mikes2017gt
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- Feb 21, 2017
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- Location
- San Antonio, TX
- Vehicle(s)
- 17 GT Prem M/T 3.55
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- #1
This is not a review thread; it is me sharing some pics and initial thoughts on my new EC-7s in 19x10 and Continental Extreme Contact Sport (ECS) tires in 285/35-19. As my car is 99% street driven I went with a square setup for rotatability.
I purchased the wheels direct from Apex (thanks, Corey!) and they arrived in perfect condition, double-boxed. Really appreciated that. The tires I got from Discount Tire, only b/c I always buy the warranty certificates on all tires; it's saved me a lot of money over the years. Apex doesn't currently offer such a warranty but is looking into it, as I understand. Else, I'd have bought a tire/wheel package direct from them.
I wanted to mount the wheels to the car myself as I wanted to wire wheel the rust off the hubs and put anti-seize on the hub faces. So how do you get four big wheels home in a Mustang? Easy; like this:
Not shown is the four boxes the wheels came in, broken down, folded in half and stuffed into the passenger side wheelwell.
I'm a master at "Car Tetris" as I drove a Ford Focus sedan for a long time in the bad old days. I brought home many loads of 10-foot 2x4's when building out a room in the house...THAT was ugly. Today was cake.
First off, I'm a little disappointed that the Mustang wheel centers/caps do not fit the EC-7s as advertised. Not even close. Thankfully, the "Apex" center caps are not bad looking...but I wanted to reuse the Pony caps for that "Oh they are stock wheels...wait, they're not!" effect.
Second, let me throw a figure at you: 46.5 pounds of unsprung weight lost. Each stock 20x9" Foundry with a worn-down 265/35 Goodyear F1 on it weighs 11.7 pounds more than the 19x10 EC-7 with a brand new 285/35-19 on it. New vs. New, add another pound at least to the F1 combo! I can easily feel this weight difference. I always thought the stock wheels/tires felt like "lead shoes" on the car. It's a great combination; stickier tire and lighter rotating assembly. The Conti's are a lot harder to break loose than the Goodyear F1's are. Haven't' nailed it coming out of a corner yet, but I will early next week. I have a number of "I can screw around right here" locations on my work commute where I can nail it turning a corner and if I loose the rear end there's a lot of runoff room.
Stock.
EC-7
My GT is on Steeda Progressive Springs, 1-1/8" drop in front, 1" in rear. The front tire-to-strut clearance is CLOSE. Like 1/4" close. I cannot get my finger in there at all. There's nothing wrong with the tire; the light is hitting the raised lettering and it looks weird. These are also crappy cell phone pics.
I've driven about 20 miles so far; some highway, some parking lots, some side streets and I've not heard any rubbing from the front so far. To be fair, I haven't tried my "ultimate rubbing test" which is to do skidpad-type tight circles in a parking lot.
My pics are not great; sorry about that. I gave the car a very quick wash and snapped some pics as the sun was going down. I didn't take a "view from behind" pic, but can tell you that the 285s look positively monstrous and w-i-d-e as compared to the 265s.
A few "How's it fit in the wheelwell?" pics taken in the garage.
Front
Rear
So far I'm really liking this combo. The darker look will have to grow on me, but the "lead shoes" feeling is gone, the rear end sticks a lot better and the front feels more planted. So far, so good.
ps
I know: My rotors look puny. I have PP Brembos with slotted drilled discs for front/rear sitting on my bench...for more than a year. That's next.
I purchased the wheels direct from Apex (thanks, Corey!) and they arrived in perfect condition, double-boxed. Really appreciated that. The tires I got from Discount Tire, only b/c I always buy the warranty certificates on all tires; it's saved me a lot of money over the years. Apex doesn't currently offer such a warranty but is looking into it, as I understand. Else, I'd have bought a tire/wheel package direct from them.
I wanted to mount the wheels to the car myself as I wanted to wire wheel the rust off the hubs and put anti-seize on the hub faces. So how do you get four big wheels home in a Mustang? Easy; like this:
Not shown is the four boxes the wheels came in, broken down, folded in half and stuffed into the passenger side wheelwell.
I'm a master at "Car Tetris" as I drove a Ford Focus sedan for a long time in the bad old days. I brought home many loads of 10-foot 2x4's when building out a room in the house...THAT was ugly. Today was cake.First off, I'm a little disappointed that the Mustang wheel centers/caps do not fit the EC-7s as advertised. Not even close. Thankfully, the "Apex" center caps are not bad looking...but I wanted to reuse the Pony caps for that "Oh they are stock wheels...wait, they're not!" effect.
Second, let me throw a figure at you: 46.5 pounds of unsprung weight lost. Each stock 20x9" Foundry with a worn-down 265/35 Goodyear F1 on it weighs 11.7 pounds more than the 19x10 EC-7 with a brand new 285/35-19 on it. New vs. New, add another pound at least to the F1 combo! I can easily feel this weight difference. I always thought the stock wheels/tires felt like "lead shoes" on the car. It's a great combination; stickier tire and lighter rotating assembly. The Conti's are a lot harder to break loose than the Goodyear F1's are. Haven't' nailed it coming out of a corner yet, but I will early next week. I have a number of "I can screw around right here" locations on my work commute where I can nail it turning a corner and if I loose the rear end there's a lot of runoff room.
Stock.
EC-7
My GT is on Steeda Progressive Springs, 1-1/8" drop in front, 1" in rear. The front tire-to-strut clearance is CLOSE. Like 1/4" close. I cannot get my finger in there at all. There's nothing wrong with the tire; the light is hitting the raised lettering and it looks weird. These are also crappy cell phone pics.
I've driven about 20 miles so far; some highway, some parking lots, some side streets and I've not heard any rubbing from the front so far. To be fair, I haven't tried my "ultimate rubbing test" which is to do skidpad-type tight circles in a parking lot.
My pics are not great; sorry about that. I gave the car a very quick wash and snapped some pics as the sun was going down. I didn't take a "view from behind" pic, but can tell you that the 285s look positively monstrous and w-i-d-e as compared to the 265s.
A few "How's it fit in the wheelwell?" pics taken in the garage.
Front
Rear
So far I'm really liking this combo. The darker look will have to grow on me, but the "lead shoes" feeling is gone, the rear end sticks a lot better and the front feels more planted. So far, so good.
ps
I know: My rotors look puny. I have PP Brembos with slotted drilled discs for front/rear sitting on my bench...for more than a year. That's next.
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