the mighty mustang GT vs. SNOW

imyy4u · 10-23-2006, 01:33 PM

Uhh so now that it's getting cold, and my GT is my DD, what kind of performance can I expect in the snow? A few times when it rained really hard and I had to drive I thought my car was going to fly off the road at 65mph...can't imagine what it's like in snow. Am I totally screwed? How does the car handle with say 6 inches of unplowed snow? Any input?

And no I can't afford winter tires and chains are illegal.

swensicle · 10-23-2006, 01:39 PM

sounds like my situation as well.

I've had it on a little ice and she is SLICK, but the traction control does seem to help a bit. IMO, it's actually kind of fun....but you do need to drive extra cautious. Good luck.

imyy4u · 10-23-2006, 01:48 PM

I have fun on dry pavement drifting around corners (takes lots of years of practice, so don't go trying this if you don't know what you're doing!), so I'm assuming it'll be quite entertaining on snow/ice. My problem is if I am not trying to drift, I really don't want to...

imyy4u · 10-23-2006, 01:49 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: swensicle

sounds like my situation as well.

I've had it on a little ice and she is SLICK, but the traction control does seem to help a bit. IMO, it's actually kind of fun....but you do need to drive extra cautious. Good luck.

where are you from?

(I really wish people would fill out both From: sections in the My Profile section, esp. the Member Details one since that shows up on your posts!)

bonedaddyjr06 · 10-23-2006, 02:17 PM

the kdw's suck in the snow....i had them on my srt before i got the stang....i mean on the srt it'd just sit and spin....best of luck with it though

giovani13 · 10-23-2006, 03:45 PM

I'm in Chicago as well. Last winter was my first in my Stang. Actually not too bad. I've been driving rear wheel for many years so I wasn't a complete rooky, a light touch and a second gear start help with unplowed roads. My worst car was a 1990 V-6 T-bird without posi and that thing was much worse than the Stang. It's not my DD, so I can skip a drive if I have to. Six inches of unplowed snow is a challenge, pray for no hill. Sometimes the TC needs to be turned off to allow some spin and get moving. Run to Home Depot and get a heavy bag of salt and put it all the way in the back of the trunk. Helps with traction and you can break it open for the salt if you get stuck on ice.

tuco · 10-23-2006, 04:39 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: imyy4u

Uhh so now that it's getting cold, and my GT is my DD, what kind of performance can I expect in the snow? A few times when it rained really hard and I had to drive I thought my car was going to fly off the road at 65mph...can't imagine what it's like in snow. Am I totally screwed? How does the car handle with say 6 inches of unplowed snow? Any input?

And no I can't afford winter tires and chains are illegal.

As someone living in Western Canada, when I hear of ppl whose daily driver is a GT and they live where real winter exists, and yet they cannot afford to put on snow tires (which would make all the difference in the world on the car for winter); I have to shake my head.

You might get lucky and pussy foot thru, or you might not. The GT in any amount of fresh snow will be pretty useless. Your traction and stopping ability will be severely compromised with the existing all seasons on the car. Hills will be a problem, and in the case of 6 inches of unplowed snow - leave it home and take the bus.

That is the reality of what you are trying to do - but I suspect is not the answer you are looking for.

imyy4u · 10-23-2006, 04:45 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: tuco

Quote:

ORIGINAL: imyy4u

Uhh so now that it's getting cold, and my GT is my DD, what kind of performance can I expect in the snow? A few times when it rained really hard and I had to drive I thought my car was going to fly off the road at 65mph...can't imagine what it's like in snow. Am I totally screwed? How does the car handle with say 6 inches of unplowed snow? Any input?

And no I can't afford winter tires and chains are illegal.

As someone living in Western Canada, when I hear of ppl whose daily driver is a GT and they live where real winter exists, and yet they cannot afford to put on snow tires (which would make all the difference in the world on the car for winter); I have to shake my head.

You might get lucky and pussy foot thru, or you might not. The GT in any amount of fresh snow will be pretty useless. Your traction and stopping ability will be severely compromised with the existing all seasons on the car. Hills will be a problem, and in the case of 6 inches of unplowed snow - leave it home and take the bus.

That is the reality of what you are trying to do - but I suspect is not the answer you are looking for.

problem - the only reason i was able to afford the GT was through financing....

meaning i can't afford the few hundred for snow tires. now if i could buy 4 tires for $100, maybe...but...otherwise no.

any other ideas other than salt/weight in the trunk?

Menace · 10-23-2006, 04:50 PM

I had next to no problems with my Pirelli's in the winter last year, then again they only had less then 5000 miles of use on them. Now they have almost 16,000 miles but still look good. I think they'll hold up, but if need be I'll get another pair. I'm not sure how all the other stock tires performed in this area, but I am impressed. Should you be driving 65mph in snow? No... Though I took a road trip last december and on my way back through Virginia they were having an ice storm... The car handled impressively at 50-60 mph, and whenever I felt it was losing traction I just let off and drove slower until I felt the car could go faster.

Of course when you start off, the wheels will spin and you just have to kinda take it slow. I remember pulling into a Denny's and on my way out they could barely grab, but once they did it was alright from there.

Hope this helps.

509vista · 10-23-2006, 04:57 PM

6 inches of unplowed snow and you will be going nowhere fast. You will need alot of weight in your trunk aswell as some decent snow tires.