Every time we have gone to the track, we have managed to lower our elapsed times on Project Magneto. However, we have found the limit of the current S550 drag pack setup which uses Mickey Thompson ET Street SS tires and RC Components Street King wheels. While very streetable (in fact I will be using these as the street setup from now on), a 1.67 sixty-foot time is the best we have ever managed — and that was on a radial prep with pretty decent air at the NMCA & NMRA All-Star-Nationals. Given our current power output at 666 horsepower at the wheels with the VMP blower and Kooks headers, RC Components recommended a new 17-inch single-beadlock setup. And yes, stickier and larger tires are also on the menu.

New S550 Drag Pack Specs

Project Magneto is officially a street brawler with its new Street Fighter series drag wheels. This line from RC Components bridges the gap between the entry-level Street King and the higher-end, forged Competition series. The Street Fighter wheels are flow-formed like the Street Kings but with a higher level of machine work, larger sizes, and single bead locks for faster street cars. When we first got our Street Kings, RJ at RC Components told us we would quickly outgrow them. We probably stretched them already, a little more than they were intended — and certainly would have if we switched to the softer and stickier rubber on those wheels.

The single beadlocks will keep the stickier tires from spinning on the rim, without requiring a set of tiny drag brakes for clearance like a double beadlock would (we just ran into this on a Dragzine project). Unfortunately, that means they are just as hard to mount tires on as a regular wheel. But, we took advantage of Mickey Thompson’s trailer at the NMCA & NMRA event at Rockingham instead of putting our brand-new drag wheel in the hands of a local tire shop and torquing down the beadlocks ourselves.

We chose the Exile style wheels in 18×5-inch front and 17×11-inch rear with the Eclipse Prism color scheme. These modern two-piece wheels come in direct fitments for late models, so we didn’t have to guess on the offset or backspacing. This exact style of wheels made me love RC’s drag wheels. The various dimensions and machine work make the wheel really stand out, and the use of the black powder coat and polished aluminum finish show off the beautiful design work. It looks fantastic on late models like our 2018 Mustang GT and is a breath of fresh air from the classic five-spokes.

While the stock brakes on our base model GT did not require 18s, we wanted to try out the new look and leave room in case we upgrade to the Performance Pack front brakes. RC sent domed center caps for the front wheels and flat center caps for the rear wheels. While many with SFI-approved solid axles may opt for no caps on the rear, the IRS axles made that an unsightly option, that we decided to avoid.

Choosing the right tires was just as easy as getting the right wheels. Just like RC, Mickey Thompson has a tried and true formula for late-model Mustangs – the ET Street R. The R2 compound is soft and sticky enough to get us into the nines with the right complimenting parts, yet they are DOT-legal for the street. We chose the 305/45R17, which added 2 inches of diameter and nearly an inch of width.

That’s a significant increase in contact patch while killing a bit of the 3.15:1 gearing. Given our power goals, the 28-inch diameter seemed most in line, and we’d play the gear by ear. MT offers sizes that are an inch and a half larger in diameter as well as two and a half inches larger in diameter, not to mention sizes akin to our previous setup and in-between. There certainly are options for the 17-inch wheel and even more for the 15-inch wheel (but just two for 18s — take that GT500). And, in case you are wondering, 17s are the smallest you can fit on the base rear brake and spindle package. Fitting 15s requires a drag racing brake and billet knuckle (or heavy modifications to the factory one).

Another benefit to choosing the 28-inch diameter drag radials is that they matched perfectly with the ET Street Front tires we chose (28×6 inches). For aesthetics, I prefer keeping the same tire height, but generally speaking in late-models it helps keep the ABS system happy as well. Though, I did run these rear tires with the previous 26-inch front tires at one point and had no issues for what it’s worth. I’d have to imagine these front tires would be fine with a 29- or 30-inch rear tire, too. But I can’t say for sure.

Swapping Wheels & Tires Made Easy

With the mounted and balanced S550 drag pack in hand, it was time to install them…but where the heck do you jack up an S550? Having owned a few other late models with this very same issue, I began to scour the internet for a solution similar to what I have used in the past. A seemingly unlikely source became the go-to for a set of jacking pads.

