No, this post is not about some oversized, extra wide tread, summer performance screamers. It's only about plain vanilla Pirelli P-Zero Nero All Season tires.
But before you think about bolting from this thread because you think it's going to put you to sleep from sheer boredom, I suggest that you continue reading. You may be as surprised as I was.

There's something completely different with these P-Zero Nero All Season tires when compared to the OEM Pirellis that came with my 05 S197 => they grip!
The OEM tires always lost traction(even when brand new), which caused the car to fishtail in 40 F and lower temps when I went WOT in 1st from a dig and from a 5 mph rolling start. Even a hard 1-2 shift caused a loss of traction.
The new tires, on the other hand, just plain grip the road under the same conditions. And hard 1-2 shifts generate only a small chirp.
I tested them on all of the different roads that made the previous tires slip and slide, and the new ones grab the various road surfaces like they're on a well prepped drag strip.

Kudos Pirelli!!!

 

Some of that difference is definitely comparing 5-6 year old tires that are well past their prime to fresh new tires. Even if they were the exact same tire and compound and size as the originals, the new ones would still be an improvement over old worn out tires. I'll sometimes replace 4-5 year old tires on one of my cars even if they have plenty of tread left just because of their age and being heat-cycled out.

 

I'm a big fan of the 17" Zero's. I get 60K miles from a set. I have 165K on my car now & will install new tires for the winter. I find they handle best in the dry when worn down, no tread squirm. Great in the rain, fair in the snow. Ford did a good job designing the suspension around these tires.

 

Please re-read my post where I stated "The OEM tires always lost traction(even when brand new)....

 

I read that, but my point is still very valid, and your 5-6 year old tires certainly deteriorated in terms of their grip as they aged.

 

I totally agree with you on that universally known fact.

However, to belabor what I thought was an obvious point in my post:
I was underscoring the huge difference in traction between 2 almost identical tires(OEM P-Zero Nero Ultra Performance M&S and P-Zero Nero Ultra Performance All Season) from the same manufacturer even when the OEM's were new, and not just comparing the traction of the old treadless OEM's with the new ones, which would have insulted everyone's intelligence.