Driving a Stang in the snow

Mustang5L5 said:

It's just a Mustang, not a ferrarri.

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I drive mine like it is a ferrarri, and treat it like gold. Maybe I have a deeper appriciation for mustangs than you. I like my car and live in the salt belt of america, and want it to last.

stangsalwayswin said:

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My 04 GT need I say more?

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Another reason to drive the YJ in the winter.

smokin00GT said:

I drive mine like it is a ferrarri, and treat it like gold. Maybe I have a deeper appriciation for mustangs than you. I like my car and live in the salt belt of america, and want it to last.

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my deeper appreciation means my stang doesnt wanna be parked EVER. she wants out everyday, even in the snow....just make sure and get her underside washed once or twice a week.

I drive mine year around, even in snow.....on stock tires....its actually quite easy....the hardest part about driving in the snow is all the idiots around you that have NO clue how to drive. First time in the snow in the mach, I figured it out easily and quickly....give her a lil gas to see how much she could stand before she spun....figured out braking....then watched an idiot in a jag do a 360 through an intersection....Ive also had to pass people in the snow that were doing like 0.5 mph in a 40mph.

honestly, in my experience, ive had worse times driving in a torrential downpour than in the snow

1Phat5Liter said:

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i hope you wasnt laughing @ the stang in the ditch.

Mustang225 said:

Another reason to drive the YJ in the winter.

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Did you get caught with summer performance tires on your car in the wet heavy stuff?


Put a summer performance 10" wide tire on a YJ and it will have just as horse snot of a time as a mustang... Except when you hit the gas the front end will walk in the corner instead of turning.

I've driven a 84 old cutlass through the snow with one wheel peel and an azz end that would swing around in a nano second... never lost control of the car once... the kid I sold it to however: put it in a ditch three times.

1st time i had the stang in the snow i was still drivin on my nitto drag radials it was fun goin bout 20mph..lol

Its only a $10k car if its stock.. Im scared as hell to drive mine in the snow/ice- my insurance company would never pay out the value of my mods if I were to throw it in the ditch. If there is more than an inch of snow on the ground I will not drive my car. In KS I think it might be worse, because it goes from ice to snow to slush to ice to snow to CRAP and so on and so forth.. the weather here is completely unpredictable, it was 9* and freezing rain last weekend and this weekend was 69*!!

I am looking for a cheap DD for the winter.. I want to get my hands on a wrangler as well, or a ford focus

I'm enjoying driving the cobra in this. I'm pushing snow around, but I'm also cleaning the bottom of my car up real nice.

It also snowed enough last night. I don't know how much but it was a blizzard warning for a few hours... the snow is deep!!!

I think next winter I'll buy a beater, not cause the cobra wont handle it, but because I feel sorry for it and I want to not be gliding around on snow...


**See my other post for the weather report lol**

my winter beater/DD is the best 2500 bucks ive ever spent...92 ford explorer sport....drive it all the time...the great thing about it is KNOWING its a beater and not really giving two shiots about it other than regular maintenance!!!...although it gets crap for gas mileage...and keeps eating wheel bearings every 15k!!!

I'm surprised by the responses in this thread.

I bought mine in January and went 2 months running 16" Blizzaks. I felt like the car was a tank. I was going through everything, no problems.

I felt I had more traction than 80% of the cars on the road.

2 months was enough though. Salt = evil

=[ bad on 275's summer tires

Skidawg said:

I'm surprised by the responses in this thread.

I bought mine in January and went 2 months running 16" Blizzaks. I felt like the car was a tank. I was going through everything, no problems.

I felt I had more traction than 80% of the cars on the road.

2 months was enough though. Salt = evil

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I believe a lot of it has to do with properly equipping whatever your in to handle the weather.

Tires and weight are the key to making it through the rough, along with some good ol fashion common sense and not to mention better-than-average driving skills.

best thing to do is buy yourself a cheap jeep or explorer or something and just sell it for just as much as you paid or more in the spring..... i've been driving for 4 winters now and have had a different truck every time... its kinda fun and ive made money off of all of them once i sold them.....

then you can garage the stang.... save miles... less insurance... no salt ... and once you get back in it in the spring it feels like a supercar compared to what you had all winter haha...

