New Guard GT w/ PP Winter Setup AMR/Dunlap

Hey Guys, so I've been driving around in my new GT for 2 weeks now and have to say I have never loved a car as much as I love this machine. The color is awesome, the interior feels luxurious even as a "base" car, feels just like a cockpit, and the performance is powerful, smooth, and sharp. I've been meaning to post some pictures but have not had time. We got our first snow in Jersey the other night and it is getting consistently cold so I pulled the summer stock set of wheels off and threw on my winter set up:

AMR Charcoal Wheels 19x8.5 Square (Thanks Alex from American Muscle)
Dunlap SP Winter Sport 3D Tires 245/45/19

I wanted to make sure that these didn't stick out from the body, especially with the different offset than the stock wheels so I went for a more narrow setup. (narrower tires also being generally better in the snow) I'm pleased to say that they don't stick out and look pretty cool I think. The tires almost make it look like it should be going off-road!

I haven't driven around on the winter set up much yet but initial impressions:

• Tires are softer, absorb the bumps a little better
• Tires make more noise at higher speeds than the stock summer tires
• Some of the crispness of the handling has been diminished, softer/narrower tires cause more pitch and roll when turning
• On the warm days the summer set was great, the dunlaps grip much better under 50 degrees

That's all I have for now, I'm putting some pictures up, they are not great, all phone pictures but eventually I'll use a real camera. If anyone has any questions let me know!

I like those wheels so much !!! Nice choice !

Me too. I'd even say I like them more than the stock wheels.

Though some reason, they look smaller than PP wheels, I think they are better looking.

Oh I know why. Your side wall is too tall. 245/45/19 is taller than stock.
Should have gotten 245/40/19 to minimize the difference.


Some of the crispness of the handling has been diminished, softer/narrower tires cause more pitch and roll when turning
It's probably a lot to do with the higher profile tires. You will roll more with taller side wall.

Are they the 2010-2014 Mustang AMR Wheels from American Muscle? Did you have to get a different offset or just ordered them as they are for the '10-'14?

I'll be buying these soon, estimated delivery 1/16.

Great color. It is one of my favorite colors for these new cars. Our local dealer has an ecoboost premium 50th anniversary appearance package car in that color with the black wheels. I wish that color would have been available for the 14's.

Your new rims look very good too. Enjoy.

Wayne

Moustache said:

Though some reason, they look smaller than PP wheels, I think they are better looking.

Oh I know why. Your side wall is too tall. 245/45/19 is taller than stock.
Should have gotten 245/40/19 to minimize the difference.


Some of the crispness of the handling has been diminished, softer/narrower tires cause more pitch and roll when turning
It's probably a lot to do with the higher profile tires. You will roll more with taller side wall.

Click to expand...

Is there any disadvantage of having the sidewall 40 instead of 45 in winter?

40 or 45 means 40% or 45% of the width of tire.
If you do the math (or let an online tire size calculator do the math), 40% of 255 is smaller than 45% of 245.
Which means the sidewall is taller with the 45 set up for his tires. So the tires are not as rigid, you lose the handling part from the tires with more cushion, but gain comfort.

Also, your speedometer will be off by 2 something %. When your speedometer says you are going 60mph, you are actually going 61.xx mph.

Moustache said:

40 or 45 means 40% or 45% of the width of tire.
If you do the math (or let an online tire size calculator do the math), 40% of 255 is smaller than 45% of 245.
Which means the sidewall is taller with the 45 set up for his tires. So the tires are not as rigid, you lose the handling part from the tires with more cushion, but gain comfort.

Also, your speedometer will be off by 2 something %. When your speedometer says you are going 60mph, you are actually going 61.xx mph.

Click to expand...

Moustache - you are right, the increased sidewall is one of the culprits in my slight loss in handling along with the narrower tire. The reason I chose this tire size was to keep them somewhat narrow (compared to stock) and also to minimize the offset difference. I also chose them because they were they closest size available to the "stock PP look" in the dunlaps (which I chose because I wanted a performance winter tire, the reviews are pretty good, and they have over 100$ in rebates right now).

If I had more money I probably would have bought the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 in 255/40/19 square. The total difference between these and the dunlaps were about 600$ so it was an easy choice for now... next time though

Youngmustang said:

Is there any disadvantage of having the sidewall 40 instead of 45 in winter?

Click to expand...

Youngmustang - I think the increased sidewall will help gain some traction as the tread should be a little deeper but more importantly it will help protect the wheels from the inevitable Jersey winter potholes.

Greg15 said:

Are they the 2010-2014 Mustang AMR Wheels from American Muscle? Did you have to get a different offset or just ordered them as they are for the '10-'14?

I'll be buying these soon, estimated delivery 1/16.

Click to expand...

Yes, these are the ones listed for the 2010-2014 mustang. I checked with Alex the American Muscle Rep. on this site and he assured me that they would fit and true to his word they went on like a glove. Just barley clear the front caliper though

Gurzo28 said:

Moustache - you are right, the increased sidewall is one of the culprits in my slight loss in handling along with the narrower tire. The reason I chose this tire size was to keep them somewhat narrow (compared to stock) and also to minimize the offset difference. I also chose them because they were they closest size available to the "stock PP look" in the dunlaps (which I chose because I wanted a performance winter tire, the reviews are pretty good, and they have over 100$ in rebates right now).

If I had more money I probably would have bought the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 in 255/40/19 square. The total difference between these and the dunlaps were about 600$ so it was an easy choice for now... next time though

Click to expand...

Ah, I see they don't make 245/40/19 Winter Sport 3D.
Hmmm, on Tirerack, the difference between the Dunlops and Michelin is $300. Still big difference.

Your Donlops 245/45/19 vs Michelin 245/40/19

$1,110 after rebate
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...VR9PA4XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

$810 after rebate
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...R9WS3DXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Moustache said:

Ah, I see they don't make 245/40/19 Winter Sport 3D.
Hmmm, on Tirerack, the difference between the Dunlops and Michelin is $300. Still big difference.

Your Donlops 245/45/19 vs Michelin 245/40/19

$1,110 after rebate
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...VR9PA4XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

$810 after rebate
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...R9WS3DXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

Click to expand...

Haha.... the Michelin's didn't have a rebate when I ordered my tires.... :frusty: Oh well, next time! And I really wanted the Michelin's in 255/40/19 which is where the big price difference was I think.

Moustache said:

40 or 45 means 40% or 45% of the width of tire.
If you do the math (or let an online tire size calculator do the math), 40% of 255 is smaller than 45% of 245.
Which means the sidewall is taller with the 45 set up for his tires. So the tires are not as rigid, you lose the handling part from the tires with more cushion, but gain comfort.

Also, your speedometer will be off by 2 something %. When your speedometer says you are going 60mph, you are actually going 61.xx mph.

Click to expand...

Don't speedos go by the driving wheels? In this case, the rear PP tire is 275/40/19 which is exactly equivalent to a 245/45/19.

Oh, so rear wheels are actually slightly taller than fronts.
Didn't realize that.