15", 17", 18" tires

[celentanogj]

I have the knock-off wheel adapters from vintage and will be replacing the rims and tires back to five lug rims on my CCX. I priced the the rims that American racing have of the five lug setup for the Shelby style wheels and want to move up to the 17" or 18" size for the only reason of better performance options. I have a set of 15" BFG's on the car now and like a lot of us I liked to lean into the car I just find the the current BFG's, Cooper's and the M/T's ( I know the Coopers and M/T's are the same) don't have the traction going into the turns at speed (they get squirrely). My question is anyone have 18" rim and tire combination on their CCX and can post pictures of the car wearing that combination? I had 17's on my car earlier but opted for the 15's for the more traditional look but now I'm over it and like driving the car to much to worry about nostalgia. also the 18's provide a better variety of diameter and width that I'm lookin for over the 17's.

[mrmustang]

Originally Posted by celentanogj

I have the knock-off wheel adapters from vintage and will be replacing the rims and tires back to five lug rims on my CCX. I priced the the rims that American racing have of the five lug setup for the Shelby style wheels and want to move up to the 17" or 18" size for the only reason of better performance options. I have a set of 15" BFG's on the car now and like a lot of us I liked to lean into the car I just find the the current BFG's, Cooper's and the M/T's ( I know the Coopers and M/T's are the same) don't have the traction going into the turns at speed (they get squirrely). My question is anyone have 18" rim and tire combination on their CCX and can post pictures of the car wearing that combination? I had 17's on my car earlier but opted for the 15's for the more traditional look but now I'm over it and like driving the car to much to worry about nostalgia. also the 18's provide a better variety of diameter and width that I'm lookin for over the 17's.

Why in the world would you remove a true knock off and go to a bolt on wheel on a CCX?

17" and above gives the car a cartoonish look, and quite frankly, unless you are racing, would never need a rated tire of "H" or above. The larger the wheel/rim you go, the shorter the sidewall, and the worse the ride in my humble opinion when it comes to such a short wheelbase car as the Cobra. But it's your car, and your money, so spend it however you want.

Bill S.

[Sargie]

Originally Posted by celentanogj

I have the knock-off wheel adapters from vintage and will be replacing the rims and tires back to five lug rims on my CCX. I priced the the rims that American racing have of the five lug setup for the Shelby style wheels and want to move up to the 17" or 18" size for the only reason of better performance options. I have a set of 15" BFG's on the car now and like a lot of us I liked to lean into the car I just find the the current BFG's, Cooper's and the M/T's ( I know the Coopers and M/T's are the same) don't have the traction going into the turns at speed (they get squirrely). My question is anyone have 18" rim and tire combination on their CCX and can post pictures of the car wearing that combination? I had 17's on my car earlier but opted for the 15's for the more traditional look but now I'm over it and like driving the car to much to worry about nostalgia. also the 18's provide a better variety of diameter and width that I'm lookin for over the 17's.

Why not consider a set of 15” Avon CRZ66 tires or tyres as they call them. Although not readily available I think you can get them from Roger Krause Racing. A little pricey but a better performance tire than the others you mentioned above. I have and like them. Keep the vintage look just buy rubber no wheels or work changing out pin drive parts. As Bill S mentioned the 17’s ride hard. Had a Daytona Coupe and FFR roadster on 17”s. Both road and drove like a buckboard on hockey pucks.

[eschaider]

Originally Posted by Sargie

Why not consider a set of 15” Avon CRZ66 tires or tyres as they call them. Although not readily available I think you can get them from Roger Krause Racing. A little pricey but a better performance tire than the others you mentioned above. I have and like them. Keep the vintage look just buy rubber no wheels or work changing out pin drive parts. As Bill S mentioned the 17’s ride hard. Had a Daytona Coupe and FFR roadster on 17”s. Both road and drove like a buckboard on hockey pucks.

This ^ (Avons) is the correct answer. Big diameter rims, no matter the tire, simply look wrong and can not be made to look right. As if that isn't bad enough, a set of 17" wheels only from Vintage currently go for $3,200, before tax and shipping. Avons are down in the $2K space not up in the $3K 17 inch wheel space — that you still need to buy tires for!

[mikeinfo]

Front: Nitto NT555 G2, 275/35/18
Rear: Nitto NT555 RII, 335/30/18

[Alfa02]

The question comes back to what are you doing (or going to do) with your Cobra? A track day or two, Auto-x, or just a better (Sticky) street tire? A track day, Auto-X tire (whether 15-17-or 18) will not be a good street tire, and vice versa. Treadwear on those (track, Auto-X) tires are 100 or less, you may get 1000-2000miles out of them on the street (and even worse traction if temps are under 50degrees, those kind of tires like lots of HEAT!). Also remember these are High HP, lightweight Cobras, you will overpower "any tire" with just a little push on the "right" pedal I see a lot of money spent without much gain. My Experience: 50years under my belt, Auo-Xing, Track days, Road Racing, in this madness we call Sport Cars, Shelby always left off the s in Sports My $.03, Cheers TommyRot.

[SBSerpent]

Love having 17s on my BDR Cobra. Cartoonish? Maybe in some peoples opinions but I think they still look great on the car. Hands down better performance wise than 15s. I have the Nitto NT05s. And the ride on those tires is quite nice.

Last summer went for a drive in the SoCal mountains with a buddy who owns a Contemporary with a 427 center oiler. He hates his 15s, especially when he struggled to keep up with me through the windy roads. Lost him after the first mile.

