Take a look at this Tire Rack comparison article and the owner reviews for the '05 GT's standard 17" tire. Things look promising. Thoughts or comments?

 

They are very good tires. I still am not sure what all the hub-ub about 18"s are, no one has even publicly run one around a track on stockers and reported how they do yet. Everyone assumes you just stick fat low profile tires on cars and its better, I have actually seen 'riced' out 'tuner' cars that are lowered with aftermarket tires get beaten by relatively stock setups on tracks. There is more to making a car handle then fat tires.



Pirelli PZero Nero M+S

The PZero Nero (ne' ro - Italian for black) M+S Ultra High Performance All-Season tire was designed specifically for the North American market to provide cars with a sporty disposition, year-round traction and handling. The PZero Nero M+S is Pirelli's choice for drivers who want to drive their car through America's various weather conditions, including occasional light snow.

On the outside, the PZero Nero M+S radial's silica-enhanced tread compound is blended to provide traction during high temperatures in the dry and low temperatures in the wet or snow. This compound is molded into an asymmetric tread design that features stable outside shoulder blocks combined with notched, continuous center ribs that increase footprint rigidity to enhance grip during acceleration and braking. Shoulder grooves and circumferential channels allow water to flow through the tread design to resist hydroplaning and enhance wet traction. On the inside, the PZero Nero M+S features twin steel belts to provide strength and durability on top of a polyester cord body.

The PZero Nero M+S felt sporty and nimble out on the road, like it was always ready to respond to the driver's input. Ride quality over the sharp, harsh expansion joints was firm, but better than expected, which may be due in part to the 16" tire size used in this test. We have tested with lower-profile 18" tires in the past, which produced a much firmer ride than this time around. While the rib-like tread pattern of the PZero Nero M+S is not as exciting to look at as some of the more aggressive directional tires, it did prove to be reasonably quiet over the variety of road surfaces in our test.

The PZero Nero M+S really felt at home on our dry handling course, behaving more like a summer-only tire than an all-season one. Sharing the same tread pattern as its summer-only counterpart, the Nero M+S proved superior on the handling track, producing the fastest slalom segment time, highest average cornering g's and average overall lap time of this all-season tire test.

In wet conditions, the PZero Nero M+S also performed well. Steering response was rated best of the test, while the level of grip in the steady-state cornering of the skid pad portion of the course was highest overall. Average overall lap times for the PZero Nero M+S were again quickest of the test.

 

Also note the 330ci's standard 16" wheel(17's are a rather expensive option on them)

 

But as you know the 330ci has an advanced multilink independant rear as compared to the Stangs' solid spruce log. Now, dont get me wrong, Im crazy over the 05' but i think for it to handle as well as its supposed model (the M3) it needs those 18's, and maybe even a lowered IRS rear (or is that just wishful thinking)

 

poo if they can get the 05 GTs to handle like a M3 imagine how good the cobras are gonna handle?! and the GTR and a Cobra R cause u know there gonna make the Cobra Rs.

 

Irs has no advantage on a smooth surface B)

Not to mention its a rediculous price for a straight 6 thats SUPER expensive to mod. I also notice that at about 40k miles, every 3 series rear starts to sag and about 70 they are like this //----\\

 

Dahhlings, Fernando here....It's more important to LOOK GOOD than to PERFORM GOOD!!!!!! (with apologies to Billy Crystal AND Fernando Lamas)

 

I thought BF Goodrich were going on the 05's... could someone clarify this for me... I haven't seen anything saying pirelli's

 

BFGoodrich G-Force T/A will be on the 18 inch rims next year. For this year, it's the Pirellis on the 17s. As Ford planned to deliver the Stang with an 18s option all the time but in the end couldn't because the AAI plant where the Mustang is built can't handle rims of this size, there's been that stuff about the BFGs around ever since.

 

Anyone know what the Treadwear #, Temp, Traction letters are on the Pirelli's ?

 

Hmmm... If I had to guess?


Traction AA, Temp A (no brainer there), Treadwear 340 - just a guess though??

I see just about everybody is using silica these days. Michelin's used silica for a bunch of years (cant remeber when they started using it, but it was in the mid 90's IIRC) and I know bridgstone has used silica lately but I cant remeber when they started using the stuff in their tires.

 

Pirelli(s) do not have a good history when it comes to lasting.

 

With the mention of "occaisonal light snow" it looks as if I will have to buy a decent set of snow tires unless I can find a winter beater. Having them all-season is great for areas that receive that once-a-year snowfall, but it is no benefit at all to all in the northwest and Canada.

Part of the reason I hoped the 18's would be available were because of the wider contact patch and (theoretically) stickier rubber, combined with a set of steel wheels and snowtires, I have the best tire combination for each season.

 

Life is good in Florida... B)

 

With the mention of "occaisonal light snow" it looks as if I will have to buy a decent set of snow tires unless I can find a winter beater. Having them all-season is great for areas that receive that once-a-year snowfall, but it is no benefit at all to all in the northwest and Canada.

Part of the reason I hoped the 18's would be available were because of the wider contact patch and (theoretically) stickier rubber, combined with a set of steel wheels and snowtires, I have the best tire combination for each season. [/b][/quote]
[QUOTE]I agree with galaxie ,but if you have to run that pony in the snow some plain steel wall-mart rims are in order and some snow tires for up here are the only way to go.

 

Actually, the 18's will have BFG g-Force KDW's on them.

 

Unless you take the 17" concept rims, put snow tires on them and buy the 18's as well with 255+ " tires. That's my plan.

 

From the Tire Rack specs info for 235/55-17, the values are 400 A A.

 

KDW's.....weak......But i guess good enough for the average user.

 

oh nevermind, i was thinking of the KDWS, which is all season. I thought they were introducing a peformance inch-up upgrade with all season tires as opposed to summer's