for people like me that would drive my stang all year round including chicago winters.

 

That's what snow tires are for, why should they hamper the cars performance for the few people that want to drive them in the snow when they shouldn't be anyways? It doesn't snow in L.A. They should put performance tires on their only performance car.

Should exotic car companies put all season tires on their cars too for the 3 people who want to drive them in the snow?Why not off road mud terrains?

 

Because all seasons are cheaper and more useful to average joe who are the ones purchasing a car.

Makes it easier for more than average to utilize in most conditions compared to performance tires which conditions are during only certain months for a vast majority of buyers.

How about you go buy the performance tires...

Its a mustang, not an exotic

 

Not on a Mustang.


How do you know what the "vast majority of buyers" do with their cars? Most guys that live where it snows put their Stangs away for the winter.

How about you go buy snow tires? Ford shouldn't cater to a handful of people that want to drive their Mustangs in the snow, and responsible people buy snow tires for the winter months who live in those climates.

It's ridiculous that the Mustang gets knocked for it's sloppy handling in every test since they put crappy all season tires on them.


It's not a truck either, no other manufacturer I know of puts skinny, tall, all season crap tires on their top performance car.

Since when did Mustangs become snow plows? It's ridiculous what you're saying.

 

I live in Ontario,
I'm pretty sure i see more Mustangs in the snow than you do.
Kind of funny someone from Long Beach, California telling someone from Canada how people handle their cars in the snow

The all seasons are cheaper to put on the car, and allow more people to utlize the car than just in the summer months with summer tires. (which also tend to get sloppy as the temp. drops because of the tire compound)

And speaking of which, the 2005 handles WAY better in the snow with stock all seasons, than my truck does with weight in the back and snow tires. They did A LOT of cold weather/snow testing on the 05.

Sorry, but the fact is the Mustang IS a car, and people DO drive it in the winter.

 

Yeah... I just bought BFG KDW2s 255/45/18. ... a world of difference from the KDWSs (all season).... They were $50/tire CHEAPER than the KDWSs... which made it that much sweeter to buy.
I live in Florida.... haven't seen snow for about 14,000 years..... but I had my first 2 Mustangs in Colorado. Quite a bit of snow there... even as recent as a week ago. Absolutely hated driving them in the snow.... not so much myself, but the other drivers... if I could at least get started anyways.... But I digress. I don't know why they don't just include a tire option so people can have whatever tire better suits their climate...

 

More options = more cost overall unfortunately.

Seems on the new car they are trying to cut down on the ammount of options and bundles.
I think we'll see more standard stuff on the 2010+

 

I like the idea of having multiple tire choices. However, putting putting your car away for the winte is kinda hard to do when it is your only car. As much as I would love to have that option, two or more vehicles are required for that. Single young 20 somethings in the military don't have those kind of luxurys. But it would be nice

 

The reason the Mustang comes with all season tires is safety concern standards set by the various government agencies involved. The car has to pass traction tests that allow the car to be driveable in most climates. Since most areas see adverse driving conditions at some point ( be it rain, mud, and yes, even snow in some places), the car has to have a "moderate" traction rating (as well as a tread wear, temperature and speed rating) that allows the car to be safe to a certain degree. Notice that no all season tire is rated for ice only conditions. There are special tires for that (Michelin X-Ice, Bridgestone Blizzak, etc.). Back to the point, all season tires are indeed cheaper in cost than a specific high performance tire. But feel free to purchase a set of your choice.

 

Not to mention summer tires wear out much faster then all seasons. so now your maintainence expenses go up for everyone. If someone wants summer tires then buy them yourself and save the rest of the mustang population money.

 

Give us a sport package like BMW, Audi, Cadillac, etc. offer! A lot of people upgrade their springs and shocks with aftermarket components. Ford could make a decent buck off a $1,000 sport package.

 

yeah good idea... maybe call em something else, like SVT Handling Package

 

For a car that sells in the volume that the Mustang does and to the diverse group that buys them (everyone from teenagers to Baby Boomers) can you imagine the lawsuits that would occur if Ford put ultra high performance summer tires as stock tires on the Mustang?

• People spinout in the rain and crash on their high performance summer tires -- $#%^*FORD! you put tires you knew were going to perform poorly in wet conditions on the Mustang, and little Bobby high school student crashed and is now paralyzed. Corporate negligence! --- BILLION DOLLAR LAW SUITS from every ambulance chasing lawyer in the USA.
• "My Mustang's crappy tires are way too soft, they wore out too fast!!" --CLASS ACTION LAW SUIT

 

Holy "opinionated" Batman!

 

You just hit the nail on the head my friend. Also, I agree with the previous poster that stated that most mustang owners put their stangs up for winter. The guys/girls on this board certainly do, so that must mean EVERY owner puts their stang up for winter right?? Yeah right. It's a $26-30K car, not a porche or lambo. One of the guys at work just bought a $50K pickup truck, and I bet he isn't putting it away for winter!! Get real. What percentage of people buy mustangs for weekend drivers vs. daily drivers? Way more daily drivers out there, I will bet money.

 

Werd, make the GT/CS stand for Gran Turismo/Club Sport or something like that.

Check off the box and it should include upgraded rubber, "sport tuned" supsension, and upgraded brakes.

Ideallythere should be easy ways to fix or mitigate the geometry issues as well.

 

I'd like to counter with Porsche, BMW and Mercedes dont have a problem with this, their cars are equipped with factory summer tires on various performance models.

And I'd also like to point out that very few summer tires are exclusively designed for a dry environment. Wet handling is a major consideration when designing a tire. Take BFG for instance, I can think of only two tires that are designed with little consideration for the rain, the R1 and the Drag Radial, both are essentially DOT approved competition tires. The rest of the line; KD, KDW, KDWS, G-Force Sport, G-Force Super Sport, Traction, ect are all designed for wet weather handling.

 

And how much do these cars go for again? A Mustang isn't a luxury car and the M, R and AMG cars go for well over the double the price of a Mustang GT

 

Being a luxury brand doesn't exempt or protect them from sue happy people (remember Audi and the "unintended acceleration" crap).

Anyways, if a summer tire package were an option then the point is moot. Its the responsability of the purchaser to choose the proper tires for the vehicle, Ford only needs to correctly identify the purpose of the package (ie; suggested for warmer climates or summer driving only).

Also I'll add Subaru - the Bridgestones the subaru is shod with in the WRX vs. Shelby shootout are summer tires. Hardly a premium brand by any stretch. I've also seem Miatas equipped with summer tires from the factory.

So I say the tire liability argument doesn't hold up, especially when it could be an optional package or in those climates that aren't especially prone to snow it could be a standard fitment.

 

Agreed 100%. It's funny having someone from California telling us what we do with our Mustangs here during the winters. People ALL OVER the northeast drive their Mustangs year round, myself included. I GUARANTEE you the VAST majority of Mustangs are driven year-round. The Pirelli P-Zero Nero tires did a GREAT job for what Ford has to cater to. I drove my 06 GT year round and it was awesome in the snow. I even repurchased the same Pirelli tires when mine wore out!!! I got over 30,000 miles out of them, they were good in the snow/rain, they were only like $95 a piece to replace, and I pulled 1.84-1.85 60' times on them on several tracks!