Yes, It’s Bad to Run Winter Tires Year-Round

You wouldn’t wear a jacket or swim trunks year-round, would you? So why should your Mustang?

Most of us folks live in places where it doesn’t ice or snow all year-long. If you do, we feel your pain, and you can most likely ignore this article. Otherwise, pay attention.

Winter tires are a beautiful thing, especially for us Mustang owners. It allows us to enjoy our performance rides with an extra layer of added safety. If you live in a place where winter temperatures are constantly below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, the wise and safe thing to do is to equip your pony car with winter rubber. Special winter tires have a soft rubber compound which allows for better grip at lower temperatures, as well as a special tread pattern designed to disperse snow away from the tire.

CHECK OUT: What Forum Members Are Saying About Winter Tires All Year Long

Like most things in life, nothing lasts forever. Once winter goes away, common sense would dictate that winter tires won’t perform as expected, and it’s time to switch to traditional all-season or even summer tires. Unfortunately, common sense isn’t that common.

Some folks have raised the question whether the soft compound of the winter tire would offer more grip in the summer. We can see how part of that actually makes sense, but the big question is: would such a compound work properly at higher temperatures then it was designed to?

The answer is … well, why don’t you find out by watching this awesome video by the folks at Engineering Explained?