First Impression: Advanti DST HY Hybris wheels and Sumitomo HTR Z III XL tires

Crappy OEM P Zeros didn't work well with FBO and it was getting pretty scary after WMI and turbo upgrades.

Since rear tires were getting bald and 19" PP wheels are on the heavy side (~32 lbs each), I took the opportunity to upgrade both wheels and tires (slightly wider in the rear). I chose Tire Rack as they are reasonably priced, have wide range of selection, and have packages that you can just bolt on.

Justification for my choices:

1. Advanti DST HY Hybris: They were lightest 19" wheels carried by Tire Rack for S550 Mustangs. At 20 lbs, they are 12 lbs lighter per corner for total loss of 48 lbs.

2. Sumitomo HTR Z III XL: It has pretty decent reviews, and ratings seem good enough for DD use.

3. 255/40s in the front: Even P Zeros were good enough for the speeds that I turn at. Didn't want to add weight and rolling resistance. Tire rack shows HTR Z III XLs weighing same as P Zeros for the same width.

4. 285/35s in the rear: To gain additional traction for low end torque. 285s weighs 2 lbs more per tire, for total gain of 4 lbs.

5. Overall net savings of 44 lbs of unsprung/rotational weight.

Observations:

I have about 350 miles so far after the swap. Losing 44 lbs of unsprung/rotational weight and having better tires made a huge difference. Sumitomos at room temperature felt softer and sticker than P Zeros after a drive. New TPMS modules worked from start without needing to program them.

1. Steering response increased by a large margin. It's to a point where I need to adjust how I steer on left and right turns, as I'm often overshooting target lanes after the swap.

2. Car feels much nimbler while changing lanes.

3. WOT for passing or going up the highway ramp no longer cause the rear to feel squirrely.

4. Slightly better throttle response.

5. I can apply over 50% throttle from the stop without worrying about causing a Cars and Coffee incident. Traction control still kicks in when doing near WOT, but it recovers much quickly without fishtailing into another lane.

6. Similar improvement for sharp turns. Before, I couldn't give move than 25% throttle without starting to lose traction.

7. Much better cold weather performance. Both are classified as Max Performance Summers, but HTR Z III XLs felt much better than P Zeros at high 40s/low 50s.

Wheel and tire upgrade made my car much more fun to drive, as I don't have to consistently watch my throttle. If I had to start over again, I'll definitely do wheels and tires before WMI and turbo.

Bonus content:



Thin spokes make the brakes very visible. To save additional weight (~9 lbs total) and make things look less blah, I upgraded the front rotors with EradiSpeed+ 2pc units today(unfortunately, they don't make the rear ones for EB). I'll do a separate write-up once they are broken in.

Looks great. I hated the P Zero's on mine. I had the same problem, anytime the temp dropped to 60 or lower I could light them up. I had about 5000 miles left in them but found myself having to hold up on passing opportunities in the cooler weather knowing I didn't have the traction to pass. Wish I could have sprung for the lighter wheels and brakes that's go to feel great.

Banjo said:

Wish I could have sprung for the lighter wheels and brakes that's go to feel great.

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If you are limited on budget, wheels provide much more bang per buck than rotors.

four wheels: 48 lbs of savings for $976 or ~0.05 lb/dollar
two rotors: 9.2 lbs of savings for $745 or ~0.01 lb/dollar

I'm another fan of the Advanti DST series, have titanium mirror 20" Sveltos on my car. You really can feel the weight loss.

Bull Run said:

If you are limited on budget, wheels provide much more bang per buck than rotors.

four wheels: 48 lbs of savings for $976 or ~0.05 lb/dollar
two rotors: 9.2 lbs of savings for $745 or ~0.01 lb/dollar

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Am I reading that right - $745.00 for (2) brake rotors?

The wheels look great - nice choice!

Sumitomo is a really good tire; I used them on my prior 1995 BMW M3 a few years ago and never had any issues with them (ie: performance, quality, tread life, handling and good in any weather condition). Most don’t know it, but they manufacture tires for Dunlop.

Bull Run said:

Wheel and tire upgrade made my car much more fun to drive, as I don't have to consistently watch my throttle. If I had to start over again, I'll definitely do wheels and tires before WMI and turbo.

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Nice write up, thanks! I tell people all the time the first upgrades they should make are to wheels/tires/suspension/brakes. Go fast stuff is fun, but you can't use it all the time, especially if the stuff connecting the car to the ground isn't up to the challenge. Things that make the car handle better can be (and are) used every time you turn the wheel or step on the brakes, which makes them a far better investment if you're looking to improve the fun-to-drive factor. And unlike power upgrades they also make the car safer, so it really should be a no brainer.

Cobra Jet said:

Am I reading that right - $745.00 for (2) brake rotors?

The wheels look great - nice choice!

Sumitomo is a really good tire; I used them on my prior 1995 BMW M3 a few years ago and never had any issues with them (ie: performance, quality, tread life, handling and good in any weather condition). Most don’t know it, but they manufacture tires for Dunlop.

