Baby needs a new pair of shoes...
 

After 9 years of ownership, I have finally decided to do a wheel/tire upgrade. I kind of dig the stock (sleeper) look of the stock 16" wheels on the base 05-09 V6 cars, and have had a hard time giving them up. I don't have a close up shot, but the style (with the '07 spinners) really suits the retro look of the body.

What are you going to get? You can also get yours painted or powder coated insted to chage the look. Do you want to upsize to 17's or 18's? American muscle has pretty good deals on tire and rim packages as well.

I decided to do a slight brake upgrade this winter to the '05-'10 GT ('11-'14 V6) front rotors. This set up will not clear the 16" wheels and requires at least a 17. I decided to step up to an 18, and ordered a set of 18X9 Motegi MR131s in black. A nice, simple, lightweight (~19lbs) wheel with 255/45/18 Bridgestone RE760s all around. The wheel size was custom order (could only find an 8" wide in stock). "Two weeks", I was told, and only 2 of that tire in stock, but more coming. I LOL'd at the two weeks.

Have you ever seen the movie "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks and Shelly Long? It was out in the mid 80s, and if you've ever seen it you'll get the "two weeks" thing.

A month later, I called to see if they had heard anything..."not yet". When they checked on the tires, the same two were in stock, but none coming...that tire has been discontinued. D'oh! So...call a friend who is linked with Kal Tire to get him to check. Sure enough, he finds some at their warehouse in PA. "Good stuff, get them in" I says.

A couple of days later, I get a call from the shop where I ordered the wheels...the manufacturer called their supplier and cancelled the order...production issues. Lesson learned...when ordering custom sizes, don't wait 'til February to get things rolling.

Here is a pic of those wheels.

A few days later, I had to run to Toronto for an appointment. There has to be something in the largest city in the country, right? Well, I stopped by a few wheel shops and they all said pretty much the same thing..."If you had been here a month ago, selection was good. It will be 6 plus weeks if you order now". I laughed at myself for being a dummy...The car has been on stands for a month with the new brakes on it, so the stock wheels won't fit back on, and I have these 18" tires sitting here looking pretty with no wheels to wrap 'em around. I started thinking about a set of used/take-off OEM Ford 18" bullets, fanblades, or GT500 wheels, but they are sooo heavy. Some of the wheels from American Muscle look OK, but again, heavy, and with the dollar being what it is, I didn't want to do that either. Just for sh!ts and giggles, I stopped by an import car specialty shop in Mississauga where I have bought stuff for my other car (FR-S). They had a few styles/sizes that would fit the bill. Hmm...import wheels on a Mustang...

Sorry for the way I am breaking this post up, but I don't know how to post larger pics and add text between them. To see larger images, just click on one of the thumbnails.

I ended up going with a set of RAYS/Gram Lights 57Xtreme 18X9.5s with a +40 offset in a Matte graphite colour. I wouldn't recommend going any less than 40 for the offset on a 9.5, as it pushes the wheels out almost to the edge of the wheel well. This is ok on the front due to camber, but on the rear things will get too close to call if the car is lowered a lot and the tire size is much larger than what I am using (my car is currently at stock height on the front and 3/4" lower at the back using Roush leveling springs). 9.5 is at the end of the range for this tire (8.0 to 9.5"), so there is a slight stretch to them on these wheels. 255/45/18 on a 9.5 is the stock front size on the GT500, so I can live with it until I wear these ones out. Then I will go 275/40 all around or 255/45 front and 285/40 on the rear.

Here's a few pics...

Looks very good roddy!

Great looking set up, really fills the wheel wells, good choice for wheels to save some weight, they remind me of the GT500 wheel.

For the S197, I always liked the Ford Racing chrome bullit wheels myself, as opposed to the polished aluminum bullits or the fan blades.

Can't help but say though, looking at the side shots, ever considered a lowering kit? Looks like it sits a little high, just my $.02.

Those look real good!! :)

I hear ya...it didn't seem too bad with the stock wheels and all the sidewall that goes with them. With the new combo, it definitely needs more low. I like the chrome bullitts (you can't really go wrong with a chrome 5 spoke on a car with retro styling), but I think they would look better on a darker car. Of the Bullitt style Ford wheels, I like the dark gray ones that came on the '08-'09 Bullitt Mustang best. The wheels I got weigh in at just over 20lbs...not outstanding, but pretty decent for an 18X9.5 wheel.

Here's a couple more shots...

Looks good :tup