winter tires that prioritize performance

[EFI]

Thanks for the response, if i went thisroute, i'd convert my PP1 wheels to "winters" with A/S's and then get something cool for the summer.

The fact that you live in mass makes me feel confident in your response lol, what tires are you running? Pilot sport AS 4s?

I think they are the A/S 3+ so the previous version. No issues in cold weather and light-medium snow. I wouldn't really take this car in a blizzard anyways, but for light stuff it's just fine.

Check out LMR's ebay page, they often times have deals on demo wheels. I got these 19x10/19x11 for $500 just about new.

Sponsored

 

[Cory S]

Xi3's will give the best tire life and safety in wet/dry/icy/slushy conditions. For all out SNOW covered roads, there are much better options. Run the narrowest tire you can get away with in winter, and add 300-400lbs of weight in the back. You'll get to your destination as long as there isn't 8+ inches of snow on the roads.....

 

[angermgmt14]

I agree with some of the others. A good high performance all season will work great. My 325 wide Michelins do well in Central Mass winters and grip like whoa.

Dude, I didn't know you drove your car during the snowy days and with those huge tires! (eek) By the way, I still have the Deltran Battery Tender Jr. if you're still interested.

 

[Zooks527]

What do you guys think? Opinions on the blizzaks? I'm shying away from the WS90 because the LM005 is sold as a "performance" winter tire.

I've had winter tires for all my cars for 18 years or so. Blizzak WS series for winter time when the car was my DD. Then again, I was out before the plows most storms, so I needed something stunningly reliable in deep snow.

The Mustang doesn't go out if there's snow on the roads. It gets a square set of Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 performance winters on 19x9 Boss 302 wheels in case it comes across some ice on a nice but cold day.

Sounds like you'd be better off with a good hi-perf. A/S tire. I run Continental DWS during winter, no issues. Throw some weight in the trunk on bad weather days and you'll be fine.

I ran A/S DWS tires on my 335 except in the winter. They came off at the first sign of icy weather after I got caught out in an early October ice storm. They are useless on wet ice. Not many things are, but the DWS were unable to stop me from sliding through an intersection at 3 mph for 50' or so.

The wheels have Pzero Nero's on them, I'm not familiar with them but if I went the A/S route I'd likely stay with those to save cash.

I had Pirellis RFT A/S on my 235. FWIW, I hated them.

The fact that you live in mass makes me feel confident in your response lol, what tires are you running? Pilot sport AS 4s?

I live 20 miles south of Boston. I've been very happy with the Pilot Alpin 5 tires. Really nice response, wear well, but also decent on slop if I happen to come across something on cold days. Again, the Mustang is not my DD in the winter.

You don’t want staggered winter wheels. Not being able to rotate is just making everything more expensive.

This. In spades.

 

[EFI]

Dude, I didn't know you drove your car during the snowy days and with those huge tires! (eek) By the way, I still have the Deltran Battery Tender Jr. if you're still interested.

Eh, it's mainly if I get caught in something unexpected, goint through slush and/or ice but not planning on ever using it if it's actively snowing and accumulating. I did take it to some empty parking lots to have fun but that's the extent it saw of snow. So these are mainly for light snow use to get home safely if you happen to get caught in unexpected weather event. They are absolute champs in the wet even with standing water.

Thanks, I'm all set with that since I use the car more often now I don't really need to tender it.

 

[junits15]

Thanks for all the responses guys

I've had winter tires for all my cars for 18 years or so. Blizzak WS series for winter time when the car was my DD. Then again, I was out before the plows most storms, so I needed something stunningly reliable in deep snow.

The Mustang doesn't go out if there's snow on the roads. It gets a square set of Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 performance winters on 19x9 Boss 302 wheels in case it comes across some ice on a nice but cold day.


I ran A/S DWS tires on my 335 except in the winter. They came off at the first sign of icy weather after I got caught out in an early October ice storm. They are useless on wet ice. Not many things are, but the DWS were unable to stop me from sliding through an intersection at 3 mph for 50' or so.


I had Pirellis RFT A/S on my 235. FWIW, I hated them.


I live 20 miles south of Boston. I've been very happy with the Pilot Alpin 5 tires. Really nice response, wear well, but also decent on slop if I happen to come across something on cold days. Again, the Mustang is not my DD in the winter.


This. In spades.

Unfortunately my other available car is a Honda fit, so funny enough that means the mustang is actually the best car I have for winter driving lol.
The fit is just so light and underpowered it can and does get stuck. 38 mpg mostly makes up for that lol

I'm going to go with LM005's, I can't risk having two cars that can't go out in a storm.

Though a performance all season would be nice for those dry days, having confidence in the snow is too important.

I'm going to be taking the "performance winter tire" whatever that means lol

 

[Zooks527]

Though a performance all season would be nice for those dry days, having confidence in the snow is too important.

I'm going to be taking the "performance winter tire" whatever that means lol

Best thing is to pick one and go with it. If you don't need to be out in deep stuff, performance winters will do better than a performance A/S due to the softer compound.

That said, performance winters (the Blizzak LM series, the Pilot Alpins that I use, or any of the others) are nowhere near the same class as something like the WS in the snow. The WS is really disappointing on dry days, however.

 

[rxryanm]

Glad you're deciding to go with winter tires, op. Having two sets of wheels means there's no reason to compromise with all-seasons, which are colloquially called no-seasons because they don't excel. Summers are formulated for warm, winters are formulated for the cold, it's that easy.

 

[EFI]

winters are formulated for the cold, it's that easy.

We wish it were, but alot of the cheaper snow tires don't do great in cold, dry pavement.

And you say that all all-seasons are bad and don't excel. That's if you get cheap ass tires. High quality ones do just fine. I get better traction with Michelin all seasons in the summer than I used to with Firestone summer tires. I get better winter traction with these in light snow than some no-name winter tires I tried once.

My point is, quality of the tire makes as much of an importance as composition.

 

[junits15]

Glad you're deciding to go with winter tires, op. Having two sets of wheels means there's no reason to compromise with all-seasons, which are colloquially called no-seasons because they don't excel. Summers are formulated for warm, winters are formulated for the cold, it's that easy.

Yeah it depends heavily on my situation, unfortunately since the mustang is my main car, I need it to be able to handle snow. If I had the ability to only drive it on dry days I'd go with a high performance all season for sure, but since its going to see snow and potentially a lot of it, I need a real snow tire.

 

[Andy13186]

Happy with my continental dws06 plus, hook better than any tire ive tried so far. All season though.

 

[Dana Pants]

As a matter of managing expectations:

I think you need to largely bail on the idea of “performance.” No snow tires will put down power in first gear, and if you are lucky, rolling the throttle in 2nd gear might work if the weather cooperates.

Turning will also feel bad no matter what.

And if you can’t mash the gas or yeet an off-ramp, the exact level of disappointment doesn’t really matter.

 

[theshawnc]

I've used two different winter tires on S550 Mustangs. Sumitomo Ice Edge and Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3. I would recommend both. The Sumitomos are more affordable and studdable, but I would consider the Nokians to be the superior tire, although they're not studdable.

Sponsored