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Yes sir, they are indeed $745 for the front pair.

They are made in the USA and they are manufactured locally to me, so I figured I'll support a local business and picked up the rotors in person. 10% military discount was a nice bonus, too.

They are really nicely made pieces, have zinc plating, and also have thickness as stock rotors (most of the weight savings is in the aluminum hat).

Thanks for the info on Sumitomo, I didn't know they made tires for Dunlop.

I didn't do any testing prior to the rotor swap, but found an article that showed about 10ft improvement and better fade resistance over stock rotors on EB PP, for repeated stops from 60 MPH. Since rear brakes of EB PP also are same GT's, I'll also swap rear rotors out to have matching rotors and shave little more weight.

This article also has step by step instructions for those who never replaced rotors before (pretty easy).

Had a chance to do some warm weather driving recently. Ambient temperature was around 80F and I was on the shoulder of the highway to do some direction checking. I got back on to the road with a slow roll, and gave it about 80% throttle once I was fully on. Car took off and I didn’t feel any traction issue. These tires felt much better in colder weather than P Zeros in the summer, but man, they really do grip when the road’s warm.

I had a chance to do a near WOT acceleration from stop at night with ambient temperature around mid-60’s. It did lose traction and rear end felt squirmy for a bit, but still did much better than P Zeros. Cooler road reduced the stickiness but I’m planning on doing the BMR cradle bushing lockout kit and vertical link upgrade to firm up the rear end and reduce any chances of wheel hop. They are supposed to be good for cornering, too.

Go to 1:31 mark and you can see how much cradle deflection stock setup has vs. the lockout kit.
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Bull Run said:

Had a chance to do some warm weather driving recently. Ambient temperature was around 80F and I was on the shoulder of the highway to do some direction checking. I got back on to the road with a slow roll, and gave it about 80% throttle once I was fully on. Car took off and I didn’t feel any traction issue. These tires felt much better in colder weather than P Zeros in the summer, but man, they really do grip when the road’s warm.

I had a chance to do a near WOT acceleration from stop at night with ambient temperature around mid-60’s. It did lose traction and rear end felt squirmy for a bit, but still did much better than P Zeros. Cooler road reduced the stickiness but I’m planning on doing the BMR cradle bushing lockout kit and vertical link upgrade to firm up the rear end and reduce any chances of wheel hop. They are supposed to be good for cornering, too.

Go to 1:31 mark and you can see how much cradle deflection stock setup has vs. the lockout kit.

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You can't go wrong with the BMR cradle lockout kit. It firms up the rear quite a bit and it's much more predictable. Once you set your line, the rear plants itself and gives excellent feedback. I put in rear sub-frame bushing inserts (red) from Steeda at the same time, but didn't spring for the end links. In retrospect I wish I had. I still experience a little wheel hop with Cobb's Traction control engaged set to (4) which end links would have likely eliminated.

TEXAS HEAT said:

You can't go wrong with the BMR cradle lockout kit. It firms up the rear quite a bit and it's much more predictable. Once you set your line, the rear plants itself and gives excellent feedback. I put in rear sub-frame bushing inserts (red) from Steeda at the same time, but didn't spring for the end links. In retrospect I wish I had. I still experience a little wheel hop with Cobb's Traction control engaged set to (4) which end links would have likely eliminated.

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Thanks for the tip, I went ahead and ordered them. I'll do a separate write-up once they're installed. Any reason why you haven't upgraded the links yet?

Bull Run said:

Thanks for the tip, I went ahead and ordered them. I'll do a separate write-up once they're installed. Any reason why you haven't upgraded the links yet?

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Honestly, I just haven't gotten around to buying them. I already have a ton of parts laying around that have yet to be installed. I'm sure it will get done eventually. I'm currently focused on adding supplemental injection and looking at upgrading the turbo so all of my "mad money" is tied up saving for that. lol

TEXAS HEAT said:

Honestly, I just haven't gotten around to buying them. I already have a ton of parts laying around that have yet to be installed. I'm sure it will get done eventually. I'm currently focused on adding supplemental injection and looking at upgrading the turbo so all of my "mad money" is tied up saving for that. lol

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At least you went the smart route and did supporting mods before going all out on the power mods.

Awesome choice in wheels! I am looking at the same setup as you. I just want maximum weight saving at a reasonable price and couldn't find anything better!
I'm in Australia and they don't have that size in the advanti's so I'm going to try and get them shipped over from the US. Any chance you can do a 3/4 angle photo to see the stance with the wider wheels? You got the 40 offset right?
Cheers!

Bull Run said:

At least you went the smart route and did supporting mods before going all out on the power mods.

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Honestly, all the real power gains come from the tuning, but having the correct supporting mods makes it easier for the engine to deal with all of the additional stresses being asked of it. But yes, covering all the basics before moving up to the bigger turbo.