Car Parts Faqs

buying new tires for my car?

I need to get new tires on my car. (1997 Ford Mustang) I'm going to replace all 4 tires. What type of specifics should I look for and which ones are frivolous? I want all-weather tires I think (I live in Kansas, so we get a wide variety of weather), or is this incorrect? I've never bought tires before, so I'm kind of lost in the whole ordeal and don't want to get ripped off. Thanks! It's just a regular Mustang, V6, manual transmission.

Public Comments

1. Go to tirerack.com, to see what are the OE tires for your make and model car, you would probably need all season tires because of the differing seasons
2. I would goto www.tirerack.com to do your searching. They have a website that you can put in your car info (Make, model, year) and will tell you and show you all tire that will fit your car. It will also give you a break down of the tires and also customer feed back from other people that have bought the same tires and what they thought about them. Its a very good site, I have bought several tires from them.
3. Just go to a reputable shop and look at the books they have, look for your particular car, make, model and size engine. If it's high performance, you will need a good quality tire and have them filled with nitrogen, it's much more stable than regular air and won't ruin your tires as air does. The speed rating of the tire is found just before the last group of numbers as in 225/ 65/ ZR 17 it gives you the width followed by the height then the rating ZR is a high speed radial tire, then the rim size. Let them help you. You will most likely need a somewhat heavy compounded tire to run all seasons. Good Luck, Rick
4. Call around to local tire merchants. Online may seem like a deal until you have to get the tires mounted and balanced at the same stores you tried to avoid. What retailer will give you a deal on installation on tires you have bought elsewhere. I recommend Michelin for high mileage, Kumo for performance. I personally have had very bad luck with Firestone. Find a good all weather tire and get free life time balance & rotation. Tire dealers will negotiate on price. Nitrogen is a gimmick. Don't get sucked in on that one. After all air is approx 80% nitrogen. Aircraft tires are filled with nitrogen because the pressures are 250#'s+ and water will condense at that pressure. Car tires are 35#'s and will not condense water.
5. Is it a Mustang, a Mustang GT or a Mustang Cobra? This makes a huge difference in your options. The basic V6 Mustang uses a P205/65R15 92T tire size. This is a hugely popular size (standard on the Ford Taurus and Toyota Camry of which there are only a few billion around) so there are lots of choices in a all-season tire. Literally hundreds of options. Depending on local availability tires worth considering are: BF Goodrich Traction T/A, Kuhmo Solus KR-21, Pirelli P4 Four Season and Yokohama AVID TRZ. The Mustang GT uses either a P225/55ZR16 or a 245/45ZR17 tire size. Both are far less common and your choices are far more limited. In the 16-inch size the BF Goodrich Traction T/A is a good choice as is the Yokohama AVID V4s. In the 17-inch the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position is the ultimate choice with the Yokohama AVID W4s a slightly more economical alternative. ASE Certified Automotive Service Advisor working in the tire industry
6. Check ether the web sites mentioned above or read your owners manual (It's probably in your glove-box in an unopened package if your like most of the people's cars I've serviced over the years) You can also get the current size from the sidewall of the tires that are on your vehicle. All season tires are good for the driving conditions where you are located. Also generally the more expensive the tire is the cost per mile is LOWER (Top line tires tend to last twice as long as lower priced tires but generally do not cost twice as much)