well, whats a decent all season tire for the mustang. my goal is around Christmas, i'll be buying some 18's and put some nice summer tread on them. but i'm keeping the 17's for late fall, winter, early spring. the stock tires did better then expected in the snow last year, nwo i've moved a little farther south (in Louisville, KY now) so i think i'll see less snow. i was thinking i'll just get what came on it stock again, but figured i'd ask and see what kind of experience others had.

thanks in advance, cheers

 

Can't give you any advice on the tires, but I'm from Louisville also. We only get2 or 3large snowfalls a year. Not enough to buy new tires for.

 

Hi Dumpweed,

I suggest you keep your stock 17" alloys and buy some stock take-off 17"Pirelli P-Zero Nero A/S tires and put them on just for winter use. The stock Pirelli P-Zero Nero A/S tires are so abundant that even new they are only $90 now. Then gobuy those 18" wheelsand some nice dry summer performancetires for the summer swapping them out for the stock 17" and Pirelli P-Zero Neros forthe rainy season as needed each year.Personally I really like the S197 chassis with a slightly narrower tire 255/45x18rather than the biggesttires you can reasonably squeeze under the wheel wells (285/275/40/45x18). TheS197 carshave a ratherinsensitive steeringrackwith poor feelwhencentered and this is not helped by puttingbigger tires on the car. IMO a slightly narrower tire caris more driveable and has a less dead feeling with the real advantagebeing that throttle can be more effectively used to steer the car even if you are N/A like me.

I justcame acrossa deal to good to pass upand while these gorgous 10x18 forged Roush wheels fit O.K. theydo notfit the car to O.E.M. standards, they are simply too far out of the wheelwells. The Roush wheels fit perfectly in front but surprisingly need about 10mm more negative offset at the rear tofitas well as they do at the front of the car. Of course my car has an aggressive alignment and has more negativecamber than most cars do so maybe that 10mm wold also be needed for cars with camber settings more like stock for better tire wear.

IMOthe ideal 3-season wheels are going to be 9-9.5x18 with a 255/45x18 dry performnce summer tire like the Goodyear F1 GS-D3, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2, Bridgestone Pole Position RE050A or BFG g-Force T/A KDW 2. If you wanta tire that doesnot become a hazzardto drive on in the rain or i cold weather with better ride and less noise than these dedicated performance tires look at a Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, Yokohma ADVAN S.4 and the still excellent Pirelli PZero M&S you already are familiar with. These are the best tires available but they are not cheap.

Hope this helps!

 

Dumpweed:

I am running Goodyear F1 GS-D3 255/45/18's on 18 X 8.5 inch rims. They have good performance and a reasonable price.

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Im running Kumho ecsta asx 275/40/18 all the way around it sticks like glue and they are reasonably priced.

 

BFGoodrich KDW2's here, love them and the tread pattern