winter driving

[mikez]

Looking at getting a new mustang. Anybody here drive their car in the winter in the northern US? if so how do they run? Just want a dependable daily driver.
thanks

 

[Power4]

There's a bunch of threads on this topic already if you do a search. I drive mine year round in northern NY and it's fine in the snow with good tires.

 

[GT Dave]

I will have the snow tires back on by the end of the month, but the p-zeros aren't bad in a light snow. I remember passing a jeep last year in the snow. Got a good laugh out of that.

 

[Sparty92]

The first winter with the Mustang I drove the stock Pirelli's. In light snow and careful driving, you're ok.

If you get several inches of snow (like I do in Michigan)...you'll wanna park the car if the roads are not clear. I tested this myself 2x and got stuck 2x.

This year I bought Michelin X-Ice Xi2 snow tires and they are on the car right now. We are "supposed" to get some snow this weekend, so I'm glad they're on the car.

My feedback so far on this tire is:
They work well in the dry. Handling is not as crisp, but you're gonna get that with a snow tire. In the wet, they can slip in 2nd gear if you're ON the gas.

That's all I got for now. If you drive in any decent amount of snow, do yourself a favor and save your car.....get snow tires.

 

[BLKNED]

With snow tires do you need to run them at all four corners or is it ok to just run them on the back?

 

[Sparty92]

With snow tires do you need to run them at all four corners or is it ok to just run them on the back?

NEVER.....EVER.....run snow tires on only two wheels. Your handling will be rather terrible, and dangerous. I did that for 1 day on my old Civic. I put them on the back only (had a nail in summer tire..and didn't rant to roll on ONE snow tire). The car was very unstable on the highway.

Buy 4 tires, and your car will be transformed. When I had my Civic, the car would literally blow away most any other car (or SUV) on the road. Solid, stable traction in all conditions of winter.

I had a chance to test the Mustang last weekend. We had some snow squalls blow in for near white-out conditions (daytime) in a few areas. The roads were definitely slippery as the roads were covered with a thin coat of snow and slush.

The car was very solid and I felt 100% comfortable. When I had my Pirelli's on, the sight of "shiny" roads would make me nervous. I drove down the highway in this snow storm at 60 and didn't sweat a bit. I didn't try to break traction....but I'm sure it's still possible (if you wanted to).

So....to summarize: If you have to drive in the snow of winter, do yourself a favor an get some good snow tires. My deductible is $1,000...the tires were $670 out the door. I'd rather spend the money on tires than risk sliding into the ditch or a mailbox or whatever.