Wide wheel and tire combo in 17" or 18"

[qwkpony]

I am planning on getting my wife a set of black and polished bullet wheels for Christmas to replace her silver 17" bullets on her vapor silver '08 GT and want to replace them with an aggressive looking set of wheels and tires. I like 17" wheels for accelleration purposes but 18" would be fine. I am not interested in 20" or any of the bling bling looking wheels (no offense). What wheel AND tire combination (in the black and polished bullet design) looks really agressive? I want the wheel tire combo to really give it a really nice agressive look without rubbing problems and without too much difference in the overall diameter of the wheels so her 3.55 axle still works well to give good acceleration. Her tires now are 235 55 17s. Pictures would be great!! I would even like to see pictures of wide and aggressive bullet wheels and tire combinations even if they are not black/polished. Thanks!!

 

[Casey4s]

I have 18x9 and 18x10 Black Bullets with Nitto 555, 255x40 on the front and 285x35 rear. If I had it to do again I would get a taller and wider rear tire like 295x40. The 35 rear tire is 26" tall and the 40 rear tire is 28" tall. The bigger tire fits perfectly and gives the car a better stance. (IMHO)

View attachment 345044

 

[kooldawg6]

I agree that the car looks more aggressive with the taller rear tire on staggered wheels be it the Bullitts or many other deep dish wheels. I know mine aren't Bullitts, but you can get an idea of the taller/wider rear tire and the stance it gives(mine is 100% stock suspension). I run 18x8.5 with 255/45 and 18x10 with 295/45 no rubbing issues at all.

 

[qwkpony]

Thanks for the initial input folks. Casey4s, That looks sweet. I checked diameters and it looks like 555s in 255/45/18 up front and 285/40/18 in the rear may be the ticket. Anybody have some rear view photos as well to show the aggressiveness of the width?
I agree there are some 20" wheels that are not too blingy but with those small sidewalls there are ride issues and really significant drag racing issues as a result of the small sidewalls. My wife wouldn't accept the rougher ride and I don't want to lose any of the 60' performance. Thanks for the comments though.
More photos please...

 

[kooldawg6]

Pics you want...pics you get
My rear wheels are +45mm offset. It puts the tire right to the very edge of the fender lip

The Nitto 555s next to the OEM KDWS(235/50-18)
Front:

Rear:

Right after I installed the wheels/tires and before I washed the car, but shows underside view and tire clearance.

 

[qwkpony]

thanks Kool! How did that taller rear tire affect your accelleration? I imagine you felt a little loss but I guess that would depend on your starting ratio as to how much you might feel it.

 

[kooldawg6]

I don't really know how it has affected my acceleration I never took it to the track with this setup. Since drag racing season is over, I also toned down my tune as well. I dropped the shift RPM from 6500 RPM back down to 6200 RPM and also changed the shifting pressure from +20% back down to +5%. Both of those changes alone changed the way it runs. I got this tire/wheel combo mainly for the look. I do enjoy the added handling, but I will have dedicated 17" with ET Streets on the back for drag days next season. it won't be long now before I get dedicated winter tires for my Fanblades for the snow.