Need Tires... Which Ones/ and from Where?

[DarkHorse164]

I know it is a little more than the others at $125 but, have you considered the BFGoodrich KDWS? It is an all season tire and is designed for snow.
Worth at least a look.

An EXCELLENT tire!! While I have not personally used them in the snow, they handle, grip, and wear very well in both dry and wet conditions I would be going with them again if they made a 315/35/17

 

[DarkHorse164]

Goodyear Eagle GS-D3

Just ordered my 275/40's for the front and my 315/35's for the back
TireRack.com

 

[01'TRUE BLUE GT]

Have you considered getting separate winter and summer tires? I have a set of 215/60/16 Michelin Arctic Alpins on 16" steel rims for the winter. I paid $581 for the set mounted, balanced, and shipped from Tire Rack. That's before the $40 rebate. I figure that's a heck of a lot cheaper than 17s and will get better traction in the snow. Assuming you have the stock GT brakes, there should be plenty of clearance for the 16s. I work at a tire dealership and there was no way we could beat Tire Rack's prices on snows.

Separate tires/wheels for summer and winter is the best way to go. Wide 17" tires suck in the snow and I don't care what tire you use. You'll get much better traction with the most narrow tires that can safely support the weight of your car. Narrow tires will cut through the snow and ice better since they don't tend to float across like a wide tires do.

I bought 4 new 15" wheels (take-offs from a V-6 Stang, even came with the Mustang center caps) with 4 brand-new blem tires (205/65/15) that resemble Blizzacks. Yes, even 15" wheels will still clear your stock front rotors just fine. I got them from someone locally (my buddy knew him) for less than $400 for everything.

Naturally the car doesn't handle like if the 17s were on, but it went anywhere I wanted to go even in 4 inches of snow. You can't have it all if you want to get through the snow so handling will suffer some in the dry, but you won't get stuck anywhere. The heighth of my winter wheels/tires are just about the same heighth as my 17s with stock rubber on. I also like having my 15s on in the winter cause I can bark 3rd gear too.

 

[dmsead]

.

I bought 4 new 15" wheels (take-offs from a V-6 Stang, even came with the Mustang center caps) with 4 brand-new blem tires (205/65/15) that resemble Blizzacks. Yes, even 15" wheels will still clear your stock front rotors just fine. I got them from someone locally (my buddy knew him) for less than $400 for everything.

I thought about going with the 15s, but I wasn't sure about it since Tire Rack didn't list that as an option for the GT. After I ordered the tires, I took a look in the brake parts book and saw that the GT and V-6 take the exact same pads and rotors. Doh! also found a set of the 15" three-spokes that used to come on V-6s cheap. It woulda looked better than plain steel, anyway. I guess I'll just go down to Autozone or Advance and get some cheap plastic fake bling covers, and be one of those people I usually make fun of.

 

[01'TRUE BLUE GT]

I guess I'll just go down to Autozone or Advance and get some cheap plastic fake bling covers, and be one of those people I usually make fun of.

I know what you mean. I hate to look at my car with the fugly 15s on, but they do their job.

 

[el_kid_1]

I'm riding on BFGoodrich Comp T/A 295/35/ZR18 on the back and brand new BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 265/35YR-18 up front. I got a good deal from www.tirerack.com

 

[dmsead]

I know what you mean. I hate to look at my car with the fugly 15s on, but they do their job.

Well, I saw just the thing for you. While I was at Zerozone picking out the least offensive wheel covers, (Pretty easy since they only had one set of 16s) I saw oversized wheel covers that will make your 15s look like 17s. I'll bet they fool everyone that sees them.

While on the subjuct of fugly rims, it turns out the the steel rims I got from Tirerack are pretty crappy. When I put them on, the car had a downright scary vibration. I checked them out on the balancer, and found out that they were way out of balance. One was over 3 oz. out. Also the rims were kind of borderline out of round. Our balancer is a Hunter 9700, which can read the runout on the tire and rim and match the high and low spots of the tire and rim, but these Michelins are actually too good to match to the crappy rims.
anyway, I rebalanced them and it now rides about as well as it did with the stock Goodyears. I called Tirerack and they gave me half off on the rims. I still would recommend them for tires, but I don't know that I'd want to trust them to mount and balance them after this, especially if I didn't have the option of rechecking them myself.

 

[spacescape]

Ok... I know I procrastinated, but, I need tires ASAP!!! Especially with the 6" of snow and a 30 minute drive home (usually 10-15 minutes)... I also have 150 lbs in my trunk...

I'm planning on purchasing either one of the following...

BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDWS (Ultra High Performance All-Season) @ $125 Each

or

Continental ContiExtremeContact (Ultra High Performance All-Season) @ $114 Each

The BFGoodrich "looks" better in the picture (cleaner blackwall), but, goes down to 6.3 in Snow Traction (versus 8.1). So, I might just end up getting the Continental even though the wall looks like A**...

Do any of you know what the profile of my GT will look like with either of these tires? I'm sure both of them will handle better than my Stock GoodYears... But, I always liked how my cars stance was...

thanks again!
Bill

 

[Ryan02Stang]

Dunlop SP 5000...they are great in every kind of weather...and extremely great when dry...im on my second pair and LOVE them!

 

[Sam98]

heh, but nitto is not a good snow tire... but maybe i'm wrong....

i'm never going to have to deal with snow so i cant say really.. in another forum people were recomending blizzak tires... dunno the manufacturer though... just thought i'd chime in

Torinalth

Snow isn't much of a concern for some of us. We don't get much snow here, and when it does snow the Mustang is confined to the garage. I have no intention of letting my car rust out or get wiped out by some moron that doesn't know the road gets slick when the white stuff starts falling.

 

[bg00gt]

I just put Hancook ventus 275-40-zr17 all the way around i like them so far.But i like the 10 ann. cobra wheels that i got with them better

 

[Sam98]

I just put Hancook ventus 275-40-zr17 all the way around i like them so far.But i like the 10 ann. cobra wheels that i got with them better

Just two quick questions: Do they rub? What size rims (17 X 9)?

 

[spacescape]

Dunlop SP 5000...they are great in every kind of weather...and extremely great when dry...im on my second pair and LOVE them!

How do they handle in the snow? They seem like they rate slightly worst than the other two... And people didn't seem to like them in the snow... I do think they look better though!!! But, now that I look at the Continental, those don't look too bad either.

How do I read the specs on tires? I want to know if the Continental has a higher sidewall than the Dunlop or the BFGoodrich? (not to sound stupid)

Also, I have another bent rim... DOH!!! It's a very small bend on the rim (on the drivers side of all places)... Can this be repaired? can I a lead hammer and a peice of wood (cut it to the proper radious) and slowly pound it band into shape?

Thanks!!!
Bill