GT In snow?

[shadango]

I live in Buffalo and have driven a GT in the winters here for the past 4 years or so. I have a dedicated set of snow tires on a pair of steel 16" rims. I have never gotten stuck, and frequently pass Jeeps and other 4WD vehicles stuck in a ditch.

It takes time to develop the feel for it but overall my car is much more maneuverable in the snow due to the inherent oversteer characteristics of RWD (which in the snow i think is much preferable to an understeer situation you get with FWD).

Also, one key point to keep in mind is that the narrower the tire, the better it will handle in the snow. Most of those who claim that FWD is better is because they generally have narrower tires than what you would find on most RWD vehicles. If you have equivalent width tires on a FWD and RWD vehicle in the snow, the RWD would typically outhandle the other just as it would in a normal pavement situation. The only difference would be that their oversteer and understeer characteristics would be enhanced significantly due to the reduced traction on the drive wheels.

By "more maneuverable" do you mean in executing fishtails? LOL

I have been stuck behind more than a few rear wheel drive cars on hills around here waiting for them to park the damn thing so I can get around them in my FWD or 4WD.

If you are "passing 4x4s and Jeeps in ditches" it is because those drivers were driving way too fast for conditions and/or have no idea how to drive in snow even with 4WD, thats all.

Has nothing to do with your rwd being better in snow.

I have driven lots of rear wheel drives and lots of FWDs over the years in snow.

FWD wins hands down and it is not only due to tire width (which DOES factor....narrower the tire the better bite thru the snow you get versus floating on top of it).

The weight distribution of a FWD car - more weight over the drive wheels - will have it winning hands down in comparable testing. More weight over the drive wheels nets more bite - more traction. And obviously traction is what keeps you going.

You can load up the butt end of a RWD with sand bags but then that introduces other handling issues.

Oversteer is definitely NOT your friend in slippery conditions. A very small steering input can result un a HUGE change or complete loss of traction in a RWD car in a slippery condition. Steering with the drive wheels in a FWD means that you are pulling the car in the direction the wheels are pointed (to a point at least)...in a RWD, you can turn the front wheels but the drive wheels are still pushing straight ahead and you can "snowplow" when its slippery.

On ice, all bets are off....even 4WD sucks on ice.

The question from the OP was if a 2006-08 Mustang GT was "safe" in snow.

I think the answer has already been given - in the hands of an experienced driver, perhaps it is doable, depending on how much snow and the terrain we are talking about. In the hands of a youth, more likely to be a real problem than not.

No offense to the younger crowd here.....I know I would not have my young son/daughter driving a rear wheel drive sports car with a 300 HP engine at ALL unless I was very sure of their maturity and skill level...and even then, NOT in the snow.

Just sayin'.

 

[puma1552]

In the snow, the HP rating is more or less irrelevant. A 100 hp car can lose it in the snow just the same as a 300 hp car.

I am 27 now, and since 15 I've only owned RWD cars in nasty Minnesota winters, as has the entire family. Instead of being scared of RWD, I learned how to drive it in the snow, and it's very easy if you are careful. The only place I've run into real trouble was when I've had to stop for a red light on an incline...usually I see it from far away and just idle towards the traffic hoping that by the time I get there they will be moving again, and they almost always are. I can only think of once when they weren't, and that was in my '97 Ranger XLT 2WD with a regular cab, which was about the lightest thing you could have/worst thing you could have in the winter according to most. I got stuck that one time, other than that I've never had a problem.

The thing is, with RWD you have more control. Front wheels steer, rear wheels drive. The advantage is being able to use the rear wheels and the throttle to help you steer. Yes, RWD will fishtail and let go quicker, but the trick to winter driving is to literally go 15-20 mph and be watching and staying away from everyone.

Rear wheel drive is predictable, front wheel drive is not. With RWD, and you can test this in a parking lot in the winter--if the car starts to fishtail a little bit, simply let off the gas and it will self-correct quickly. There is of course a point where you are fishtailing too much to self correct, but if that's the case, you were going too fast to begin with.

