Well... winter is finally upon me. So after I did this last night, (thank you for saving my back, snowblower), I took the Hankook winter icepts and Firestone Winterforces for a drive.




So initial feedback is, both tires grip well on snow. I tried to get the ABS to trigger, and it finally did after 3 tries. Grip from a stop and turns was surprisingly good. I think the winterforces are probably a tad better than the iCepts... all in all, great grip from both tires. It will give the Blizzaks I had on our minivan a run for its money.

Gotta love snow tires.

 

I ordered a set of 215/60-17 ContiExtremeWinterContact mounted on 17x7.5 Sport Edition A7 from the TireRack - exact circumference match to the 255/40-19 summer tires on the V6 PP. The dealer mounted them for me right away on delivery (Dec 12th), and they've been a great match for the V6/3.31 combo - the tread depth/pattern works especially well on the hardpack/ice/slush combo, and is good enough for heavy snow days so that I'm not worried about getting stuck anywhere. I've also put 40kg of sand in the empty tire well - you may not need it, but it does help the car feel more 'planted' at speed, especially when the highway surface is partially covered and you need to change lanes over snow drifts. If you're living in a heavy-snow belt, I heartily endorse this combo - of course it doesn't grip like the summer-tire setup (nothing does when you hit ice/snow), but it's enough to keep the fun going (tires don't mush, ride remains firm, tail-out on demand...) relative to the climate at hand. At ~$1150 mounted/balanced/shipped w/TPMS sensors, they're a good buy. Here's a pic (sorry about the snow...):

 

In addition to being an idiot jacking up my car today (see here for that: https://themustangsource.com/f726/du...-there-506211/), I also realized Blizzaks are not unidirectional (meaning they can be mounted in any of the four spots). When I rotated them from last winter's positions, I had the rear ones facing the wrong way!

So...only rotate your Blizzaks from front to back, not side to side! Thankfully, it doesn't appear to have affected them, though I drove them about 1,800 miles the wrong direction. Ugh.

 

Wound up special ordering 4 235/50/18 Cooper Weathermaster WSC studded tires for my 2013 v6 pony premium convertible from a local tire joint near my house. Because of upcoming major snowstorm in the Northeast, delaying install until Monday morning (originally scheduled for Saturday morning).

Yeah, I'm aware of the dry pavement clatter they will make in good weather but I need the studs for steep hills and icy conditions near home. These tires are probably more commonly seen on a BMW X3 crossover than a Mustang, but they will get me where I need to go in marginal weather conditions. Will post pix when installed.

...And the pix I promised. One for the general look of the car with the snow tires. And a closeup of one of the snow tires.

Used the original wheels. Not worth getting a set of wheels since the tire place will switch them out for $15/tire and they can do a thorough inspection at the same time.

Runs very nice on studs. Excellent traction on ice and slushy surfaces. Glad I got 4 tires instead of 2. The steering is much better on slick surfaces with studded snows also on the front axle. Still I'll be glad to go back to the stock Pirelli's once it warms up a little bit more.

 

Has anybody run studs on a GT? That'd be interesting to hear about.

 

Your right about the noise, I have run studded tires on previous vehicles and they are very noisy. The states that I lived in only allowed studded tires during specified months and some states have banned them due to road damage. Nice to know CT is not one of those.

 

Yeah, I can hear studded tires coming a block away. Thought about them, but I try not to drive the stang in snow so Id get little use out of them...except maybe this year in CT.

 

Well, yes, but I meant to 'hear about' other people's experiences with it haha. I'd say out of people that bother to get snow tires where I live (Maine), a solid 75% just go all the way for studs.

 

Three month update on the Blizzaks . . . I like 'em, and would buy again. My GT has remained fun to drive all winter long so far. Long forgotten is the initial difference in driving dynamics change when I first put the winter wheels on. The Blizzaks are working very well on the Mustang - even better than they did on my Charger. The electronic systems on the Mustang are more refined, and coupled with the chassis of the GT, the combination doesn't feel like too much of a compromise. I can definitely get through winters like this!

We've been fortunate here in SE Michigan, not having been hit with too harsh a winter so far. On the inclement weather days, driving a RWD Mustang with the Blizzak LM-60's has never left me feeling frustrated. It's been more like downright FUN. An empty, unplowed parking lot provided a perfect opportunity to really learn the cars ways . At times one may want to pay attention to the system's intervention to save some rear brake pads, but otherwise it's still a joy to drive each day.

I look forward to putting the summer wheels back on, I'm sure it's going to be a whole new surprise having very grippy traction again - and a CLEAN car. I haven't seen it looking like the pic in a while . . .

 

Any of you folks had to start on an incline (red light on a hill or something like that) the snow yet? That's going to be my biggest problem as I live on a decent sized hill and have to stop and make a left into my driveway half way up it.

 

It does pretty darn well, but you'll want to have a couple sandbags in the trunk even with the snow tires.

 

Thanks. Looks like I'll be swapping Blizzaks onto my stock Brembo wheels around next November. If I ever get my car. If I ever get my VIN.

 

Switching tires back and forth is a pain and probably not great on the tires; there are guys on here every day selling OEM wheels for good deals. Think about that maybe.

 

Not trying to sound hostile, but do you have any proof for this not being good for the tires? This website is the first place I've heard people saying it, and I have a hard time believing that the tire machine is any harder on the tire than say; driving a rough road aggressively with a 3xxxlb car on them. If its your educated opinion than that's fine, it's not an unreasonable one . I'm just looking for some evidence.

Where I live a lot of people switch back and forth because our tire places will switch them out for $100 or less (my place is $65). It doesn't make wheels very cost effective...

 

I just hate the hassle so Im putting together a second set of rims for winter.

 

No you're right - I have no evidence of it and "hard" was probably the wrong word. Just a lot easier to switch out a set of wheels/tires than the tires, especially since the second set takes up the same amount of room either way, IMO.

 

sho' 'nuff

 

You guys may find this ice racing video interesting:

 

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but I'm looking into replacing the summer-only Pirellis for decent HP all-season tires. Don't want to do dedicated snow rims/tires.

I'm torn between the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and the Cooper Zeon RS3-A.

Mustang259, I saw that you ran the Cooper tires through a winter already. Did you take them through snow at all? How were they otherwise?

The DWS is the highest rated UHP/AS tire on tirerack, but it doesn't come in the 255/40/19 size like the Cooper does, closest would be 275/40/19.

 

Much better than starting a new one! I am not sure where you live but if it's a place that gets snow, all-seasons are a mistake, but I'm sure you've read that already.

BTW, you might spellcheck your signature