Wheels fitment for every type of S550 Mustang (street, track, drag)

Researching wheel specs for your S550 Mustang can be difficult. 6th gen owners with aftermarket wheels will happily share every detail EXCEPT the offset of their wheels. They’ll tell you the width, diameter, tire size, brand, what suspension they’re running, their favorite cereal… but for some reason not WHEEL OFFSET. Because offset is a vital number, we put together this guide with ALL the details you’ll need, offsets included.

This is all about the 6th generation Ford Mustang (S550), model years 2015-2023. We see a lot of different uses for this platform: track, drag, and as they become more affordable, drift. Specs differ a lot between these applications. In addition to street & daily drivers, we’ll look at race-specific setups as well.

Quick links

• Basic fitment info
• Street wheel setups for the S550 Mustang
• Track/Circuit wheel setups for the S550 Mustang
• Drag pack for the S550 Mustang

Basic fitment info

The wheel and tire combination you choose will dramatically change depending on what you plan to use your car for, like we said, there are all kinds of use cases, we’ll cover the most popular. Before we get into that, let's see the basic info that applies to every S550.

• Lug pattern: 5x114.3
• Nut thread: M14x1.5
• Center bore: 70.5 mm
• Lug torque: 93 ft lbs

From the factory, you’ll get something between a 17” and 20” diameter alloy wheel, it varies depending on trim and factory options. Generally, we recommend ditching 17’s, with drag cars being an exception. 18-20” wheels all work great on the S550. 20’s are good for street cars where style is preferred; a lightweight 18 setup is ideal for track; 19 is a happy medium between performance and aesthetics. Not to say that 18” wheels with a meaty tire can’t look good. A popular style in the USDM stance scene is to run air suspension with a drag pack (drag wheel/tire package).

This is where we’d normally tell you about the popular width and offset. Because these vary so much depending on the application, we’ll wait and give recommendations per use case.

Staggered vs square wheels

Both staggered and squared setups are possible, but not surprisingly, staggered setups are more popular on this chassis (and virtually all Mustangs). Running a wider rear wheel & tire makes a lot of sense on these cars. A typical staggered setup will have a rear wheel about 1” wider than the front with tires to match.

The S550 is an excellent platform for road/circuit racing, especially with Ford emphasizing track use with models like the GT350. Circuit racing is where square setups really shine. They reduce the understeer attributed to their staggered counterpart. Another benefit is the ability to rotate tires, squeezing every last penny out of those radials.

A true square wheel and tire require exact specs between the front and rear. A lot of Mustang owners will have the exact tire, but with different offset or width wheels, or vice versa with the same wheels and wider rear tires. These aren’t true square setups but are often labeled so anyway. When you hear ‘staggered’, take it with a grain of salt.

GT350 & GT500 Brembos

Brakes need to be considered on models that came with Brembos:

• The 6-piston Brembos found on the GT350 make it impossible to run anything smaller than a 19”
• The GT500 has even larger Brembos, requiring at least 20’s in the front and 18’s in the rear

The fenders come prerolled

The 6G Mustang can take some pretty wide wheels. If you wanna push the envelope, Ford did you a solid by effectively prerolling the fenders; these cars don’t have a huge lip on the inner-fenders like you would see on virtually anything else.

The fender liners, however, might cause you some grief if you lower your Mustang on lowering springs or coilovers. Nothing shocking here, this is the case with most cars; just rip those things out and throw them in the nearest dumpster. They’re only held in with push-retainers so this is easy enough.

Street wheel setups for the S550 Mustang

This section is for those looking for fresh wheels for their daily driver or weekend show car. While performance isn’t completely ignored, looks are the priority here. For these kinds of builds, 19” or 20” wheels are great - they really fill out the arches.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	AVID1 AV20 19x9.5 +35	AVID1 AV20 19x9.5 +35
Tires	Continental Extremecontact Sport 285/35R19	Continental Extremecontact Sport 285/35R19
Notes	Stock ride height, no rubbing.

You know how we said square setups are most commonly used for circuit racing? Well, there’s no reason they can’t be used on a daily. This 2023 GT California Special proves that point. It has the perfect all-around setup: wide enough tires for grip, 19” + square wheels for track, and stock height for driveability - with this combination, you can do a bit of everything.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Work ZR10 2P 20x9.5 +22	Work ZR10 2P 20x10.5 +38
Tires	Hankook Ventus s1 265/35R20	Yokohama Advan Apex 285/35R20
Notes	Fortune Auto Coilovers, Steeda rear camber arms, other adjustable suspension arms. GT350 Brembos.

If you wanna eliminate that wheel gap you can grab some lowering springs, or even coilovers, like this ‘16 GT base. Lowered or not, this is a pretty typical fitment: 9.5/10.5” staggered wheels, 285/35 tires, and 20” wheels. If you’re looking for something that’s flush, or near-flush, these are great specs. The Work Wheels are a nice matchup of USDM meets JDM.

If you look closely you can see this GT is fitted with 6-piston brakes off a Shelby, so we know these Work ZR10 will clear the larger calipers.

