I just purchased a GT500 Ford Racing 19x9 wheels in dark stainless with Nitto NT555 Extreme ZR 275/35/19 tires on Craigslist with less than 20 miles on them. I had fairly new (less than 4,000 miles) 245/45/19 BF Goodrich G-Force Sport COMP-2 tires on the stock 8.5" wheels. I haven't driven the new ones much but, the Nittos don't seem to handle as well as the BF's and are not as responsive on the highway. Seems like more play in the wheel. They actually seem a little sloppy compared to the BF's. I have increased the tire pressure but it doesn't seem to make a difference. At first I ran 32 rear/ 35 front then bumped it to 35 rear/38 front. My question is will the BF's work on 9" wheels or would they look strange? Also will the Nittos improve or are they an inferior tire?
Thanks,
Jon

 

You can run the 245s on a 9" wheel since the 1/2 won't make much of a difference. I doubt you could even tell it was stretch the extra 1/2.
I bet the wider 275's are getting in and out of the groove/road cap on the highway and maybe that's giving you the feeling of floating around. Nittos will give you a lot better traction over the BFGs.

 

Yes you can run those tires on your wheels. I'd actually drop the pressures to like 32/30. I usually run 35 on my car, but I do so for the minuscule increase in mpg on the freeway.

 

The Nittos are a "Summer only tire", my Continentals are crap below 60 and don't really wake up until 70. What are the temps like up in the Portland area right now?

 

Will they respond better at a lower pressure?

 

It has been in the hight 60's low 70's. I see an 80 forecasted for next week.

 

I just reread what you were saying. Then no, decreasing the pressure won't make them turn in quicker. It'll be the opposite, though you should have more grip that way too...it's probably a combination of the tire model itself and the fact that you're going from 245s to 275s. The 275s are just going to take a bit more effort to turn off center since there's a lot more contact patch now.

 

275's are going to be sloppy on 9" wheels. They'll fit, yes, but they don't fit ideally. You probably need a 9.5" wheel to fit the 275's properly. I ran 285's on 9" wheels for about three months waiting on my TrueForged 9.5" fronts. The half inch on the wheels made a dramatic difference in handling.

 

But it looks like the sidewall is about even with the rim. If they where too wide wouldn't be bulge out a bit. Right now it doesn't look like the tires would protect the wheels against the curb. I am not sure you can tell by the pictures. It seems like a narrower tire would look strange.

 

I am thinking if the 9" wide wheel is wide enough for the Manufacturer for a 275 it should be OK, you were running a 285 which needs a 9.5 wheel it would matter.
BTW to the OP, I had to run about 500 miles to get all the release agent off my Continentals (break in period for tires varies by tire manufacturer) and they are a 275/40 19 and handle awesome on a 9.0" wheel.

 

I am not sure what to do. If I replaced them now I would recover more when I sold them since they have less than 200 miles on them but don't really want to fork out the cash for another set. Does anyone know the recommended size for 9" wheels?

 

This is directly from Nitto's web and it states you can run them on 9" wheel.
Since they are a softer rubber maybe the sidewalls roll or give easier during hard and fast turns of the wheel.

 

We're running 275/30/20 Nitto Invos on a 9" wheel for over 3 years with no trouble. Love the Invos.

 

The stock tire that comes on the Brembo cars is a 255/40 19 but the 9 inch wheel can have a 275/40 19 put on it, the 275 is the max width for the 9 inch wheel.
Also the GT/CS comes stock with a 245/45 19 that is the same height as the 275/40 so it is still in the Mustang tire size parameters.

 

As I said in my post, you can fit 275's on a 9" rim, but it's a sloppy fit. I've had both 275's and 285's on my 9" wheels and the difference is easy to recognize as soon as you start taking corners hard. The 9" rims don't give enough width to properly support the shoulder of the tire. I know all of this because I had these very same tires on my car before I tossed them in the junk heap because they're terrible at their job. I also know this because the guys that do all of the suspension and wheel work on the car told me I was going to need a 9.5" rim if I wanted to get any use out of 275 or 285 performance tires. Got the 9.5" TrueForged fronts, haven't looked back. Y'all can argue all you want about the fit and whether they'll go on the wheel or not. If the OP wants the tires to fit properly, he'll get a 9.5" wheel to put them on or he'll go with a narrower tire.

 

I'm now running 245/45/19's on an 8.5 wheel. The widest I would go on the 8.5 wheel would be 255's.

 

These are the older 555 and not the gen 2? A lot of folks don't like the older models, the gen 2 gets much better reviews. The new ones are comparable to the BFG comp-2 I've also run.