Disadvantages of front “skinny” wheels?

[BlownCoyote]

I’m considering a VMS drag pack set up for my Mustang and was wondering what some of the disadvantages are to the skinny front wheels setup? Are they safe for highway use? Or strictly drag strip/street use?

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[FruityJudy]

I’m considering a VMS drag pack set up for my Mustang and was wondering what some of the disadvantages are to the skinny front wheels setup? Are they safe for highway use? Or strictly drag strip/street use?

Stopping power and turning power will be the main things. I wouldnt recommend running around on skinnys in the front

 

[sk47]

Hello; Much depends on how skinny you go. I will guess you mean the extremely skinny wheel/tire used on pure drag cars. Traction or lack of it is the downside. Works for a drag car as the aim is to lessen rolling resistance.
The front brakes do something like 70% of the stopping of a car. Likely this is the major drawback of skinny tires. Seems to me braking distances will become much greater.
Traction around curves likely will suffer for a similar reason.

Not clear if load capacity would be affected.

 

[Andy13186]

I almost blew out a MH racemaster front skinny at like 120+ mph, I hit a minor bump in the road while heavy braking and it was just too much weight on the front for the tire to handle. I got very lucky. Tire was all deformed and lumpy and missing a chunk.

If you are going to street drive on skinnies I wouldnt go with the racemasters, id go with the mickey thompson sportsman they are heavier but higher load capacity and probably stronger.

 

[BlownCoyote]

Does anybody have pictures of the drag pack set up with the wider front wheels? I think they make them in a 9.5?

 

[Gregory347]

I drive Mickey Thompson sportsman skinny fronts occasionally. Drive to track and some around town crusing. More of a concern to me is how crappy the car feels. Thy don't balance well nor do they run true. The shop I use said it's common for these tires. If you look at them when on the balancing machine they have quite a noticeable wobble. Their molds are not exact I guess.

 

[Torched10]

I drive Mickey Thompson sportsman skinny fronts occasionally. Drive to track and some around town crusing. More of a concern to me is how crappy the car feels. Thy don't balance well nor do they run true. The shop I use said it's common for these tires. If you look at them when on the balancing machine they have quite a noticeable wobble. Their molds are not exact I guess.

Drag racing results are a function of consistent ETs and low RTs.the fastest car doesn't always win.in fact a funny story at the GTO national show my friend rented a bonneville and was running consistent 17s with rt of 7 ac on.he got to finals against a 6 second car.so he got 11 second lead and the 6 second car broke out he ran lower than 6seconds and my friend won the race.if your in it to go as fast aS you can then go for skinnies.but as far as winning it won't matter as I said it's all about consistent ETs low RTs.ie elapsed times and reaction times.

 

[RagmopInKona]

Skinny front tires will hurt your cars handling and stopping on the street. They are designed to do one thing go straight and remove unsprung weight to the front suspension. Without swapping out struts and springs and removing or unhooking the anti roll bars . You will gain nothing running them other than when the car turns toward the wall you will not be able to turn it back fast enough nor stop .
If you plan on installing drag springs and struts,shocks or adjustable and need to get that last 1 hundredth of a second off your et. Then have at it but put them on at the track or before you go .

 

[KingKona]

Yeah....unless you've done a lot of other things to turn your car into a dedicated drag racer that you trailer back and forth to the strip, skinnies are retarded and dangerous.

 

[Idaho2018GTPremium]

Why not just research lightweight moderately sized wheels and tires for the front? Eg 225/45/19 instead of a true skinny. At least it’ll grip, brake, and look much better than a skinny. Just get the proper offset so it doesn’t sink into the wheel well too far.

 

[KingKona]

Why not just research lightweight moderately sized wheels and tires for the front? Eg 225/45/19 instead of a true skinny. At least it’ll grip, brake, and look much better than a skinny. Just get the proper offset so it doesn’t sink into the wheel well too far.

That makes no sense. Why would he do that?

What would the point be?

Even real skinnies aren't going to be anything other than detrimental. They're not going to help him at a drag strip.

 

[Andy13186]

That makes no sense. Why would he do that?

What would the point be?

Even real skinnies aren't going to be anything other than detrimental. They're not going to help him at a drag strip.

Thats not true, they will help, they are taking like 40 lbs of unsprung rotating mass off the car. Its still not worth it though IMO at least on the street after my experience almost getting a blow out at 120+.

 

[Jstang23]

Thats not true, they will help, they are taking like 40 lbs of unsprung rotating mass off the car. Its still not worth it though IMO at least on the street after my experience almost getting a blow out at 120+.

40lbs of unsprung weight savings is equivalent to ~210lbs of sprung weight savings. Its a massive difference and you will notice a signification gain in acceleration and braking. But I would not daily skinnies for any reason. Its just plain not safe.

 

[KingKona]

Thats not true, they will help, they are taking like 40 lbs of unsprung rotating mass off the car. Its still not worth it though IMO at least on the street after my experience almost getting a blow out at 120+.

Getting lighter wheels is fine. Making them skinnier (225 wide) is ludicrous, with a car that is nose heavy.

It's dangerous, and stupid. 255s are the minimum.

 

[Jstang23]

Getting lighter wheels is fine. Making them skinnier (225 wide) is ludicrous, with a car that is nose heavy.

It's dangerous, and stupid. 255s are the minimum.

I think you mean 235s are the minimum. That's what the base model GTs come with

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