[Morris]

18”x 10 BBS 275 Pilot Sport
18”x 12 BBS 335 Pilot Sport

[Sargie]

Originally Posted by SBSerpent

Love having 17s on my BDR Cobra. Cartoonish? Maybe in some peoples opinions but I think they still look great on the car. Hands down better performance wise than 15s. I have the Nitto NT05s. And the ride on those tires is quite nice.

Last summer went for a drive in the SoCal mountains with a buddy who owns a Contemporary with a 427 center oiler. He hates his 15s, especially when he struggled to keep up with me through the windy roads. Lost him after the first mile.

I agree appearance is just an opinion. If an owner or builder prefers an original style 15’s get you closer. The OP hasn’t fully identified his desires or priorities. As usual the rest of us myself included are off to the races sharing opinions and suggestions. As I understand it the BDR has BMW suspension front and rear clearly engineering years ahead of CCX design more akin to 60’s design. Even tires on both cars, I’d think the BDR should pull away.

[NROTOXIN]

Originally Posted by SBSerpent

Love having 17s on my BDR Cobra. Cartoonish? Maybe in some peoples opinions but I think they still look great on the car. Hands down better performance wise than 15s. I have the Nitto NT05s. And the ride on those tires is quite nice.

Last summer went for a drive in the SoCal mountains with a buddy who owns a Contemporary with a 427 center oiler. He hates his 15s, especially when he struggled to keep up with me through the windy roads. Lost him after the first mile.

You didn't say but guessing your buddy didn't have Avons....

[SBSerpent]

Originally Posted by NROTOXIN

You didn't say but guessing your buddy didn't have Avons....

He did not

[celentanogj]

Thanks for the pictures. The 18" rims just doesn't look right on the cobra no matter what make. I live on Long Island and there are no race tracks close enough to warrant buying an extra set of rims just for racing (Lime Rock and Watkins Glenn are not worth the trip for me). I had a set of 17" rims that originally came with the car but sold them because they were the A/R chromed Torque Thrust wheels which I thought didn't look correct for the car(personal preference). I went on the Roger Krause website and saw the Avon's and Krause racing will also cut new tread design in the tire for better wet weather traction for additional cost-which I won't need. I've read on these threads that one of the big negatives of the Avon's is tread wear.

[Sargie]

Originally Posted by celentanogj

Thanks for the pictures. The 18" rims just doesn't look right on the cobra no matter what make. I live on Long Island and there are no race tracks close enough to warrant buying an extra set of rims just for racing (Lime Rock and Watkins Glenn are not worth the trip for me). I had a set of 17" rims that originally came with the car but sold them because they were the A/R chromed Torque Thrust wheels which I thought didn't look correct for the car(personal preference). I went on the Roger Krause website and saw the Avon's and Krause racing will also cut new tread design in the tire for better wet weather traction for additional cost-which I won't need. I've read on these threads that one of the big negatives of the Avon's is tread wear.

My Avons have about 3,000 street driven miles. Very little wear. They don’t get pounded just street driven. I think they’ll last 6-7k.

[Imlumpy]

Just my two cents , I think the 17’s are the nicest choice , not too small , not too big . It’s a small car , the 18’s imho look to big , the 17’s have a nice amount of sidewall and I think really complement the car , especially something like American racing vn’s
I love ford vs Ferrari, I like that they got a lot of things right but did anyone else notice the cars in the background in the hanger are equipped with 18” wheels ? Our cars are modern takes on an old car , some of us have fuel injection , because , hey it’s 2022 and it makes the car more liveable , so I say go for modern rubber also if you want to, enjoy the improvements that have come along since the sixties . I don’t think 17’s make it look cartoonish.everyone has their own opinion, personally I think crazy color combos make them look like clown cars , it’s an outrageous attention grabbing car , it really doesn’t need to be yellow with purple stripes , but that’s just my stupid opinion.

[SBSerpent]

Originally Posted by NROTOXIN

You didn't say but guessing your buddy didn't have Avons....

He did not

[keeptryn]

Originally Posted by Sargie

My Avons have about 3,000 street driven miles. Very little wear. They don’t get pounded just street driven. I think they’ll last 6-7k.

I have Avons and they have approx 16,500 miles on them. Have driven only on the street, spirited driving at times. Hard to say but my guess is they have a couple thousand miles left in them at least.

[scootter]

I have the Michelin PS2 335/35/17 rear and 275/40/17 front. Do what you want to do!

[TEAM THREE WHEE]

We have components to build our AC-3 wheel in 17 or 18", in lug mount or Pin-drive
that will work with your adapters. Check us out. ETMags.com

[hauss]

Originally Posted by Imlumpy

Just my two cents , I think the 17’s are the nicest choice , not too small , not too big . It’s a small car , the 18’s imho look to big , the 17’s have a nice amount of sidewall and I think really complement the car , especially something like American racing vn’s
I love ford vs Ferrari, I like that they got a lot of things right but did anyone else notice the cars in the background in the hanger are equipped with 18” wheels ? Our cars are modern takes on an old car , some of us have fuel injection , because , hey it’s 2022 and it makes the car more liveable , so I say go for modern rubber also if you want to, enjoy the improvements that have come along since the sixties . I don’t think 17’s make it look cartoonish.everyone has their own opinion, personally I think crazy color combos make them look like clown cars , it’s an outrageous attention grabbing car , it really doesn’t need to be yellow with purple stripes , but that’s just my stupid opinion.

First let me say I agree with most of,what you said. However I have a backdraft and often wonder what it would ride like with 15" rims and a taller sidewall. My thinking is it is a light car so a taller sidewall would not hurt it as much as people think and I would get a better ride.