Goldenpony

I'm running snow shoes right now. I have been running on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S for the last few years and have been very happy with them. They say the new Plus is even better. These are all season tires.
This summer, I am going to try the new Michelin Pilot Super Sport - a summer only tire. As of this minute they don't come in my size (235 50-18), but Michelin told me they would have them the last of Feb. If you read up on these, they're supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. Michelin is pricey, but worth every dime.

Rain

Agreed the stock Pirelli P-Zero tires just don't seem very good. Pirelli is a popular name in the racing circuit, so I think it was a wise business decision for Ford to switch to them just so salesmen can say the word Pirelli and buyers will go "ooooh." The vast majority of consumers probably don't have much tire knowledge beyond brand name, as is true with most products.

I'm hoping to get another summer out of my stock tires, since I know I won't have the money to purchase new ones, especially since I want to get 18" which will require the purchase of new wheels as well.

Nitto 555's seem to be the most talked about with solid reviews, and based on price/performance, I will probably end up with a set of those.

Can anyone add any positive/negative comments on Sumitomo tires?

Campo 427R

The Mustang is in GTS class in the Pirelli World Challenge racing series. Thats one reason Ford uses Pirelli tires on the 2010+ cars.
When I was shopping for 18" road course track wheels a major retailer was shipping complete sets with the Sumitomo HTR ZII tires. The HTR ZIII tires are much better if you go that way. I chose to just get Enkei wheels and slicks for dedicated track use.

sonicx

The 555's has a rougher ride & don't corner as well. The invo's are smoother and quieter than the 555's. INVO's have better dry/wet grip performance. Invo's cut threw wet pavement like it's dry. And there a little more sticky. I never could get traction with 555's. 555's were sort of OK on the road course only because they didn't wear out so fast.

Think of it like this: 555's summer performance tire, INVO's ulta-summer performance tire.

moosestang

Love my Yokohama S. drives! I tell everyone how great these tires perform. The dry and wet traction is outstanding.

donutsdemise

I'm thinking I may go with Bridgestone RE-11's on a set of GT500 18x9.5 (due to my Brembo package) as I figure those summer tires will stand up to DD/long distance/autocross and those wheels being Ford OEM, will be sturdy if not as light as Enkei's, etc.

Heavy-Dee

In the end I decided on this:

http://www.latemodelrestoration.com/...Tire-Kit-19X95

My stock wheels (Brembo package) are up for sale.

donutsdemise

Those are hot, I will check out that website.

Derf00

I find the better wet traction from a KDW vs a KDWS contradictory. KDWS are all season. KDW is summer (Dry). I've run the older pattern of KDW on my old 6 banger Mustang and even on that car the wet traction was horrible.

The new pattern on the KDW (flame pattern) was designed to improve dry traction and for looks. Can't see it making much of a difference for wet traction though...

Maybe you drive more carefully in the rain now?

danzcool

Uhm, the DW stands for Dry/Wet, the DWS stands for Dry/Wet/Snow. Generally speaking the more general the spec, the lower performing it is in each category. Snow traction is a whole different strategy than wet traction.