Nothing scarier than driving a front wheel drive car and turning the wheels and sliding straight and being completely helpless and not being able to use the throttle.

I've had two BMWs (E30/E36), the tiny little truck, and a '94 T-bird LX. None of them have given me a problem. In fact, I just bought a '98 GT for my year-round daily, and I'll be going through winter on 245s. Haven't decided if I want to put sandbags in the trunk or not. I drove the T-bird both ways and it didn't seem to matter with 100-150 lbs. of bags. Downside to sandbags is if the ass does start to let go, sandbags make it harder to bring it back because of the extra momentum.

RWD is fine if you are smart about it and learn to respect it and learn the characteristics of what it will and won't do (and can't do) in certain situations. When it is blizzard conditions outside, I assure you I stay as far away as possible from others, and drive 15-20 mph in the slow lane acknowledging that my usually 30 minute trip is now a 2+ hour trip, and you have to do the same. The other thing to keep in mind is how many days a year are truly treacherous? 20, 25, some of which are bound to fall on weekends or days/times when you don't HAVE to go out? Most of the time they are gonna have plow crews out there salting the piss out of the roads and the roads will be clear by 9-10 AM (at least in MN where the roads are the largest part of the state budget).

RWD is nothing to be scared of--every BMW, every Mercedes is RWD sans their AWD models and you see those all day long on the roads. You just have to learn to respect it.

 

[Ateup]

A mustang is no better than any other car in the snow. I'll take the ground clearance of a truck every time in the snow and 4wheel drive to get me back on the road if I get a wheel off somehow.

 

[shadango]

In the snow, the HP rating is more or less irrelevant. A 100 hp car can lose it in the snow just the same as a 300 hp car.

I am 27 now, and since 15 I've only owned RWD cars in nasty Minnesota winters, as has the entire family. Instead of being scared of RWD, I learned how to drive it in the snow, and it's very easy if you are careful. The only place I've run into real trouble was when I've had to stop for a red light on an incline...usually I see it from far away and just idle towards the traffic hoping that by the time I get there they will be moving again, and they almost always are. I can only think of once when they weren't, and that was in my '97 Ranger XLT 2WD with a regular cab, which was about the lightest thing you could have/worst thing you could have in the winter according to most. I got stuck that one time, other than that I've never had a problem.

The thing is, with RWD you have more control. Front wheels steer, rear wheels drive. The advantage is being able to use the rear wheels and the throttle to help you steer. Yes, RWD will fishtail and let go quicker, but the trick to winter driving is to literally go 15-20 mph and be watching and staying away from everyone.

Rear wheel drive is predictable, front wheel drive is not. With RWD, and you can test this in a parking lot in the winter--if the car starts to fishtail a little bit, simply let off the gas and it will self-correct quickly. There is of course a point where you are fishtailing too much to self correct, but if that's the case, you were going too fast to begin with.

Nothing scarier than driving a front wheel drive car and turning the wheels and sliding straight and being completely helpless and not being able to use the throttle.

I've had two BMWs (E30/E36), the tiny little truck, and a '94 T-bird LX. None of them have given me a problem. In fact, I just bought a '98 GT for my year-round daily, and I'll be going through winter on 245s. Haven't decided if I want to put sandbags in the trunk or not. I drove the T-bird both ways and it didn't seem to matter with 100-150 lbs. of bags. Downside to sandbags is if the ass does start to let go, sandbags make it harder to bring it back because of the extra momentum.

RWD is fine if you are smart about it and learn to respect it and learn the characteristics of what it will and won't do (and can't do) in certain situations. When it is blizzard conditions outside, I assure you I stay as far away as possible from others, and drive 15-20 mph in the slow lane acknowledging that my usually 30 minute trip is now a 2+ hour trip, and you have to do the same. The other thing to keep in mind is how many days a year are truly treacherous? 20, 25, some of which are bound to fall on weekends or days/times when you don't HAVE to go out? Most of the time they are gonna have plow crews out there salting the piss out of the roads and the roads will be clear by 9-10 AM (at least in MN where the roads are the largest part of the state budget).