We got all models of Work Wheels

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Rotiform SNA 20x9 +20	Rotiform SNA 20x10 +40
Tires	Falken FK510 245/35R20	Falken FK510 255/35R20
Notes	Air Lift Performance kit front/rear. Natural Camber

If the last one wasn’t low enough for ya, hopefully this one is… because it's almost laying frame. This is possible with an airbag kit from Air Lift Performance. The major difference between this car and the last is the tires; this Mustang has thin and narrow tires, modestly stretched on the rims - much more narrow than most S550 owners would run. The small tires give extra room for the 20’s to tuck in the fender when it’s aired out.

Obviously, aesthetics are the goal with this type of build.

Track/Circuit wheel setups for the S550 Mustang

For these builds, the objective is to keep the wheels square while going as wide as possible, even if there’s a bit of poke. For non-Shelby models, 18” wheels are preferred. For a GT350, 19” is the smallest you can go and still clear the brakes - this is the preferred diameter to minimize sprung weight.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Apex EC-7 18x10 +40 (effective +15)	Apex EC-7 18x10 +40
Tires	Nitto NT01 305/35R18	Nitto NT01 305/35R18
Notes	Stock height, 1” spacer in the front, no rubbing.

This Coyote powered GT is running a square set of Apex Wheels - 18x10 all around with meaty Nitto 305/35R18 tires. These NT01 are a D.O.T-compliant wheel meant for the track. They're 100-treadwear, meaning they’re soft and won’t last long, but will grip like crazy.

This build is perfect to drive to the track, do some laps, and drive home - it’s not a track-exclusive car that needs to be hauled around on a trailer. The front has a bit of poke because of 1” spacers, making the effective offset +15. They are likely required for the front tires to clear the struts.

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Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Signature SV502 19x11 +50 (effective +25)	Signature SV502 19x11 +50
Tires	Hoosier R7 315/30R19	Hoosier R7 315/30R19
Notes	1” spacer in the front. -3.2 to -4 front camber. Cortex Penske coilovers.

For a full blown track setup, here’s a GT350 with 19x11 wheels and a 315/30 wide tire. The car is using a 1” spacer to clear the front suspension. The wheels are a track-only set of Hoosier R7’s.

This is a bit extreme for a hybrid daily/track car, but shows just how wide you can go on the GT350. Something similar to the last examples will be better for most.

Drag pack for the S550 Mustang

When building a drag car it’s all about grip in the rear. After all, you don’t want your Mustang to turn into the stereotypical crowd eater. This is a big topic, but here’s an oversimplified version for those who are just getting into drag: you wanna go wide AND thick - wider wheels/tires is a no-brainer, but you also want a small rear wheel with a thick tire. In the front, you want something as light as possible. Skinnies in the front are as narrow as will fit while having just enough grip to steer and stop the vehicle.

Brake calipers are the limiting factor for downsizing wheels. Downsizing to a 15” rear is only possible with the use of an aftermarket brake kit (such as Baer). For beginner to intermediate drag racers, 17-inch will be plenty small enough to throw on a nice thick tire.

Like other types of racing, drag builds are a sliding scale. Do you want a dedicated drag car or drag-n-drive, grocery getter? We’ll look at examples for both ends of the spectrum.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Forgestar F14 18x10 +42	Forgestar F14 17x10 +50
Tires	General Tire G-Max 275/40R18	Mickey Thompson ET Street 305/45R17
Notes	Lowering springs. No Rubbing.

Here is a no-skinny drag pack on a 2021 GT. This is geared towards someone just starting to drag race, a multi-use vehicle, or maybe someone who wants to participate in a drag-n-drive event. Without a skinny, the car is more versatile. You don’t wanna get caught in a rainstorm driving home from the track with a skinny.

If you’re on a tight budget, you could also run stock front wheels and only upgrade the rears. This might not get you as much street cred, but it achieves the same effect.

Forgestar F14’s are popular on this chassis regardless of the use. A set of 19” or 20” all around looks killer on a daily driver.

Shop F14 Drag wheels here

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Wanna go full-blown drag car? You’ll notice this GT is running the same 305/45 tires as the last. The differences are it has beadlocking rears, skinnies in the front, and Mickey Thompson street-legal drag radials. It’s possible to downsize the rear even more, to say 15”, but we recommend 17” as the smallest unless you really know what you’re doing. If you’re downsizing the brakes, you’ll likely be building a track-only car with full on slicks.

With 305/45 rear tires and stock suspension, this car doesn’t rub, even when launching at the strip on warm tires.

Fitment Facts
	Front	Rear
Wheels	Weld Racing Laguna 18x5 -23	Weld Racing Laguna Beadlock 17x10 +64
Tires	Lionhart Lh-503 215/55R18	Mickey Thompson ET Street R 305/45R17
Notes	Stock Suspension, no modification, no rubbing or scrubbing. Rear beadlock.

Wrap up

There it is, 6G wheel fitment with ALL the specs you need (including offset). If you’re building your S550 for a certain type of motorsport, that doesn’t mean you have to ruin driveability. We saw examples of tame and extreme builds for all types of racing. Want to cruise around on a drag setup? Consider going without skinnies. Want something that's fast around the Starbucks drive-through and the road course? Get a square setup with a D.O.T-compliant tire.

Whatever wheels and tires you pick, if you don’t wanna gatekeep your setup, make sure to share the offset in addition to the other specs. We have just the place for you to share those specs - help others while being entered to win monthly prizes (offsets required).