All Seasons...really?

[5.0Droptop]

I run 255 60 15 mt drags year round.
No issues.

 

[Svtpilot]

I drove my Mustang through 3 winters in North Dakota without issue... I just had BFGoodrich all-season tires and it wasn't at all difficult to drive...

I don't understand why people are so incompetent when it comes to driving on snow or ice. All season tires today are better than any tires sold in the 1960's AND those cars all were RWD w/o traction or stability control and large torquey V-8's, yet people seemed to get around fine back then. IMO winter tires are for people who don't know how to drive.

Ok so why does that make me incompetent? The OP asked why the car came with all seasons tires instead of summers and I explained why. And you right today's all season tires are better the anything made in the 60's but I don't have all season tires on my car I have summer tires and they suck in cold weather, and they suck more in the snow and that has nothing to with my competence as a driver.

Jas5 to answer your question yes, in freezing weather pulling off from under light throttle light up the rear tires and it would be real easy to spin out in a turn but like I said once you have driven fpr awhile and the tires heat up it gets alot better. Keep in mind though that my only experience with summer tires are with the P-zero's maybe other brands are better,

 

[consoofed]

shoulda bought a Camaro... I hear they can transform

yeah, or a Volt to melt the snow as the car rolls on fire down the road!!

 

[bigcat]

My 05 has the Pirelli Pzero Nero 235/50/18s. I also have 4.30s in the rear and I get around just fine in the Wyoming snow. Colorado should be similar. Just have to know the limitations and avoid problematic hills that will require you to come to a stop. I have driven in everything from a coat of ice on the roads to literally plowing snow with the bumper. Dedicated snows would be better, but I see no problems with the Pirellis on there now.

 

[streethorse]

We get ice storms in Dallas and Ive noticed on ice AS tires seem worse than Summer tires.
Last winter I still had the stock Pirelli PZero Neros's AS and they sucked on ice.

 

[Kevindust]

Newer Mustangs are a fantastic winter car, they are great - and a lot of fun - in the snow. Anyone who says different is 20 years behind the times. I live in Ottawa, Canada and while I could make do with all seasons, why would I want to? Driving ability has nothing to do with it. The car handles and stops far, far better in the winter with winter tires, period. Spending money on mods to improve the performance of your car (like we all do) then compromising on the tires (summer or winter) does not make sense. All season tires are a compromise in all seasons, I will never use them again. I use summer performance for the warm months and swap to winter tires as soon as the daily average temps drop to the 45 degree range.

Of course, one good thing about Ottawa weather is that the seasons are, for the most part, clearly defined. It is easy for me to justify having two sets of wheels and never using all season tires. Living in a southern state with occasional trips to snowy mountains involves a whole other set of parametres!

 

[Sparty92]

If it snows in your area, buy snow tires. I have snow tires on my '11 GT and they work great. Six inches of snow? No problem. I have the 19" Pirelli summer tires for (wait for it...) the summer, and if it gets down to around 40 degrees, it's not hard to spin the tires in 2nd gear with a slightly heavy right foot. You have a performance car. Buy the appropriate tires for the specific weather conditions.

 

[ccaron]

Im in CT and had the pirelli all seasons ('11 GT) on for that october blizzard this year. Made it back from the grocery store just fine (flat road, drove gently but by no means did i hold anyone up). That was my first snow experience with the Mustang. Since then I have mounted blizzaks that I got used from a Jaguar guy, but aside from a trip to maine it has been dry...Not too worried about the winter overall at this point. Fascia height snow? Stay home. I AM glad i live where it is mostly flat though.

 

[madweazl]

So my 2012 GT came with 235/50/18 all-seasons. Haven't touched snow until this morning.

Less than an inch on the ground, I was gonna make a quick, under 5 mile roundtrip, excursion to the store. Made it about 400ft in my neighborhood spinning the whole way, before I decided to turn around and not attempt the hill on the way.

WTF...why bother? Give me full snows for Colorado, or dedicated summers in a real width. It's a Mustang GT for crying out loud. What kind of compromise is this? Let's make both aspects of driving crappy?

LOL, what? You expected your rear engine, American, V8 powered car to do something in the snow? I grew up where it snows in the winter; we didnt buy rear wheel drive vehicles for traveling in the snow, we bought FWD or 4WD. The fact that you think you're going anywhere in the snow with a high horse power RWD vehicle is humorous. Change tires all you want, it still isnt going to work worth a damn.

 

[Black'02]

LOL, what? You expected your rear engine, American, V8 powered car to do something in the snow? I grew up where it snows in the winter; we didnt buy rear wheel drive vehicles for traveling in the snow, we bought FWD or 4WD. The fact that you think you're going anywhere in the snow with a high horse power RWD vehicle is humorous. Change tires all you want, it still isnt going to work worth a damn.

I think plenty of people have already said changing the tires does make a significant difference. I have driven my 02 GT in Buffalo winters for several years without incident. Granted it's maximum horsepower is nowhere near the level of these newer vehicles but these cars do not make 412 horsepower in high gears at low rpm under partial throttle (which is coincidentally how most sane people drive in the snow). I wont argue with the fact that these cars certainly take more finesse to drive in the winter but it is not that difficult. I cannot comment on the OP's skill here, but I would think that since they live in CO, they are probably used to driving in some snow every now and then.

Personally I dont think that an all season tire should be useless in less than 1 inch of snow, however I don't know what goes into the evaluation of these classification and how much leeway the manufacturer has. I guess I would treat this as a learning experience and if you wish to drive your new stang in the snow, get a set of snow tires (4).

 

[madweazl]

Wow, sounded like a boner up there (was pretty drunk when I wrote it ). The problem with low profile all seasons is that they're generally optimized for wet weather traction and are typically wide. While we dont think of 235s as being a wide tire, once they're on top of snow, they have enough displacement to provide some floatation. Perhaps you could actually drop down to a narrower tire to get below the snow. I've had a number of rear wheel drive performance cars through the years and never had much luck in anything over about 1" of snow; I'm sure this could be better on flat roads but I grew up in the mountains of southern California.