RWD is nothing to be scared of--every BMW, every Mercedes is RWD sans their AWD models and you see those all day long on the roads. You just have to learn to respect it.

None of what you say is necessarily wrong. We all have different experiences.

In the same way you have to learn how to drive a RWD in the snow you have to learn how to drive a FWD in the snow.

All else being equal though, FWD , with the weight over the drive wheels and pulling instead of pushing will have the advantage in most situations.

Front wheel drive is VERY predictable if you have enough experience with it. And the fact that you can steer the drive wheels is a big plus.

You can just as easily slide the front wheels through a turn in a RWD.

HP certainly DOES factor in.

A car with higher HP typically has faster/quicker acceleration. But torque is also usually higher.... It takes a lighter foot and skill to feather the throttle on a car that has more power available at the wheels, front or wheel drive. The tires will break loose all the more easier the more power you have on tap.

The other thing you mention is "experience".

There is also a white elephant in the room here....the fact that the OP is saying that he needs to convince his parents that a mustang is a good winter car.

This infers that he is probably a youth driver, unless he is a 40 year old living at home sponging from elderly parents......

Youth drivers need every advantage possible IMHO. You dont get to be a good driver for a good 10 years or so of regular, day in day out practice. And even then many of us still suck. And bad weather only happens so often, so even after 10 years of experience how many times has a person really driven and practiced in bad weather?

His parents are likely drivers themselves, in the same weather that he is looking to drive,right? They already KNOW what is safe and what isnt and they already know how they feel their son will handle the vehicle they are allowing him to get.

RWD sports car + inexperienced driver can = trouble. But if the youth is responsible enough.

RWD sports car + inexperienced driver + bad weather conditions? heh heh...not on MY insurance it wouldn't happen. LOL

 

[puma1552]

^^^Absolutely, that's a good post, and a good counterweight to mine; the other side of the coin, none of which is wrong either. And I'll give you the point about the torque and feathering the throttle, that's correct--from my perspective as a dead-careful driver, I feather the throttle so lightly it isn't a factor--it can't be, or you'll be in trouble. I guess that's what I was trying to get at, was that if you are being as careful as you should be, the power should be irrelevant because you should be babying it that much.

So now it just comes down to the driver, and what kind of driver the OP pans out to be.

Let us know how it turns out, OP, though I'm guessing a Honda is in your future.

 

[LAVAgt2012]

Your young, so obviously you want a car that's a little flashy.....But for the colder climate areas, I'm going to agree with most of these post a mustang would not be the best choice at this time. Going back to the all wheel drive, that's best suited for ppl learning to driving in the snow, try looking at a subaru impreza or something along that line.

 

[DoubleTap]

The bottom line is....

I am older than most here, therefore when I was young ( gee I can actually remember that far back ) all cars were RWD and we all learned how to drive in the snow in NYC. Reason and prudence are the key to learning to drive in the snow just as they are when learning to drive in ideal conditions.

You MUST have what we called snow tires ( today called winter tires ) on at least the rear and ideally on all four wheels to properly drive in the snow. Just remember driving in the snow "ain't no big deal" just use extra caution because no matter what you are driving it will not behave as you expect it to do not having the experience of doing it before.

 

[USNRET8505]

I'm thinking the GT is not a great choice for a teenager to begin with. I owned a teenager for several years and he was able to get into scrapes with a Kia Spectra5. It was just part of growing up and learning for him. It's not anything against you personally but I truly understand your parents concern, the car is going to be a lot of power on dry pavement and like was posted before it's not the power but the inability to control it that becomes an issue.

Your parents have your best interest at heart and you would be wise to listen to them and take their advice. Why not try a V6 instead of the GT for a year or two and once you get the hang of that on the snow it should be an easy step for you to move to the V8. Not to mention your insurance rates will probably be about half.

Good luck in your search.

Jeff