ZL1 Add-Ons makes quite a few products in the Mustang space, including a variety of jack and lift pads. You may be wondering, what the heck is the difference between a jack pad and a lift pad? The imagination could run wild here, but I’ll tell you: a jack pad is a temporary solution to put in place right before jacking it up, while a lift pad stays on the car and in place.

We opted for the Stealth Lift Pads in the natural finish (they’re available in three colors including black and red), which fit all Mustangs from 2005 to 2024 (S197, S550, and S650). The Stealth design is a little more sleek than the original, and I liked the look of it. The angles are designed to avoid hitting the pinch weld when jacking or lifting the car. It’s machined out of 6061 billet aluminum and has two Allen screws that need to be loosened and then tightened down on the car. It grabs onto an existing part of the car, so it requires no drilling and you don’t even need to lift the car to install them (though it helps). If these install notes seem light, it is because there isn’t much to it. The installation takes less than an hour in total and the kit comes with the four lift pads (assembled) and an Allen wrench. You just need to supply Loctite.

While We Were Under There…

Project Magneto has been good to us, so we need to be good to it and treat it to some quality fluids. After all, we are asking a completely stock (save the oil pump gears) Gen-3 Coyote to take a whole lot of boost. Liqui-Moly was happy to supply its fully synthetic Molygen in 5w-20. While the Molygen New Generation is not Liqui-Moly’s most economic choice in oil, we wanted every advantage we could get knowing (spoiler alert) there were some smaller pullies in the mail from VMP. “Molygen New Generation oils utilize unique friciton and deposit control to maximize engine efficiency and longevity,” a spokesman from Liqui-Moly informed us. “This exclusive technology is named Molecular Friction Control which optimizes wear protection and efficiency to help quarter-mile e.t. and speed.”

This was my first time using Liqui-Moly and I found the 5.28Q bottles easy to maneuver and the pull-out spout made it very easy to pour without spilling. The Coyote takes 10 quarts, so I ordered just a little over that for safety. I appreciated the green color, too, as it made it easy to tell if I spilled any on the floor. I did not. The old oil is a different story. It comes out of that Coyote pan in a hurry. Gird your loins if it’s your first time. I’m always amazed at how it defies gravity.

While we were at it, we also decided to give DIJectron a try. While we changed the port injectors when we installed the VMP supercharger, the DI injectors had over 90,000 miles without any replacement or likely even any TLC. Just one can will help clean the entire fuel system, but especially the combustion chamber and in and around the injector tips – and it also helps prevent the formation of new deposits so it will stay clean. We can’t afford for even one chamber to go lean, as the stock cylinder liners are not very forgiving, so this was great insurance.

New S550 Drag Pack Track Results

Our first time out with the ET Street R’s, we headed back to Rockingham Dragway with the promise of radial prep in June. Though it was starting to heat up a bit, the evening air wasn’t so bad. The track prep was indeed on point and the new S550 drag pack setup proved capable of consistent 1.55 to 1.58 sixty-foot times on our way to a best-ever 10.61 at 129mph (6.81 at 102 to the 1/8-mile). But that’s not the whole story…

The new S550 drag pack setup showed its full potential a few weeks later at the Team Shelby Carolinas club test-n-tune at Carolina Dragway, where Magneto clicked off a 1.34 sixty-foot time in the dead heat of noon in mid-June (inlet temps were 160-degrees in the staging lanes). While the Gen-3 Coyote was gasping for air at the top end, it did run 4.35 to the 330 and 6.79 to the 1/8-mile. While its 10.69 at 127mph did not set the world on fire, it did feel like the world was on fire. We are calling this a success, and under normal weather conditions, this would have been a 10.4 to 10.5-second pass and our fastest ever.

The only change we made between the first test session and the second was one less pound of air pressure, fresh rear brake pads (to hold better at the line), and of course the change in track. We were able to launch at around 3,000rpm now, and felt like without a transbrake it probably wouldn’t go any faster in the sixty. There was something to gain on the e.t., but the growing heat of Summer was working against us to lower the e.t. any further. So what’s a boosted Coyote to do? I’m sure you guessed it. Catch you next time!