It looks like I'll have to do some winter driving with my new ride this winter .
Right now I have the performance package with 19" "summer" tires, which are really fun, but not good for cold, ice, and a little snow. They also aren't very good in rain, I'm finding.
As a newbie I'm still learning, and have a few related questions:
1. Can I buy 18" wheels and tires for the winter. Will they fit over the current performance package brake system (it looks like they will)?
2. Any counsel on good all season tires with a reasonable price for our rear wheel drive toys?
3. Advice on where to look online for buying info, other than tire rack, which is a pretty good site, I know (used it to spec my wife's new Santa Fe tires)?

Thanks in advance.

 

1. Yes you can. I actually have a complete set for sale if you're interested in a winter set up. (https://themustangsource.com/f722/20...s-tpms-507404/) $1000 for $2200 worth of parts and labor. I commute too much so am buying a beater for a DD and winter vehicle. They clear the Brembo brakes no problem, so will definately clear your brakes.

2. All season means no season to me. They do not excel at anything, and you will struggle with traction year round. The summers flat out stick in the summer, and the winters I used this past year were incredible at getting the car moving, and more importantly stopping it. After driving a car with seperate summer and winters, I doubt I will ever go back to all seasons.

3. I got my wheels, lugs, TPMS, and training tool from American Muscle, and tires purchased and mounted from discount tire. You will be hard pressed to spend less than 2k on a winter set up, and I don't think you will like the performance of an all season in the summer. They just don't stick well in our cars.

 

Can you get away with summer tires in winter though? I mean these cars aren't great in inches of snow on the ground, but if there's only a dusting are they still OK?

Also if you get the V6 performance package, those come with the 19's and summer tires. Any good relatively affordable all season tires that can go on these wheels in the winter?

 

This is correct. All seasons do nothing excellent. There are some great options that get you by now days in an all season tire. Better now than ever but still don't measure up to a summer or winter tire in their adverse setting. I also know that a lot of people say that a summer tire is bad in the rain. This absolutely should not be true. A summer tire has to accommodate for rain. Bridgestones are great in the wet. There is a huge difference between slick and wet though. No tire works on a slick surface like light rain and oil that causes a slick pavement. Any tire will slide. Winter tires are the same. I recently read a test with all three tire types and the all seasons accelerated and decelerated worse than both the winter and summer tires in their respective elements.

When I bought my Civic it had all seasons that I could care less for but I'm not spending the money yet to get into summers. But if you have the means then go with a separate set for each season. Not fall or spring.

As far as wheel clearance, the PP isn't anything special. The Brembo brakes on the GT have clearance to consider.

 

No personal experience yet but I hear Cooper RS3-As are great in wet, dry & light snow. Nothing will be good on ice & I wouldnt take a Mustang out into the snow (but I get caught in it), so I will be buying these. A little pricey, though.

 

No you cannot use summer tires in anything below 40 degrees out. The rubber compound is not designed to be soft and sticky in that outside temperature.


Again, I highly recommend a winter set up over an all season set up. Not to mention you will probably pay $1000+ for the tires and mounting of all seasons, and get less performance out of them. The better all season tires are not cheap.

Additionally, you do not want to be changing tires onto rims twice a year. It makes much more sense to have a second set of wheels with your winters on them, as the sidewalls of tires are not designed for constant mounting/unmounting. Then it's a simple wheel/tire combo swap twice a year that takes 20 minutes total.

Take a look at my winter set I have for sale. You will not find this set up cheaper anywhere else, especially with the low miles on the tires.

 

The "summer only" tires get hard and slippery at about 40 degrees F or below, so definitely not a good idea at freezing or near freezing temperatures, and worse with a dusting of snow.

If your car will see any real "winter" conditions, meaning snow and salt on the roads, a separate set of winter wheels and tires is highly recommended. This will protect your good wheels from the winter elements, in addition to making the car somewhat driveable in the snow.

I picked up a set of cheap 17" wheels and snow tires for $500 on Craig's List. They don't look great and they don't have the TPMS sensors, but they do the job perfectly. I am not sure of the brake size on the V6 performance package, but I think 17" wheels might clear. If so, that opens up a huge range of options on the used market; there are lots of 17" stang wheels from earlier years floating around. No TPMS sensors is a minor annoyance but no big deal -- the light comes on and the chime chimes when you start the car; but you just press "reset" and it goes away for a while.

