The Mustang Forum for Track & Racing Enthusiasts

Taking your Mustang to an open track/HPDE event for the first time? Do you race competitively? This forum is for you! Log in to remove most ads.

  • Welcome to the Ford Mustang forum built for owners of the Mustang GT350, BOSS 302, GT500, and all other S550, S197, SN95, Fox Body and older Mustangs set up for open track days, road racing, and/or autocross. Join our forum, interact with others, share your build, and help us strengthen this community!

Wheel and tire questions

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

2
4
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Texas
Hey guys I have a 97 cobra I’m setting up for autocross. I will be replacing the front suspension with maximum Motorsports kmember package and have a 03 cobra IRS I’m putting in in a few weeks. What will be the widest 17” rim and tire I will be able to fit? What tires do you recommend for a car I will be driving to and from the track? The car will see light road use besides driving to the track.
 
6,360
8,180
Unless you are dead set in using 17s for some reason, I would look into 18s, the diameter will give you a bigger tire patch and there are tons of 18 inch take off race tires available.
When you do your swap you will need the Cobra driveshaft and also the brackets that replace the quad shock mounts, some guys forget that they are not the same, neither are the shocks,
I'm really sold on the Goodyear F1 series tire as we use them in the WRL stuff. They are pretty bullet proof, that being said, there are Hankook S4s on my car right this minute. This is a good question for @Bill Pemberton , as he is the 200TW guru around here.
 
Last edited:

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Appreciate the compliment, but I am really just a good listener who asks plenty of folks about the tires they are using ( and discreetly notice which drivers are fast ). One really good tire tester is Dave Whitworth of Soloperformance.com as he tests and attends SCCA Solo Events all over the Country. So he sees what is really working, what Manufacturers have made quiet changes on their compounding and what may be coming out. I get plenty of info just watching/running events at the Lincoln Municipal Airport ( site of the Solo Nationals ) along with doing quite a few Time Trials ( not doing W2W anymore ). That gives me an idea what is working well for Autocrosses along with HPDE , Time Trials and even what the fast racers are using --- still pretty much a Hoosier World unless in a Spec Class where something else is required.

I am intrigued with the Goodyear F1 Supercar 3Rs myself ,though I believe Blacksheep is discussing the non R version for Endurance Racing, since it is priced very competitively and if you are a USAA member they are downright " cheap " in todays inflated tire market ( pun intended as always, ha ).
 
118
155
MD
Hey guys I have a 97 cobra I’m setting up for autocross. I will be replacing the front suspension with maximum Motorsports kmember package and have a 03 cobra IRS I’m putting in in a few weeks. What will be the widest 17” rim and tire I will be able to fit? What tires do you recommend for a car I will be driving to and from the track? The car will see light road use besides driving to the track.
17x9 square with 275/40. Tire depends on experience and what you prefer to trade off more, street manners or performance.
18" opens up bigger brakes and the GY SC and SC 3R. As Bill mentioned, USAA makes these a great deal.

Any pics or details of the car? A 97 rio red cobra with black interior was my first car.
 

Dave_W

Cones - not just for ice cream
984
1,275
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Connecticut
I think @DaveW is liking the new Bridgestone RE-71RS. Looking at Tire Rack, it only goes up to 255 in 17", but up to 295 in 18" sizes. I haven't drilled into the detailed measurements on the Tire Rack site (good for comparisons because they do their own standardized measuring), but several of the competitive 200TW tires seem to run wide compared to their official "on the sidewall" sizes.

There's an interesting article on tire width vs wheel width using the RE-71RS in 17" on the Subie BRZ that Tire Rack did. Interesting to see what they liked driving compared to what was objectively the fastest. Keep in mind that the heavier Mustang is going to put more energy into the tire, so you may need more width (wheel & tire) to keep from overheating compared to the BRZ.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
As noted in another thread , DaveW absolutely killed it at the last SCCA National Tour Event in Moutrie, Georgia. It was a riot for me , as I was the Announcer for that Session, and it was apparent to me that Dave was laying down insane times for a CAMC pylon pulverizer! He had run the Yokes first on the Friday test day ( 315 fat boys ) and then switched to the Bridgerocks ---- and he was quicker with the smaller 295s. This woke up a lot of drivers in the CAMC Class and watching the Black GT hook up was so dramatic, this Announcer sounded like an Argentinian Soccer Commentator describing Big Dave's runs. So, as Dave_W noted , there will be a lot of interest in the new RE71RSs, and even though they are currently smaller in size, they wooorrrrkk!!

PS - the coolest thing about DaveW's run, to many of us there, was he also ran the fastest Indexed Time of the Event with his Mustang. A win in Class is cool, but essentially beating everyone there ( there were a ton of National Champions in attendance ) is huge and Dave and his runs looked the part.
 
2
4
Exp. Type
Autocross
Exp. Level
Under 3 Years
Texas
17x9 square with 275/40. Tire depends on experience and what you prefer to trade off more, street manners or performance.
18" opens up bigger brakes and the GY SC and SC 3R. As Bill mentioned, USAA makes these a great deal.

Any pics or details of the car? A 97 rio red cobra with black interior was my first car.
It’s a very neglected but lower mile black cobra. Needs plenty of general maintenance and a few parts. The seats are toast and the drivers only goes forward. Needs a window motor. The dome light stays on. Speedo and odometer don’t work. Needs paint. The sun has torched the hood and roof.The previous owner just had the head gaskets done. Mechanically the drivetrain seems good to go. It has 0 rust. I got it for a very low price. It needs some work but that’s why it was cheap lol.9A727558-5681-40DC-8521-DFC590FFDE62.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
Had a 97 White Cobra and loved the car, especially since it revved so much better than other V8s of the time. Sounds like you have an open book to turn it into a solid track machine, since why replace seats with factory, just put in racing seats, lighten it up ( with what you can legally ) and start your list of fun upgrades , ha. Wheels and sticky rubber first, so you may need to do flares, but CAM T is a perfect Class for your new Black Beauty and there are folks on here that would be happy to help as well as welcoming to have another CAM T track rat in the fray.
 

Bill Pemberton

0ld Ford Automotive Racing Terror
8,420
8,346
Exp. Type
Time Attack
Exp. Level
20+ Years
Blair, Nebraska
I would check with Apex Race Products ( site sponsor ) or Forgeline ( site sponsor ) and get a set of squared wheels from a company that deals extremely heavily in the Mustang market. That way you get wheels that are hub centric, have proper offset to get you as much width on the wheel as possible, have recommended spacer sizes and more. The more rubber you can put on the ground the better grip you will have and 18s would be the choice I would recommend. Before you spend 1000s on shocks, springs, new sway bars , headers , tune, etc. get the two best items that will give you more grip, control and yes, speed around the track. Pair that with a set of high quality race pads , fresh DOT4 brake fluid ( like Motul 600 ) and go out and learn the tracks as you mentioned.

Rubber rules the road!!
 
6,360
8,180
I'd really try to go with 18 square for several reasons, not the least of which is the availability of 18inch race take offs.
The other is that when people look at tires they only look at width, diameter will also play a part of the tire footprint, and the bigger the wheel, the bigger the footprint.
 

TMO Supporting Vendors

Top