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What's the real world difference between stock 17" and 18" Wheel/Tire Option?


Redleg

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I'm reviewing my current Mustang GT factory order which currently has the 18" Wheel option.

 

My wife prefers the "look" of the 17" machined aluminum wheel and wants me to change the order.

 

What is the difference between wheel options? Will the 17" wheel ride better? Will the 18" wheel perform/corner better (assuming better tires were ever put on)?

 

Any input is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

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I'm reviewing my current Mustang GT factory order which currently has the 18" Wheel option.

 

My wife prefers the "look" of the 17" machined aluminum wheel and wants me to change the order.

 

What is the difference between wheel options? Will the 17" wheel ride better? Will the 18" wheel perform/corner better (assuming better tires were ever put on)?

 

Any input is appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Personal preference mostly. The smaller wheels are actually better at the drag strips if you intend to go that route, most drag guys have small wheels for less weight and such things that help with physics. Personally I will be upgrading to wider wheels in the back anyway, so I may just order the 17's for the winter. I am going with like 18 or 19X10's in the rear, with the front still being the 18 or 19X8.5" in the front. You can get some nice wheels for under $1,000. I believe the upgrade is around $850 from Ford for the 18" wheels. To each his own, I have even saw a mustang with 20" wheels on it. It actually looked pretty good. As long as you keep the overall wheel/tire height the same, you will have no problems with the speedo calibration. The guy with 20" ers on had real low profile tires. Cool, but ride quality suffers some, and life of tire is not good, and no snow driving usually. Later, hoped this helped some :headscratch:

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Exactly what yamahar1 said. The 17"ers have less rotating mass, so all things being equal, the Stang with 17's will be a tenth quicker to 60mph and maybe two tenths in the quarter.

 

Me? It's a daily driver that will never see the track (at least not on a regular basis). I went for looks. I love the 18's so much from Ford I will not even entertain aftermarket wheels. While I've never driven a GT with 17's, everyone agrees that 18's will corner better due to smaller sidewall. I took a hairpin curve at 50mph last Saturday night with my brother in the car and I can tell you it was one very cool experience.

 

To make the ride of 18" stangs equal to the 17" stangs, I understand the suspension is just a tad 'softer' to accomodate for the smaller sidewall and its affect on ride comfort.

 

Hope this helps. If not, here's a pic:

 

El_Diablo_028.jpg

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Exactly what yamahar1 said. The 17"ers have less rotating mass, so all things being equal, the Stang with 17's will be a tenth quicker to 60mph and maybe two tenths in the quarter.

 

Me? It's a daily driver that will never see the track (at least not on a regular basis). I went for looks. I love the 18's so much from Ford I will not even entertain aftermarket wheels. While I've never driven a GT with 17's, everyone agrees that 18's will corner better due to smaller sidewall. I took a hairpin curve at 50mph last Saturday night with my brother in the car and I can tell you it was one very cool experience.

 

To make the ride of 18" stangs equal to the 17" stangs, I understand the suspension is just a tad 'softer' to accomodate for the smaller sidewall and its affect on ride comfort.

 

Hope this helps. If not, here's a pic:

 

El_Diablo_028.jpg

 

Yeah, I like those factory wheels also, but I like the aftermarket one's I am checking out much better. I will try to post some pics, I think I have it narrowed down to 2 choices. I think the manufacturer is OE wheels. I like the wide look in the back, so I like the look a little better. But what you said is spot on right, and I am not taking my stang to the track either, unless you call the highway the track :shift:

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My only experience with a rim change is my current 350Z - it came with 17's and 245's on the rear.

 

I put on aftermarket 19's and 285's on the rear.

 

Ride quality is a little harsher (though I also put on Eibach springs - so that contributed), but cornering? Whew. With those 285's it sticks like a F1 car! With the oem's the rear end would break loose much easier.

 

I'm putting 19's on my GT mostly for appearance. (19 tires cost a great deal more than 17's - too)

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