These cars really aren't that bad in the snow -- yes of course you do need to be careful and adjust your driving style, especially if you have never driven a rear-wheel drive car in the snow.

 

Look at Lewis26's set for sale - they're exactly what you need, and will cost you a lot less than a brand new set. I paid $1,700 for my 18" wheel/winter tire set new and he's selling essentially the same thing for $1,000.

It's worth doing because you can drive confidently in the winter without needing to worry about being out if it snows, having to avoid inclines, etc., which you'll end up having to do if you try and stick with all-seasons. While it's a pain to pay for another set, remember you're also going to get increased life for your other set of tires since you won't be using them for 3-4 months per year. I expect my winter set to last me at least five years.

 

Good point... Wish I could do the PP but instead of summer only tires, get all seasons outright. I say that because I intend on using this as a DD. If I was only using this for track or summer I'd stick with the summer only. But in NJ, we have all 4 seasons. Well 5 seasons, the 5th season is all year round.... Construction.

 

My '12 GT was my DD until I got my new job. And with the summers in the summer and winters in the winter, I had no problems in Chicago.

I just put 2k miles a month on a car now with my commute, and I am going to park the mustang except for weekends and nice nights. And it will be covered and tucked in during the winter.

Hence why I am selling my winter set up at such a discount.

 

Again, in New Jersey, you get plenty of snow and I wouldn't count on all-seasons to get me through the winter very well. Just one opinion though.

 

I hear you, but to be honest the past couple of years have been a crapshoot. Like last winter we barely got any snow, and the lowest it got out was in the low 30's in my area. Consequently there wasn't much ice this last winter either. I agree though the best bet is to get a set of 18's possibly. If I do pull the trigger on my stang and it's not too late, I will definitely look into that if I decide to go with the PP set up. Thanks!

 

The absolute best all season performance tires I've ever used are Continental Extreme Contact DWS (Dry, Wet, Snow). I had them on my supercharged '07 Mustang GT and have them now on my '11 Brembo GT. Like the OP, I live in Washington state and our "marine" snow is wetter and slicker than east coast "continental" snow. The DWS tires give up very little summer time performance compared to the Pirelli PZero summer tires that came on my car, and I can drive in light snow and make it up and down moderate hills without drama. I paid about $200 each tire for really big 255/50/19's, so the 17 or 18" sizes will be much less expensive....

 

Heard great reviews about those Continentals.

 

255/50's are 2 inches bigger in diameter than the stock 255/40's, and throw off the speedo by almost 8%.

Why you would want to do that is beyond me.

 

Not an issue if you have a tuner, you can adjust for the tire size.

I have a friend who drives a Charger SRT8 in Philly all year long. He's using the Conti. DWS tires and loves 'em!

 

General GMAX are great.

 

You should look into the nitto motivos they look like they could be the new all season tires to have.

 

You're in Spokane right? While others are correct in saying that all season tires are not nearly as good as winter tires (in winter conditions) you still might be better off with them.

Spokane has relatively mild winters with very few days below freezing (on average). Summer tires will be absolute crap in those conditions but softer winter tires will be over kill 95% of the time and ware quickly as usually they will be in direct contact with the road surface (ie...not usually snow/ice under them).

I have the same situation here in St. Louis. Mild winters where winter tires would only offer and advantage over all seasons maybe 5 days a year but summer tires would be VERY unsafe in the winter.....the answer....a set of the best you can buy all seasons.

My two cents

 

Technically no summer tire should be used in winter. Realistically some mean it more than others. I can say for a fact that the Brembo package tires mean it. When it gets into the 40s the tires start having traction problems (if I get on the accelerator) which gets worse from there as the temp drops. And that's on dry pavement.

That said, my '97 also came with summer tires. It came in in december. I drove it on those tires in the winter with some difficulty until switching to all seasons and then eventually to dedicated winter and summer tires.

I don't notice a big difference between summer tires and the all season tires I bought. But that may be because I just don't push the car hard enough. However the winter tires are way better than the all seasons. An order of magnitude or more better.