I'm looking at getting a pair of rear wheels/tires for driving to/from the track. A buddy has some stock 17x8s from a (I'm guessing '98) Mustang GT I could have... and he recommends a 275/40/17 DR. Would I be able to fit these wheels on my '11 for the rear? Again, this would be for track use only, in addition to driving there and back (30-40 miles from home to reach either local track.)

Also, he recommended I get the M/T ET Street... but I've also heard great reviews on the Nitto 555R... the Nittos would save me about $60/tire over the M/Ts, but I saw my buddy hooking like mad with a 3200 stall and M/Ts on his '10 GT... anyone know if there's any big advantage to one over the other? I know Nitto off-road traction tires are terrible for actually going off-road, but only usually hear good things about their performance tires.

Thoughts and/or suggestions would be appreciated.

 

275/40/17 are way too short for a 2010-2011, and a 8" wide wheel is really too narrow, you could do it but it is not optimal.

 

Not ideal, but that's exactly what I run at the track! 275/40/17 BFG D/R's on 17x8 charcoal Bullitt wheels. Yes, a little shorter than the stock S197 tires, but that shortness effectively increases gearing....



Oh, and the BFG D/R's hook awesome!!! I have a blower, 4.10 gears, and 4800 rpm stall converter and it dead hooks! Watch the vid of my car below.

 

Brian- I did A LOT of reading yesterday. The issue with a 26" tire on the 11 is that our fourth gear is 1.32:1, not 1:1 like the previous years.

Ltngdrvr- thanks for the warning; you got me curious enough to really dig into researching things. I have a lead on some 16" Prostars and will likely run a 295/50 M/T to keep the same tire height as stock. It won't be pretty, but it should hook hard.

 

No problem in a 3.31 car.

PS If these are track only the 26-11.50-17 MT Bias Ply work well on a 17x8. Are 26.5" Tall and grow a bit on the top end.