Hi All!

My name is Dave and I'm new to this forum and a new Mustang owner. I purchased a 2001 Black V6 Mustang (clever name I know) with all base/stock options. Side note- it is a 2001 but most people can't believe it's 10 years old- it has only 65K miles with one previous owner who took very good care of it. I'm overwhelmed with excitement about the communities I found of Mustang owners/enthusiasts.

I'm writing because I need to start thinking about Winter. Unfortunately, the Mustang is my only car and I will need to drive it in the rough New England Winter. I've heard that Mustangs are notoriously bad in ice/snow and have experienced it first hand- we had a wicked bad snowstorm on October 29th that dumped 12" of snow and left all of CT without power for 7+ days!

I think I've decided on the Mastercraft Glacier Grip II Winter Tire. Does anyone have experience with this tire? Every tire store highly recommended it and the price is also not too bad. This tire is studdable and one person recommended that I stud the rear wheels since the Mustang is rear-wheel drive. Any recommendations?

I also wanted to ask about tire sizes. Again, my Mustang is very "plain"- it has the stock P205/65R15 15" wheels with the factory rims. My rims have a few chips/dings and I am contemplating purchasing new rims with my tires. From my research online, I've found that most Mustang enthusiasts have 16" tires and up. What are the advantages/disadvantages of having a larger tire size and is this something I should consider?

Thanks again for welcoming me to this forum and any help with my questions would very much be appreciated!

-Dave

 

I would mount the winter tires on the stock rims that are in the picture. I would then ask Santa for $$$ and get some 17" rims and tires to run in the nice weather. I have an '03 with the 17" oem rims. The bigger tires fill the wheel wells better and improve the looks. IMO.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I agree that the 17" rims fill the wheel better, but will 16" or 17" rims improve performance in the summer? in the winter? Please forgive me for being a nOOb with all things cars. I definitely need winter tires and am tempted to buy these beautiful KONIG FERRIS rims for a sweet price when I buy the tire/wheel combo.

But I failed to mention that I'm on a budget and can't purchase more than I need or that I can afford. Is there anything wrong with 15" wheels in the summer/winter other than the aesthetics?

 

Dave, on my 95 Stang, during the nice weather i drive with 17" Konig rims ( sorry dont know the exact name of the style ), there is a difference in the ride, it responds better in my opinion, and it definitely gives my car a nice look. During the winter i will be driving on my stockies mainly because i dont want to ruin my Konig's, so if you were to buy the new rims, id suggest keeping your stockies and putting winter tires / All season tires on them and having a low/semi-low profile tire on the Konigs. Hope this input helps.

 

95Schill-Berry,

Thanks for your input. I'm not looking forward to the wear and tear my stang in going to take during the winter.

Do you have 17" tires that you use with the stock rims during the winter or are they 15"/another size?

 

The stockies are 15", hate how i feel every little bump now, with the konigs they are a wider tire and taller, so there was more of a contact zone on the road, while the stockies are skinnier which is better off in the snow anyways.

 

Gotcha. I think I've made up my mind- thanks a bunch for your help!

 

i agree with the first post. i have 17'' OEM with 245/45/17s as my winter tires. it still slides but it really helps. i also load my trunk with 150lbs of sandbags to keep the rear from sliding as much.
and on my cobra rims i have 235/35/17 street tires. so nice.
and studding is a good idea. in MA its illegal to stud tires so ive never experienced it but i can imagine it working

 

Thanks- I'm in CT and I never actually checked the studding laws haha. Anyway, someone convinced me that it wasn't neccesary. I ended up getting 4 Mastercraft Glacier Grip II winter tires and put them on my OEM rims- these things have a real aggressive tread! They are studdable if I change my mind. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the advice with the sand bags / extra weight, I'm definately going to do that. Hopefully the Winter won't be so bad and I'lll upgrade to some nice 17" wheels come Spring.