Hi,
I'm considering a 2008 Mustang GT in the next few months, but I'm just going through the extra costs after I get it - considering I live in North East Ohio, where it's snowing 3-4 months of the year...
Has anyone here actually used the "WinterForce M+S" winter tires, available at tirerack, on a 2005+ mustang? They're around $81 each.
They're the cheapest I've found, and although I know 'you get what you pay for' - I don't feel I should need "performance snow tires" for $130+ each, since I don't plan on driving 100mph, or racing in the snow...
I was wondering, if anyone has actually had experience with these tires, if they are actually an improvement over the regular tires, in terms of winter traction/stability (which I believe are also M+S rated).
Also, I was wondering if it'd be easy enough for me to change the wheels myself. I would have tirerack mount the tires onto some rims for me... is there anything special involved in changing wheels...? Anything that someone like NTB would do, that I wouldn't be able to? They always talk about balancing etc... am I going to screw that all up if I keep switching the wheels myself each year?
Final question - if I just ordered the tires, without rims, and took it to somewhere like NTB to mount these tires onto my standard rims each december, and then back to the regular tires each march/april, am I likely to have any problems - eg. with the TPMS, balancing, scratched rims or anything else?
if you have never replaced tires in your life i dont recommend it, it requires tools and knowledge that begginers dont have. get it done at wal-mart it is next to nothing to replace tires and they have an awsome waiting room!!!
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2007 Satin Silver Mustang
4,009 cc 4 liters V6 engine with 100.4 mm bore,84.4 mm stroke,9.7 compression ratio,overhead cam,Multi-point injection system,157 kW,210 HP SAE @ 5,300 rpm;240 ft lb,325 Nm @ 3,500 rpm,Immobilizer,Strut front suspension independent with stabilizer bar and coil springs, beam suspension rigid with coil springs In other words, All Stock
You could have the tires broken down every year and swapped onto your rims but it would be a lot easier to pick up another set of rims and leave the snowtires mounted.
Any dedicated winter tire will be better than any all season tire imo.
As far as changing them over each spring/fall will get costly. And risk more chances of damage to the wheels.
If you get an extra set of wheels, then you need to decide of you want to add the tpms monitors to the winter wheels. Or just deal with hitting the reset button each time you drive.
Nothing special is needed to do a rim swap. I bought a set of take off bullitts and mounted my snows on them. Works great if you have a place to store them.
Since then I bought a winter beater for 500 bucks and sold the winter tires/wheels.
Do you know how the TPMS monitors install on the 2008 wheels? I heard some of the earlier years had them installed in odd places, like between the tire and the rim... how easy is it to install the tpms after the fact? I noticed they;re about $50 each or something, so that adds $200 to my total cost.. I might consider adding them later though.
I bought a set of stock bullits with tires (less than 2000 miles on them) for $400 for my wife's Pony and got a set of Michilen X-Ice winter radials at Costco and had them swapped over. Good winter tires can be a lifesaver and are not worth messing with. Plus now we have a stock set of Pirelli's for later.
Winter tires question 2008 Mustang GT 
