I have 245/45HR17 BFG Traction T/A's, H speed rating, on my '98 right now. I got about 24,000 miles out of them driving year round in Upstate NY (read that as snow, rain and everything else - often on the same day!). They work awsome up till the point they need to be replaced. They are so-so now.
Dry traction is great, as is wet traction. I was very pleased with everything about them, but expected a few thousand more miles out of them. I went to the dragstrip only one time with them.
Next time (soon BTW) I am getting BFG KDWS Tires in a slightly bigger (26" tall vs 25.7") 255/45WR17 size. This is the same kind of tire that came on the 2003 Cobra, and Ford has high standards for wet traction I think. We'll see how those last and they are only like $8 more than the Traction T/A's at tirerack. Plus they can be criss-cross & front/back rotated, which the Traction T/A's can only go front back, no criss-cross.
This difference in rotation capability can add a few thousand miles to the set of tires. My Traction T/A's have two decent tires and two almost no good tires. I rotated them front to back every other or every 3rd oil change.
