Oppo, Find me new tires!

"Michael Maguire" (michaelmag25)
08/20/2015 at 16:12 • Filed to: Tires

A tucker 48 for your time...

Okay, so after 40,000 miles on my mustang, I need new tires before winter comes. I have spent about 10 hours in the last couple years looking at wheels and tires and decided that I only have money for tires...and they have to be all season tires. No winter set/summer set for me.

I live in St. Louis, MO and we get some of the oddest weather of anywhere...Like 75-80 degrees Monday and Snowing by Thursday. Therefore, I need a tire that can handle all conditions, as well as be a solid performer.

P215/65R17 98T is the tire size. It is the stock size of a 2014 Ford Mustang v6 without performance package.

Any advice, or suggestions of what you all run on your cars would be greatly appreciated.

My auto shop wants me to get Altimax RT 43s, but I don’t know if I trust a non-name brand tire.

Ive heard great things about Continental DWS tires and Pilot A/S 3s. I don’t know if they make all these in my tire size though.

Okay I’ll stop rambling...Thanks Oppo!

DISCUSSION (22)

ceanderson920 > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:16

I had Altimax’s on my grand prix and they weren’t to bad, their are better tires out there but their are also worse tires out there.

RallyWrench > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:18

I’ve had really good luck with the Toyo Proxes 4+ on a few different cars. I don’t have real weather here in CA, but wet traction is good.

Rico > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:18

There’s a couple of new sites you can double check for tires. Tirerack.com and discounttire.com both have a great breakdown of different brands and reviews. A quick search shows me AS/3s and DWS don’t come in that size. General isn’t a no-name brand, it’s not a top dog but some people have great luck with their Altimax line up.

Filtering everything you can get the Altimax or Michelin Defenders. Good Year Assurance is another option but I’ve rarely heard good things about them.

JGrabowMSt > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:18

Firestone Firehawks are surprisingly good in wet weather, my Magnum has never broken loose because it’s wet. In fact, I peel out more making hard left turns than I do because of roadway conditions.

General Altimax tires are actually pretty good, so you have my blessing on those if you need to.

Nothing really beats a dedicated set of winters though....not convenient, but the difference is immense. I DD’d the Magnum through every snowstorm since January 7th this year and it was an absolute champ. No slippage, no sliding, and it stuck planted even going a bit faster than I really should have given the conditions. Drove past countless cars that were stuck on the side of the road or other cars that plowed into snow banks because they couldn’t control the cars. Half of winter driving is being smart, the other half is having good tires.

Big Bubba Ray > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:30

Check out some Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads. These are probably the best all seasons I’ve ever used. They were on my OB when I bought it and I’m actually getting a brand new set put on at 5 today. They’re fantastic tires.

Kinja'd!!!

Michael Maguire > JGrabowMSt
08/20/2015 at 16:31

I wish I could afford a set of dedicated winter/summer tires, because that really is the best option. Also the most expensive though.

Michael Maguire > Big Bubba Ray
08/20/2015 at 16:33

Okay, Ive seen those, but also saw mixed reviews...It seems to kind of be these or the rt43s. Not much else for my tire size in the A/S category. These are the days I wish I lived in California.

Eberle-Hills-Cop > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:41

I don’t have any recommendations as I know nothing about all seasons, but in the past few years I’ve found the best prices on what I’m looking for on tirebuyer.com plus they’ll ship to lots of local installer shops for free.

Big Bubba Ray > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 16:48

Usually the bad reviews are people giving 2/5 stars because they ran over a bed of nails and got a flat. Trust me when I say they’re great tires. I’m going to be on my second set and my sister just got a set in February and she loved them in the snow.

Shift24 > JGrabowMSt
08/20/2015 at 17:16

Couldnt disagree more on the FireHawks. I had the FireHawks Indy 500 on my 98 Camaro for awhile and i would never buy them again. They would spin after a light rain or on a wet incline of any sort. And my Camaro is a V6 so its barely pushing 200hp.

Do agree on the Generals though. Great tires for a reasonable price.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 17:28

Nokian WRG3 or Hankook Optio 4S:

http://www.apa.ca/WinterTires201…

Textured Soy Protein > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 17:37

All-season tires on a rwd car are always going to be a compromise. You can get some degree of handling performance while maintaining snow traction, but usually these two things tend not to go hand in hand.

