Snow square 295's VS All-Season 265f/275r

[ZaChickster]

Mornings are starting to get colder here in the front range of Colorado. Sub-40 degree mornings means the Pilot Super Sports I have on the Shelby should not be driven (Sport Cup 2's are in storage for future track days). Since I daily my GT350 it will need "boots" for the colder months.

I've read all the threads about tires (it does seem to be one of our favorite topics) and have narrowed it down to two choices:

1. Full on snow tires (Michelin or Pirelli) at all four corners in a square 295/35 setup.
2. All seasons with 265/40 up front and 275/40 in the rear (Bridgestone POTENZA RE980AS or Michelin PILOT SPORT A/S 3+).

The GT350 will see little to no snow; that's what the wife's Grand Cherokee and my winter beater '02 Escape are for. Just need the Shelby to handle cold temps and light snow if we are out and surprised.

I drove my '04 Mach 1 year round in Wisconsin on snow tires the first 5 years I owned it. It was fine when we lived in the city and the commutes were short. Little to no commute now. Drove my '12 GT on all seasons here in Colorado and it too was fine. GT350 is the first car I've owned with summer only tires.

I do not have dedicated rims at this time and do not plan on getting them this year.

The snow tire option appears to be ~ $600 more than all seasons. While I'm OK on spending the extra money, why do it if I don't have too.

Is 500hp better sent to the cold ground in 295mm wide snow tires or 275mm wide all seasons?

Thanks.

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[MNGT350]

Mornings are starting to get colder here in the front range of Colorado. Sub-40 degree mornings means the Pilot Super Sports I have on the Shelby should not be driven (Sport Cup 2's are in storage for future track days). Since I daily my GT350 it will need "boots" for the colder months.

I've read all the threads about tires (it does seem to be one of our favorite topics) and have narrowed it down to two choices:

1. Full on snow tires (Michelin or Pirelli) at all four corners in a square 295/35 setup.
2. All seasons with 265/40 up front and 275/40 in the rear (Bridgestone POTENZA RE980AS or Michelin PILOT SPORT A/S 3+).

The GT350 will see little to no snow; that's what the wife's Grand Cherokee and my winter beater '02 Escape are for. Just need the Shelby to handle cold temps and light snow if we are out and surprised.

I drove my '04 Mach 1 year round in Wisconsin on snow tires the first 5 years I owned it. It was fine when we lived in the city and the commutes were short. Little to no commute now. Drove my '12 GT on all seasons here in Colorado and it too was fine. GT350 is the first car I've owned with summer only tires.

I do not have dedicated rims at this time and do not plan on getting them this year.

The snow tire option appears to be ~ $600 more than all seasons. While I'm OK on spending the extra money, why do it if I don't have too.

Is 500hp better sent to the cold ground in 295mm wide snow tires or 275mm wide all seasons?

Thanks.

Winter tires always the right answer if you're on snow/ice or really cold pavement. So much better as you probably know after driving on snow tires with your mach 1.

 

[Sletcher]

I'm in Oklahoma and due to Temps (no snow to speak of) I plan to mount Pirelli snow tires from November through March. I've ordered them from Tire Rack and they'll arrive this week. The Pirellis are Porsche spec and should do well with the square setup. Also square will allow me to rotate tires each year so hopefully a few extra seasons out of them before replacing. No intended track use on these, just early Sat morning coffee/breakfast.

 

[ice445]

295 is a pretty wide and expensive snow setup. Why not get something narrower instead of a narrower all season?

 

[ZaChickster]

295 is a pretty wide and expensive snow setup. Why not get something narrower instead of a narrower all season?

Going 295/35 for winter tires as that is the closest to the stock tire width as I could get. There doesn't seem to be any options in the 265/40 275/40 alternate size setup. The odd stock tire size for these cars bites us again.

 

[Sletcher]

Carfection Carrera T Review
if you haven’t seen this video it’s a wonderful review of the Porsche Carrera T.
Interestingly at the 4:33 mark he discusses the winter Pirellis the Porsche is wearing. This sold it for me.

 

[Tony_the_Brit]

I have 255/40 & 275/40 Michelin Pilot Sport 3+ on SVE R350 wheels. If you go with the 265/40 you will need 10.5" wide front wheels. I'm in Northern IN so we see snow but this is not a daily driver so I stay away from snow/salt. I was happy with this combo - drove it for 1,500 miles last winter.

Stay away from snow tires if you will not be regularly in snow - there is too much movement in the treads for a car like this unless you are just tooling around and if you use the power you will tear them up fast.

