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Cost effective tire/wheel size

csmaan12

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I'm pretty dead set on keeping a 19" diameter for when I'm ready to buy wheels. The problem is I'm having a huge headache trying to figure out what width wheel would be the most cost effective when considering the price of tires.

I currently have 19X8.5 black accent wheels, which will need 255/40R19 tires if I choose to just get good summer tires for them and give up on buying wider wheels. Would I have cheaper tire options for 20 inch wheels? I've done so much browsing at this point that my head is spinning on what I should do.

Worst come to worst, how good do 255/40 tires get as far as traction in 1st/2nd/3rd gear...that's basically my concern, I don't mind getting decent 255s and some spacers. Most likely I won't be doing much for power mods, headers, tune, intake. If I can get wheels tires to handle that, I'll be happy.
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NightmareMoon

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Go to max width wheel for the tire of your choosing, then if you want to go with a wider tire down the road (for more grip) you'll have that option. For a 255, that would probably be a 10" wheel (MP4S and Indy Firehawk 500 in 255/40R19 both fit on a 10" wheel). The slightly stretched tire will also be a bit more responsive for cornering, as the tire can't squirm as much laterally when stretched a bit.

Considering the difference in tires prices from 255 to 285 maybe as little as $30 per corner, I'd personally pay extra and go wider for grip, because yes the narrower tires won't have quite as much traction, and should also wear out a bit faster (same weight of the car on a narrower contact patch = a little faster wear)

19" is a good compromise between show and go. 20" and you'll feel the bumps more in town.
 

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I shopped for wheels/tires for 9 months before I purchased.

I used www.wheel-size.com extensively while also browsing wheel and tire offerings.

I concluded that 9.5" wide wheels have more selections in 19" diameter, and 275/40 tires were more affordable than 285. I was also concerned with tire diameter and its effect on gear ratio, speedo, and sidewall height.
 
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csmaan12

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Go to max width wheel for the tire of your choosing, then if you want to go with a wider tire down the road (for more grip) you'll have that option. For a 255, that would probably be a 10" wheel (MP4S and Indy Firehawk 500 in 255/40R19 both fit on a 10" wheel). The slightly stretched tire will also be a bit more responsive for cornering, as the tire can't squirm as much laterally when stretched a bit.

Considering the difference in tires prices from 255 to 285 maybe as little as $30 per corner, I'd personally pay extra and go wider for grip, because yes the narrower tires won't have quite as much traction, and should also wear out a bit faster (same weight of the car on a narrower contact patch = a little faster wear)

19" is a good compromise between show and go. 20" and you'll feel the bumps more in town.
I don't mind paying the few $$ extra if I can have the reassurance that a 275/285 tire will fit comfortably on a 10" wheel with no bulge. The Indy 500s are a very good price for 285/35 size tire.

Say I were to go 10" square with +40 offset on all 4 corners, would there be any issue in the front/rear...meaning would I need spacers on the front or back? The particular set of wheels I want is offered in 19x11 +50 or 19x10 +40.

I shopped for wheels/tires for 9 months before I purchased.

I used www.wheel-size.com extensively while also browsing wheel and tire offerings.

I concluded that 9.5" wide wheels have more selections in 19" diameter, and 275/40 tires were more affordable than 285. I was also concerned with tire diameter and its effect on gear ratio, speedo, and sidewall height.
Yeah the sidewall height is tricky. Seems like a 275/40R19 will have the speedo off by a good amount. Then a 275/35 would be shorter than the 255/40 by a substantial amount too. Did you recalibrate your speedometer?
 

Lost

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I miss the 18s from my last mustang. Cheaper tires and better ride.
 

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I don't mind paying the few $$ extra if I can have the reassurance that a 275/285 tire will fit comfortably on a 10" wheel with no bulge. The Indy 500s are a very good price for 285/35 size tire.

Say I were to go 10" square with +40 offset on all 4 corners, would there be any issue in the front/rear...meaning would I need spacers on the front or back? The particular set of wheels I want is offered in 19x11 +50 or 19x10 +40.



Yeah the sidewall height is tricky. Seems like a 275/40R19 will have the speedo off by a good amount. Then a 275/35 would be shorter than the 255/40 by a substantial amount too. Did you recalibrate your speedometer?

+40 can get tight with 285 tires. +35 is better, and about as widely availible.
 

JuRuKi

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I would do 19x10 all around with 285/35/19 tires
 

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I don't mind paying the few $$ extra if I can have the reassurance that a 275/285 tire will fit comfortably on a 10" wheel with no bulge. The Indy 500s are a very good price for 285/35 size tire.

Say I were to go 10" square with +40 offset on all 4 corners, would there be any issue in the front/rear...meaning would I need spacers on the front or back? The particular set of wheels I want is offered in 19x11 +50 or 19x10 +40.



