Austin Pitts

2014 gt premium 14k miles w/brembo and tech pack

I have the problem a lot of owners have of their awesome yet dangerous car. I want more traction, and shoot off “better”. This car has the brembo brake package and that’s about it. It’s the premium 2014, and it has 14k miles. It’s beautiful. What tires do you guys recommend? I notice a lot go bigger on the tires, but if so, how big? I have the stock tires, they are 255s Pireillis all around (summer) I think. Tell me about your guys setup and what works best!!! I’ve heard good things about Michelin sports. Let me know!! Thank you!!

EF1

You need to give a little more info on your intended uses for someone to help you. Strip, road course, or street?

Austin Pitts

sorry, pardon me, tires for everyday street driving as this is also my daily. But I want to be able to put down when I need to put down at the same time.

Siber Express

Well you can put up to a 275 on your Brembo wheels. 275/40 19's are the same height as the stock California Special. I went with the 302S Boss in 9 inch front and 10 inch rear wheels and am running 255/40 19's front and 295/35 19's rear. I don't even think about Drag racing but it does real good in the Mountains pulling higher than 1G both ways.

Austin Pitts

Is that a Shelby ?

EF1

I have the same Brembo package wheels as you do on my 2011 GT. I went with the 275/40/19 Bridgestone S04 Pole Posiition's all the way around when the 2nd or 3rd set of Pirelli's wore out. Like Siber said, they are a little taller than the stock Pirelli's on the Brembo cars, but about the same height as the stock rubber on the CS cars. This is the biggest tire recommended for the 9" wide wheels. Grip is a bit better than the Pirelli's and the taller side wall rides a little softer. I have run this set up on the street and road course. I started rolling the side walls a little on the track so I bought a second set of wheels for track use. They are 19 x 10" Apec Racing EC7's with 275/35/19's. the shorter stiffer sidewall combined with the wider wheels is a better track combination, but a little harsher on the street. I still run the stock Brembo wheels with the 275/40/19 Bridgestone's as my street wheels.

Siber Express

Nope, just my little V6 Performance Package. I take it into the Mountains so my view of traction might be considered a little different than yours.

Austin Pitts

Awesome to hear! Thank you for sharing that man. So you run 275s in the rear, what size are your front tires? The stock size 255 on the front? Sorry if I misread your statement wrong. On the street you run 275s all around?

Bert

There are basically two ways you can increase grip:

1) wider tires -- like they said in previous posts. 275 is pushing it for a 9" wheel, you might actually get the same performance from a 265 and save a few dollars. To go beyond 275 you'll need wider wheels. With the right wheels you can get 315 tires under the back of these cars, but that would be excessive for the front for a street car. I think there is another thread on here about 315's. Be aware that wide and sticky tires on the front will increase the tendency for "tramlining" which is when the car follows ruts and things in the road and you have to stay on top of it to keep it going where you want to go.

2) softer/stickier compound -- extreme summer performance tires are generally softer and sticker, at the expense of wear resistance and longevity. Generally 200 tire wear rated tires are about the softest and stickiest that are legal for street use. Michelin Pilot Super Sport or the newer Pilot 4S are in the 300 wear rating ballpark and supposedly fairly close to the performance of a 200 wear rated tire, like the Bridgestone RE71R.

EDIT: the thread about 315's: https://themustangsource.com/forums/...-40r18-547696/

Austin Pitts

I’m on tirerack.com looking for the Michelin pilot super sports as my new tires. I want to go 275 on the back and keep it 255 in the front.

Forgive my ignorance, but what does the ending mean :

275/35ZR19

35zr19 what exactly is that value for

thanks in advance

i understand it’s the aspect ratio of the overall width of the tire itself, but what is the ZR19 for, I know R is for radial I guess what I’m asking is what does the Z stand for

Bert

Hi, here's how it breaks down and Google could probably find this with pictures:
> 275 = the "tread width" in mm (millimeters) . . . I think this is the contact patch width; measured on a "measuring width" wheel
> 35 = Aspect Ratio; the sidewall height as a percentage of the tread width
> Z = "Z" speed rated which is the highest rating, something like 200 MPH (not sure about this, someone fact check)
> R = Radial . . . pretty much all street tires are "radial" these days (as oppose to "biased ply" from back in the day)
> 19 = the wheel diameter, in inches (this is the inside diameter of the tire; the outside diameter of the tire is very important also)

So where it gets confusing, is the mixing of metric and imperial units, mm and inches . . . The best way I know to find all the real information, is to look up the exact tires you are interested in, on Tire Rack; and look at the "SPECS" tab; it will tell you everything about the tire, including the recommended rim width, the overall tire diameter, measuring width, etc.

EF1

I run 275's all around on the street and track, but have two different sets of wheels/tires. I use the stock 9x19 Brembo wheels with the 275/40/19's primarily on the street and as back up/rain tires on the track. I run the 10x19 Apex wheels with stickier 275/35/19's on the track. The lower profile and wider rim spread the tread out for a better footprint. I prefer to run a square set up to allow tire rotation to prolong the life of tires.