than the 17" too.

 

[RNAIL]

I went to the dealership today. They were closed, probably a good thing. I looked at all the cars. It seems that all the cars with 18 inch wheels have BF Goodrich G-Force TAs, while all the 17 inch wheels have Pirelli Nero Zeros. Any comments on these. The tread pattern on the Nero Zeros, does not look as aggressive as the G-Force TAs.

Thanks for any comments in advance.

 

[GOLDENPONY]

Tires

I have the BFG's on my 18" wheels. I like this tire very much. These are the first set of BFG's I have ever owned-In the past I always bought Michelins. I have 12K miles on them, have driven them on dry roads, wet roads, and snow. So far they are wearing very nicely, they are quiet, they are smooth and seem to hold the road like glue. I'm sold-when these are worn out I will buy 4 more just like them. My opinion.

 

[SinCityVogel]

Go 18s if your not going to do any mods. or 17s if you plan on aftermarket wheels later.

 

[killertomato]

The big diffrence between the Pirelli and the BFG's is the type of tire. The Pirelli's on the Mustang Gt are M+S all season, rated as all season ultra performance tires on tirerack. (Just got an 06 Stang with these 2 weeks ago) While the BFG's are summer ultra performance rated tires. This means you shouldn't use the BFG's when it gets cold. Both tires have good reviews form people who purchased them aftermarket. I have seen it mentioned on this forum and on tirerack that the 18's shorter profile makes for a stiffer side wall which helps with the 17' issue with rollover. I got the 17;s and plan to go aftermarket for my summer tires.

 

[cowtown]

Pretty much voice the same as above. I have the 18" polished and I love them. I drove both 17 and 18" Auto GT's and by and large they feel and handle very similar. The 18"s are a bit firmer but mainly by virtue of the stiffer sidewall. The BFG's grip very nicely in dry and wet and while not an exceptional winter tire are rated for it as well.

And in my personal opinion, I think the 18" really fill out the wheel well a lot better than the 17". I can really notice it if I park next to another GT or v6 2005+ with 17s on there.

The cars with the 18" wheels from what I read elsehwere only have slightly adjusted shock valving to compensate for the slightly heavier wheel.

Whatever you pick I'm sure you'll love, but the 18" Polished are a no brainer pick IMO.

 

[RNAIL]

I drove both today, and both seem to be good for all around ride and handling. The 17's are exceptionally smooth on all surfaces, with good handling. There is a slight but noticible difference between them and the 18's. The 18's had just slightly more road noise and slight firmer feel. Seemed that the handling was slightly flatter in the turns.

In the end, I think you are right, can't go wrong with either decision. Will just boil down to preference of whether I want more smoothness/quiet on the road, or slight better road coarse feel.

 

[anthony05gt]

My car came with 17's and I changed over to 18's. I liked both, only in a different way. 18's is the max IMO. I wouldn't want the ride to be any stiffer at all. If you plan on big brakes you may want to consider the 18's.

 

[iskwezm]

I have the 18" Fan Blades on my '06 GT 'vert and I like them a lot. Ride is good, handling is great. When you order 18" wheels, they re-calibrate the suspension so you still have a good ride. By rights, the tires should last a bit longer because of slightly larger diameter. I think they look better in the wheel wells than the 17" too.

larger tires have nothing to do with lasting longer, the treadwear rating or compound used will determine the lifespan..................and theres nothing recalibrated on suspension for the 18" wheels,the shock valving isnt even noticeable, but i guess we charged for it. I personally dont like my 18's. they groove track on the freeways here

 

[anthony05gt]

I have the 18" Fan Blades on my '06 GT 'vert and I like them a lot. Ride is good, handling is great. When you order 18" wheels, they re-calibrate the suspension so you still have a good ride. By rights, the tires should last a bit longer because of slightly larger diameter. I think they look better in the wheel wells than the 17" too.

Whether you have 16's, 17's, 18's, 19's, or 20's, they have the same overall tire diameter or at least as close as the available sizes will allow.

 

[boss377]

Still using the 17" Bullit rims, which I like very much, but do want to switch to 18" for the slightly better lateral control. The problem is the cheap cast wheels that 90% of guys buy are much heavier. Everyone seems to ignore this problem for the sake of appearances. The Ford 17's at about 22-lbs are already at the upper limit. The 18's most people are buying are 26-28 lbs!!
That's totally unaccepable for a road car. Any gain in better cornering is tossed out by the added weight. Forged wheels like the Fikses and HREs are the way to go, but are very expensive. However, the reduced weight at each corner would be one of the most noticeable mods you can do. So that's my view. $150 rims can fly under my wifes radar, but $1,000 rims would crash and burn without some skillful convincing!

 

[bigcat]

get the steeda wheels. i think they are 18x9.5 and are lighter than stock.

 

[hethj7]

The big diffrence between the Pirelli and the BFG's is the type of tire. The Pirelli's on the Mustang Gt are M+S all season, rated as all season ultra performance tires on tirerack. (Just got an 06 Stang with these 2 weeks ago) While the BFG's are summer ultra performance rated tires. This means you shouldn't use the BFG's when it gets cold.

FYi - My 18" BFG's that came stock on my 06 are rated for mud and snow. It doesn't mean they'll perform well, but they are rated for it.

 

[Pennywise2]

The 18" polished bullitt wheels look great in my opinon!

 

[killertomato]

Anyone know what the stock 18's weigh?

 

[93GrunT]

Anyone know what the stock 18's weigh?

Their website says 30.70 lbs for premium 18" fanblades, and I only see 17x8 bullitts. They weigh ~ 25-26 lbs. depending on the finish though. 4~6 lb. increase depending on wheels. I would assume the 18" factory bullitts would be similar to the fanblades, but I can't confirm it.

 

[cowtown]

I heard 3-4# heavier than the 17" but again I couldn't confirm that 100%.

Still using the 17" Bullit rims, which I like very much, but do want to switch to 18" for the slightly better lateral control. The problem is the cheap cast wheels that 90% of guys buy are much heavier. Everyone seems to ignore this problem for the sake of appearances. The Ford 17's at about 22-lbs are already at the upper limit. The 18's most people are buying are 26-28 lbs!!
That's totally unaccepable for a road car. Any gain in better cornering is tossed out by the added weight. Forged wheels like the Fikses and HREs are the way to go, but are very expensive. However, the reduced weight at each corner would be one of the most noticeable mods you can do. So that's my view. $150 rims can fly under my wifes radar, but $1,000 rims would crash and burn without some skillful convincing!

Yeah I know the 16" Weld draglites I had on my last couple stangs made a world of difference as far as how nimble the car felt. I actually had some cast 17" ROH wheels with yokohama rubber. Nice tires and wheels but my weld's with 16" Michellin Pilot's felt and handled better. At the limit the 17"s would undoubtedly work better but for general road driving I found it to be the case.