Yeah the sidewall height is tricky. Seems like a 275/40R19 will have the speedo off by a good amount. Then a 275/35 would be shorter than the 255/40 by a substantial amount too. Did you recalibrate your speedometer?
You can effectively go from 40mm offset to 35 by placing a 5mm spacer on the front.

I did not recalibrate my speedo. I input my OEM wheels on the left as reference - 235/50-18.
275/40-19 are 1.5% larger.
285/35-19 are 1.5% smaller.
Flip a coin? :shrug:

BTW, I also like the even OEM wheel gap, and I did not want to lower my car. 285/35 makes the wheel gap slightly larger.
 

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You can effectively go from 40mm offset to 35 by placing a 5mm spacer on the front.
Or you can buy the right offset wheels and not have to mess with spacers, and have better thread engagement on your wheel studs.

I have 19x10 +40 wheels. I wish they were +35. All it takes is a wider than normal 285 and you're rubbing the shock. Plus you might get a 295 tire to fit, if we started to get many good options in that size.

So from a cost effective standpoint it's hard to beat the SVE GT350 and GT350R replicas. But the R replicas are +35 while the standard replicas are +40. Get the R unless you REALLY like the looks of the standard GT350 better.
 

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Same situation here...black accent 19x8.5 on 255/40.

After a lot of pouring over numbers and searching for deals, ended up on 19x9.5 +35 on 285/35, square.

The 19x9.5 or 10 range can fit a number of relatively inexpensive and good performing summer tires, namely 275/40 and 285/35. Go below that and it's not worth the buck for minimal upgrade, and above that, tires get quite pricier and rarer. This is about the sweet spot in price/availability vs performance.
 

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Or you can buy the right offset wheels and not have to mess with spacers, and have better thread engagement on your wheel studs.
.
My point was that the OP need not be confined to wheel choice based on the last 5mm hub offset. A thin 5mm spacer goes a long way to fine tune the spacing for clearance and looks, and gives him the longest list of wheel choices. So if his favorite wheel only comes in 10" x 40mm then he can get to 35mm with the spacer. He won't need them on the rear.

1/4" is the thickest spacer for thread engagement though.
 

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285/35 is a standard fit on 10" wheels and look/drive killer. 275/40 is also a great choice. A +40 would be a little tight but should fit. A 5mm spacer is nice (get the ones sized to our hubs) to get some safety margin and push the front wheels out alightly for looks. I run a 5mm spacer with +35 wheels, but I have less clearance to the strut from camber mods. A stock car would be ok with +40, but I'd get the spacer.

I have not noticed the speedo being off by much, and havent corrected it. Reading 64 or 66.0 at 65 mph doesnt bother me :). Someone said the speedo might be off the rear wheels anyway?
 
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csmaan12

csmaan12

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Thanks for all the info. For those wondering I was looking into the SVE GT350 reps, since they come in 19" diameter. Their 19X10 size is the +40 offset I'm referring to. If anyone has put the 19X10 S350 in the front, feel free to chime in, not too worried about the rear fitment since I'm not going with a huge 3XX tire. Seems like they intended for the 19X10 to be a front fitting wheel and the 19X11 to be for the rear.

My other choice would be to get the AM GT500 mesh reps, 19X9.5 front and 19X10 rear which seems like a good option and definitely a really good price. They don't list the offset on their site and have the standard text "fits rear only" for the 19X10 size.
 

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I'm pretty dead set on keeping a 19" diameter for when I'm ready to buy wheels. The problem is I'm having a huge headache trying to figure out what width wheel would be the most cost effective when considering the price of tires.

I currently have 19X8.5 black accent wheels, which will need 255/40R19 tires if I choose to just get good summer tires for them and give up on buying wider wheels. Would I have cheaper tire options for 20 inch wheels? I've done so much browsing at this point that my head is spinning on what I should do.

Worst come to worst, how good do 255/40 tires get as far as traction in 1st/2nd/3rd gear...that's basically my concern, I don't mind getting decent 255s and some spacers. Most likely I won't be doing much for power mods, headers, tune, intake. If I can get wheels tires to handle that, I'll be happy.
I have a staggered setup -- but I've seen people do a 9.5' square setup with the same wheels I have: Advanti HY Hybris -- they are a tad under 20 pounds, are constructed well, look great, and are less expensive that many other pressure cast/rotary forged wheels. Don't skimp on the tire. I've done too much crap to my car while ignoring the tires --my next big-ish mod for mine will be a set of new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S'. There are pictures posted of people running the 9.5" square with 285/35 Firehawks -- also a highly rated tire. I have a Performance Pack car, and would probably not do the same setup due to the reduction in tire height/circumference -- I'd be looking to put the 40 series on to get additional height and take some gear out of it -- bring it closer to a 3.55 setup... Just my 2 cents -- I'll try to find a link to the Advanti Hybris thread...
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