Mustang GT Better Traction on the Street

[Zrussian13]

PS4S are a bad idea. They will not hold very well and they will last 10,000 miles so unless you have money to burn stay away. Nt555g2 on the front and nt555r2 on the rear

The OPs only 17-18years old. R2s will last a fraction of the time the mp4s last and cost about the same so that's probably an even worse choice for him. Unless he only drives down the road to school and back all year. For reference I averaged 20k miles per set of rear mp4s tires.

Sponsored

 

[NightmareMoon]

those Nittos just suck, they're cheap and must have good profit margins for the vendors, because they put them on wheel/tire combos, i assume to keep the package costs down and margins up. If yours are a few years old and heat cycled, they can get pretty hard.

MP4S will last around 20k and stick pretty well, they're a good choice, but its still a 400+ hp car, so its not always easy to hook in 1st, and the road surface matters. With really grippy 200tw tires (which don't last quite as long), I'll launch at 40% throttle, get a little wheel spin, and then hook up and get back to full throttle before 1st runs out, no problems.

 

[Rick#7]

The stock pirelli's were like driving on ice, my Firestone firehawks stick like glue in comparison. I've never used nittos though, so I don't know how they compare to the firehawks. The point is, regardless of driver skill the tires can make a big difference.

 

[tdstuart]

Get yourself a tire tread gauge and see how much tread you actually have left on the g2s. They might look ok but if you have 5/32 or less they won't grip for shit. If your above that a good burnout may heat them up and bring the stick back. I don't have much experience with the g2s but I used to encounter this with each set of mp4s. Great grip at first, 5000 miles later they'd need some heat cycling to grip, after 5/32 or less nothing but wheel spin to 60mph.

Also what is your exact tire size? A 275 on a 20" wheel tells me you've probably sacrificed some sidewall and thats not helping your traction either.

Have had it a the dealership fairly recently and they checked it. Shouldn’t be below 8/32.

Tire is : 275/35ZR20 102W
So shouldn’t be too bad on the sidewall.

 

[tdstuart]

What is your tire pressure set at? That plays a role in how much contact the tire patch is making with the road surface.

Probably around stock psi recommendation. How much should I lower it?

 

[tdstuart]

those Nittos just suck, they're cheap and must have good profit margins for the vendors, because they put them on wheel/tire combos, i assume to keep the package costs down and margins up. If yours are a few years old and heat cycled, they can get pretty hard.

MP4S will last around 20k and stick pretty well, they're a good choice, but its still a 400+ hp car, so its not always easy to hook in 1st, and the road surface matters. With really grippy 200tw tires (which don't last quite as long), I'll launch at 40% throttle, get a little wheel spin, and then hook up and get back to full throttle before 1st runs out, no problems.

20k miles doesn’t sound too bad. I spin the shit of the tires on the car daily so it might even last longer. Tires were supposedly brand new when I bought the car 6 months ago. How wide tires are you running?

 

[tdstuart]

You need car control. if it is lighting up the tired at 6500 RPM.
The reason new cars are so fast is because the factory builds this in, they call it torque management, it backs off power at shifts and any time it senses wheel spin.
The throttle isn't a barrel valve, it isn't an on/off switch.
Good luck, new tires/better tires will only get you so far.

I got the car to not spin on the shifts, it was just slow as shit. I found that trying to get less spin throughout first gear and letting it spin on the shift gave me the best results.

Im sure you could get another 0.2 on the launch or so. But I’m not some maniac mashing the gas and praying the car goes. I tried a bunch of throttle control (less on the launch, less on the mid, less before the shift). That was the best launch and you can still see it spins for days. No spin only made the car slower because of how little throttle you can give it.

 

[cactus_kid]

Look at Steeda's website. Their "Stop the hop" kit is supposed to be well worth the cost based on the reviews posted to the board.

 

[tdstuart]

Look at Steeda's website. Their "Stop the hop" kit is supposed to be well worth the cost based on the reviews posted to the board.

I don’t even think I hook good enough to even feel wheel hop. But maybe I’m wrong

 

[Zrussian13]

Have had it a the dealership fairly recently and they checked it. Shouldn’t be below 8/32.

Tire is : 275/35ZR20 102W
So shouldn’t be too bad on the sidewall.

That size is the same width as stock pp1 wheels but with less sidewall. It's definitely not doing you any favors for traction regardless of what brand you put on there. Not sure how wide your rim is in the back but I'd try fitting bigger tires when you end up replacing them.

 

[tdstuart]

That size is the same width as stock pp1 wheels but with less sidewall. It's definitely not doing you any favors for traction regardless of what brand you put on there. Not sure how wide your rim is in the back but I'd try fitting bigger tires when you end up replacing them.

I think the rims are 9” wide. The rims are factory from ford but the people I bought it from said it was a special option. Unfortunately I think 275 might be the widest I can go.

 

[Zrussian13]

I think the rims are 9” wide. The rims are factory from ford but the people I bought it from said it was a special option. Unfortunately I think 275 might be the widest I can go.

Yeah I wouldn't go wider than a 275 on a 9" wheel. You may be able to go up to a 275/40 when you get new tires. That would give you more sidewall but not sure if the extra 1/2" of height would have any negative effects.

 

[tdstuart]

Yeah I wouldn't go wider than a 275 on a 9" wheel. You may be able to go up to a 275/40 when you get new tires. That would give you more sidewall but not sure if the extra 1/2" of height would have any negative effects.

Probably not the car isn’t lowered and it looks like o have room.

 

[cactus_kid]

I don’t even think I hook good enough to even feel wheel hop. But maybe I’m wrong

Traction control isn't disabled is it ? IIRC, you bought the car used. You might want to make sure someone didn't use forscan to shut it off electronically. https://forscan.org/home.html

 

[Dfeeds]

I second double checking the tire pressure instead of just assuming. My tps sensors read about two psi low compared to my mechanical gauge so I set accordingly. My ps4s feel like ice skates at anything above 35 psi (warm) around 70+ F ambient temp. Just setting them to 32/33 is enough to let me punch it in first, even when it's 55° F out. All assuming during the day. At night it's a bit more trouble. My state has had some fun temp swings the last few weeks. I added air to accommodate the temp drop but the temp shot back up so I was painfully reminded how bad these tires are at higher pressure.

Also, are you giving your tires a chance to warm up or are you gunning it the moment you leave your neighborhood? I let my car reach operating temp which is long enough but there's been a couple moments where I've had to get on it sooner and I'm all over the place.

Disclaimer. I almost exclusively drive with advance track off.

Sponsored