FYI, these tire sizes are what Ford says they use on the cars testing in winter.

 

[JAJ]

Mornings are starting to get colder here in the front range of Colorado. Sub-40 degree mornings means the Pilot Super Sports I have on the Shelby should not be driven (Sport Cup 2's are in storage for future track days). Since I daily my GT350 it will need "boots" for the colder months.

I've read all the threads about tires (it does seem to be one of our favorite topics) and have narrowed it down to two choices:

1. Full on snow tires (Michelin or Pirelli) at all four corners in a square 295/35 setup.
2. All seasons with 265/40 up front and 275/40 in the rear (Bridgestone POTENZA RE980AS or Michelin PILOT SPORT A/S 3+).

The GT350 will see little to no snow; that's what the wife's Grand Cherokee and my winter beater '02 Escape are for. Just need the Shelby to handle cold temps and light snow if we are out and surprised.

I drove my '04 Mach 1 year round in Wisconsin on snow tires the first 5 years I owned it. It was fine when we lived in the city and the commutes were short. Little to no commute now. Drove my '12 GT on all seasons here in Colorado and it too was fine. GT350 is the first car I've owned with summer only tires.

I do not have dedicated rims at this time and do not plan on getting them this year.

The snow tire option appears to be ~ $600 more than all seasons. While I'm OK on spending the extra money, why do it if I don't have too.

Is 500hp better sent to the cold ground in 295mm wide snow tires or 275mm wide all seasons?

Thanks.

I have two sets of "winter" rims and tires and I'm in process of consolidating down to one, so I've done a lot of looking at tire options lately. I have pairs of AS/3's in 255/40, 265/40, 275/40 and 285/40 in inventory, each pair on different wheels. When I'm done, I'll have 255's and 275's on 9.5" OEM GT500 rims and the too-old-to-keep-using 265's and 285's will get recycled.

If I was in your situation, given how cold it can get there, I'd get snow tires, but I wouldn't spend big bucks on the Porsche spec ones.

Right now (October 7, 2020) TireRack has a blowout special on 275/40x19's from both Pirelli and Bridgestone. Pirelli's are 2017 production, but that wouldn't concern me - they're useable until 2027.

I'd run a set of 275/40's on OEM rims (or equivalent) on all four corners. They give you a hair taller ride height than the OEM 305/35 rear tires (about 1/8") and putting a larger tire up front gives you about 1/4" more ground clearance, something that might be handy in a snowstorm. Also, because they're narrower, they'll give you better traction in snow, slush and rain.

 

[Dana Pants]

The idea that 500 hp is getting to the ground with any of those tire options is misguided...but if you want to try, I recommend against snow tires.

 

[JAJ]

The idea that 500 hp is getting to the ground with any of those tire options is misguided...but if you want to try, I recommend against snow tires.

When the temperature is below freezing, 500hp won't get to the ground with ANY tire.

 

[ZaChickster]

Yeah I know that none of these options are great as far as performance goes. Just hoping to keep the car more or less livable on the cold clear days. While I won't be able to push the handling limits on squishy winter tires, I will be able to hear the Voodoo sing. Bought it to drive it and not keep it as a weekend track toy.

Leaning the 295/35 Porsche tires as they are honestly cheaper than many of the 275/40 tires right now. With real winter ties I might take it around the neighborhood in the light snow just to get some photos. When I used to put winter tires on my Mach 1 had to adjust driving style and now being a little wiser (ahem ... older) it should be a little easier.

 

[Sletcher]

10.5 rim in the foreground

11.0 inch rim

I’ll report back when I’ve driven it a bit.

 

[ZaChickster]

Nice. Called my dealership this morning about getting the 295's on all four. They're going to get back to me on price and options. Am going to pull trigger from TireRack today if they can't match. Going to get colder here in the Boulder area this weekend so the Shelby needs cold weather shoes!

 

[kz]

If you are actually expecting driving in snow, first get true winter ("snow") tires, second - you want narrower not wider (within reason) in that case.

 

[Sletcher]

If you are actually expecting driving in snow, first get true winter ("snow") tires, second - you want narrower not wider (within reason) in that case.

I'm not personally planning to drive in snow, my goal was to have a tire that preforms well at near or below-freezing temperatures. Here in Oklahoma we have more really cold clear days than snow. During Saturday morning runs for breakfast or evening dinners It's been difficult to get enough heat into the Cup2s before I get where I'm going.

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