I am running a bone stock 06 gt mustang with stick, I took it to the track a while back and ran a 1.99 60 foot. My only question is....I am running the 18 inch mustang wheels, if I drop to 17, 16, or even a 15 inch wheel would it make that much difference for my 60 foot time? Just needed a little info before I buy new wheels or if I should just buy a set of nitto's for the rear and save some money.

 

You bet it will. There is a reason why most racing slicks are only offered in 15". The more sidewall you have, the more traction you will get. I'm running a 16" rim (I would go to a 15" but I'd have to grind my calipers). Anyway, I was having traction problems and could not hook up at all w/ 26" M/T drag radials. I switch to 28" (larger diameter tires and therefore thicker sidewall) and it was a huge difference. I cut a 1.57 sec 60 when before all I got was about 1.8xx in the 60'.

Its a tradeoff. 17" ad 18" wheels look better, but 15" and 16" perform better at the track.

 

dropping to a small rim will only benefit if you have a DR/slick type tire. Regular radials have too stiff of a sidewall that the rim size doesn't matter. But I would get a separate set of rims and put some DR's or slick onthem. Get 15". But you overall tire size should remain the same (i.e. 26" or 28"). Depending on your setup. -Mark