I think if you drive conservatively (I know it's tough), you can handle moderate snow. I would definetly say that my 03' handles the snow worlds better than my old 90' Fox vert even with 295's in the back. I don't know how many times I got stuck in the driveway going 50 and standing still.

An aside: Mustang5L5, are you in NEBOC? I think you helped me make up my mind as to what shifter I put in my car (MGW).

H What 4.6 said:

best thing to do is buy yourself a cheap jeep or explorer or something and just sell it for just as much as you paid or more in the spring..... i've been driving for 4 winters now and have had a different truck every time... its kinda fun and ive made money off of all of them once i sold them.....

then you can garage the stang.... save miles... less insurance... no salt ... and once you get back in it in the spring it feels like a supercar compared to what you had all winter haha...

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This is a good idea if:

1) You have a short commute

2) You don't have to invest any money into a beater with a heater

3) You're able to cover the tax, title and registration fees for selling the vehicle in the spring

4) You have the time to properly check over said beater to ensure it's safe and not a danger to yourself or anyone else on the road.

This is a bad idea if:

1) You work 12 hour days and don't feel like working in your garage on meantime transportation

2) After you work 12 hour days you actually want to spend time with your family

3) You drive a lot and can't afford to have a beater break down on you and jeopardize your safety or a potential client meeting

4) If your not a good gambler: i.e. you invest too much into a junk to keep it reliable.

5) If you don't like spending the time to look and haggle with people to talk them down as much as possible so you may actually break even in the spring: then buying old cars is not for you.

6) If you don't have a spare 2500 laying around with nothing else to spend it on




I have my 93 vortech equipped reef coupe nestled away in the garage.

The new edge is sort of a marriage type of car...through good weather and bad, we've gotta plow through it.

Salt is evil, but you know what, in ten years my Notch still will not have seen winter and I am sure to probably be on another daily driven car at that point.

My 04 GT is an everyday driver

1) You have to expect rock chips... touch them up

2) you have to expect an occasional door ding even when you park at the back of the lot: massage it out.

3) it's probably going to get a scratch or two at some point or even a scuff. Buffer?

4) I plan to undercoat the heck out of it in the spring to buy my some time with the war against salt.

5) No matter what: it's just a car that I want to enjoy all year round and with that comes the responsibility of understanding the pros and cons.

6) I respect those who want to keep their cars out of the salt--- I hate salt--- but I've already have one car sitting in the garage, I certainly don't need two.

I believe that a stang that is subjected to salt can still last a long time.

1) Regular cleanings when salt is attacking at above 32 F

2) Undercoat

3) I use anti seize under my rotors so when I need to change them at a later date I can: works like a charm.

4) if you find some rust... address it properly.. don't just paint over it.

5) Keep the vehicles paint and interior clean and properly protected as well.

stangsalwayswin said:

My 04 GT need I say more?

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Hey, you can't park there!

This is my fourth winter driving my Mustang. It really is not that much different than my last car (Dodge Intrepid). It doesn't matter if you have FWD, RWD, AWD, or 4WD, assuming they have the same type of tires, they all stop the same. I actually prefer RWD in the snow over FWD. FWD all you can do is understeer both when braking and when hitting the gas. With RWD you can understeer by braking or oversteer by hitting the gas. The only complaint I have is if the snow is more than 4 - 5" deep on the road there is no chance in hell of going anywhere because my car is too low. However, 4 - 5" of snow on the road in Minneapolis does not happen that often, maybe 2 - 3 times per year. If it does, I can stay home and work. I have Sh***y BFGoodrich Comp TA's on V-6 rims and they work fine. I'm sure Blizzaks would be better, but I am not paying $800 on snow tires... too much money. I also just can't seem to justify buying a $500 - $1500 beater and insuring it for $500/year.

I drove mine for two winters and I didn't had any problems, with some good winter tires there's nothing to it, I never got stuck anywhere. You need to do some rust prevention before winter if you want to keep your car in good condition. It sure is not as good as a jeep but its not that much worst than a fwd.

I have Blizzaks all around and I've only gotten stuck once in three winters: that was this year in my driveway after getting around everywhere else just fine.