There are different performance categories of all-season tires. “Ultra high performance all-season” (as classified by Tire Rack) will give the best handling in dry and wet weather, with varying degrees of winter traction. Some of these can be good in winter (Continental DWS) while others...not so much. The thing is, no tires in this category come in your stock size.

I’m assuming your car is an automatic, because 215/65-17 is only the stock size on the automatic. The stock size on the manual is 225/60-17. There’s still not much that I’d call an actual performance tire in this size. There are a couple sorta-performance tires in that size but their winter ratings are mediocre at best.

What all this means is you’re probably going to be just looking at regular all-season tires and trying to pick one that’s got good winter handling and is at least sorta kinda sporty. Going to the 225/60-17 size will give you more options and slightly sportier handling as these are a bit wider and have not quite as chunky sidewalls.

In this 225/60-17 size, those General RT43s aren’t too bad for a budget option, actually. If you want to spend a bit more money, the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus has really decent winter ratings, and alright non-winter handling. The Michelin Premier A/S is more expensive still, and has not-quite-as-good winter traction, but maybe a bit better than the Pirelli in non-winter driving.

JGrabowMSt > Shift24
08/20/2015 at 18:20

I have the regular Wideoval AS tires, so its a totally different tread. Tires barely have a couple thousand miles on them, but they came highly recommended by other Magnum owners.

JGrabowMSt > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 18:22

$2000 got me both sets of tires and a new set of wheels for spring/summer/fall. Your tires are smaller and may be cheaper, but the IceGuards are incredible. Im sold on winter tires forever now.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 19:24

I’ve always been happy with Kumho Ecsta ASX’s, as far as All-Seasons go.

Michael Maguire > Textured Soy Protein
08/20/2015 at 21:10

Really how much of a difference is 225 over 215. Would that be able to fit around a wheel designed for 215, or would I have to get new wheels?

Thanks for your informative response!

Textured Soy Protein > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 21:19

The first number in the tire size is the tread width in millimeters, so 225 is 10 mm wider than 215.

The second number is the series, which tells you the height of the sidewalls. But it’s not just in mm like the tread width, it actually means the sidewall is that percentage of the tread width. So the sidewalls on a 215/65 tire are 139.75 mm tall, whereas a 225/60 tire is 135 mm.

Looking at the wheel options for a 2014 Mustang, all the 17” wheels are 17x7” regardless of transmission. Ford just put slightly wider tires with sightly thinner sidewalls on the manual. But you wouldn’t need different wheels.

There’s not a huge difference between these two tire sizes, but from a handling perspective 225/60 is ever so slightly more desirable, and there are more tires available in that size anyway.

Michael Maguire > Textured Soy Protein
08/20/2015 at 21:22

Great, this actually widens my tire search.

There is basically no downside to moving from 215 to 225 because either way they will fit, correct. This opens me up to a better set of tires to look at. Thank you for your help!

Textured Soy Protein > Michael Maguire
08/20/2015 at 21:27

Yeah both will definitely fit. Just remember you want 225/60 and not 225/65.

But really if I were in your position I’d be choosing between those 3 tires I mentioned: General Altimax RT43 for cheap/pretty decent, Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus for best winter traction, and Michelin Premier A/S for a bit sportier handling with a bit less winter grip than the Pirelli.

I know you were concerned about General being an “off brand,” but they’re just an American subsidiary of Continental (which is German). I have General Grabber AT2 all-terrains on my Grand Cherokee and they’re a pretty solid tire.

Dunnik > Michael Maguire
08/21/2015 at 02:08

Not sure if available in your size, but I’m loving the Bridgestone Potenzas on my TL. Very grippy for all-seasons. Like you, budget concerns steered me away from summer performance tires. I do, however, run winter tires - Conti EWC’s. Stupidly good in the snow.

Shift24 > JGrabowMSt
08/21/2015 at 11:51

Ah ok wasnt thinking that there was another tread under the Firehawk name.

JGrabowMSt > Shift24
08/21/2015 at 13:53

My tires:

Kinja'd!!!

All the Indy 500 treads look totally different to me, and honestly not quite as deep. I can definitely see the other treads not being as good in wet conditions.