What tires are the GT500 guys using?

[Mellow Yellow]

I have 2008 GT 500 rims on my 05 GT.

Looking for tires and because of the staggered wheel sizes and the fact they are "only" 18 in I'm running into issues finding a good all round performance tire.

I don't like the Goodyear F1's I have now. They have little or no grip in my opinion. As an example, in third gear with traction control off, I can lay down black streaks when I step on it. I'm not that modified to do that!

The sizes are:

fronts 255/45ZR18
rears 285/40ZR18

Would like to know what the owners of the earlier GT 500's are running.

[KIDAGIN]

I have 2008 GT 500 rims on my 05 GT.

Looking for tires and because of the staggered wheel sizes and the fact they are "only" 18 in I'm running into issues finding a good all round performance tire.

I don't like the Goodyear F1's I have now. They have little or no grip in my opinion. As an example, in third gear with traction control off, I can lay down black streaks when I step on it. I'm not that modified to do that!

The sizes are:

fronts 255/45ZR18
rears 285/40ZR18

Would like to know what the owners of the earlier GT 500's are running.

I was looking for those tires sizes for a longtime.
There is only a few companies that make the 285/40/18.
NITTO 555
Continental ExtremeContact DW Max Performance Summer
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 (W- or Y-Speed Rated) Ultra High Performance All-Season
GOODYEAR EAGLE F1 SUPERCAR 40R R18 TIRES
Pirelli P ZERO ROSSO Asimmetrico
BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE050 RFT

I just got some NITTOs installed yesterday after a long search and wait.

I had Continentals they were okay at first but they got hard and cupped and it was like driving on hockey pucks.

[Parkway Ford Lincoln SVT]

Out of the choices available in those two sizes, the Continental DW would likely be the best choice. Great traction wet or dry, nice ride for a max performance tire as well.

Keep in mind that the Shelbys used staggered tire sizes, but the wheels are the same 9.5" width at all 4 corners. So you could look at doing 275/40R18 or 285/40R18 all around if you want, lots of room to do that.

[Intmdtr]

My vote is cast for the nittos.

Had the the continental contisports on my mustang prior to my nittos and the nittos are a much better tire IMO.

[Mellow Yellow]

Out of the choices available in those two sizes, the Continental DW would likely be the best choice. Great traction wet or dry, nice ride for a max performance tire as well.

Keep in mind that the Shelbys used staggered tire sizes, but the wheels are the same 9.5" width at all 4 corners. So you could look at doing 275/40R18 or 285/40R18 all around if you want, lots of room to do that.

Do you think I would run into tire rubbing in the front with that tire size?

[fast Ed]

My vote is cast for the nittos.

Had the the continental contisports on my mustang prior to my nittos and the nittos are a much better tire IMO.

Contisports are a different tire than the Extreme Contact DW, the ones you had are made mostly for European OEM applications. The DW is a max performance tire that will work much better than 555 Nittos ... the folks that went for a ride with me at TMP when I still had the street tires on the car will attest to that. The previous owner of my 07 had Nitto 555 on the car a few years back, I remember from driving it then they were OK in dry warm conditions, but anything cooler and / or wetter, the grip was meh.

Do you think I would run into tire rubbing in the front with that tire size?

My 07 GT has 285/40R18 Conti DW on 9.5" Steeda wheels all around, they are the same offset as the OEM Shelby wheels ... no rubbing.


cheers
Ed

[HyperGT]

Nito 555 are not in the same category as Conti DW. Agree with Ed, personal experience as well as many online reviews.

[Ponyryd]

You may want to look into the Cooper Zeon RS3, developed with Roush for the stage 3 car, hence the name. And ya, your wheels are all the same size, best to just do a square setup all around, 275/40 would be my choice, but a 285/40 will work as well. If you want to run 285s all around but think you may have a rub issue, do a rotate with what you have just to be sure.