Mustang GT... is it really THAT bad in the winter?

[Stompy]

Right now I have a 1993 Tempo. It handles pretty decently in the winter.

I'm thinking about getting a new car, and one of the options was a 2001 Mustang GT.

People tell me left and right that they SUCK in winter driving, however... my tempo, which is 11 years old, can handle it just fine, so how could a 3 year old car be worse? With the traction control, anti-lock breaks, etc... (none of which my tempo has), how can it not drive?

I figured I'd ask here, because a lot of people that tell me this aren't very keen on cars anyway, so if you guys say it's crap in the winter, then I guess it's so.

I just don't wanna buy a car to find out it's 100% useless for the next 4 months.

[edit]
Or are they just referring to when there's a snowstorm? Usually the main streets are plowed anyway.

I'm assuming it'll be fine if it's driven NORMALLY, as in... not peeling out as soon as the light turns green, but then again, I don't know anything about cars.

Also, what about a set of snow/ice tires for the winter? Would that be a viable option?

[merkerguitars]

Well heres a snippet of a conversation I had with my grandpa once me: " geez grandpa would you still you Buick Roadmaster in the winter in wisconsin if you still lived here cause its RWD?" Him: "Hell yeah just have to remember there was a time that 98% of cars were RWD".

Yes good tires is a must, the time its really bad with RWD i've seen is these punk kids driving them with normal street tires and the slide around hitting the curb. Depends on how bad your winters are really I guess, plus if your a good winter driver makes a world of difference too. I guess it would drive me fucking crazy if I bought a mustang and had to park it right away....

[powerclown]

I had a '95 Camaro Z28, similar to the GT in that it is a rear-wheel drive car with a big V8. I had it for 2 Michigan winters. With the stock, low profile tires (and traction control), the car had a hard time gettting grip under any circumstance. It would just spin the tires under acceleration, and it would wash out or understeer through turns. It was tricky to drive and demanded a lot of attention. I find traction control to be useless in snow, usually more trouble then a help. ABS is much more helpful, although you still need to be careful.

After I thew on a set of winter tires, the situation changed completely and for the better. It was a night & day change, and made the car much, much easier and safer to drive. It would go through deep snow fine, and overall traction was HUGELY improved. I ended up putting them on cheap winter rims, and kept them stored away after winter. A set of winter tires helps out tremendously with these types of cars. Good luck.

[stingc]

I have a (pre traction control) mercedes that I drive in the winter. Even though it's RWD, it does fine with snow tires on the rear axle. The only major problem is getting out of my driveway without a limited slip differential. I think a mustang probably has that though, so it should be fine.

Besides, RWD is awesome for those empty, snow-filled parking lots late at night .

[Ilow]

i think with a really good set of winter tires (studded if you can get them) you'd get around on messy ploughed or sanded roads, but you're probably gonna be sitting home before the plough trucks go by. My guess is that any time you hit resistance (i.e. mound of snow from a plow etc.) you're forward progress will be slowed and it will be a pain to get going again. Merker: you grandpa was right, but most of the older cars had much less HP than a mustang GT so the wouldn't spin the wheels like crazy. My RWD Volvo is passable in the snow (I also put 2 25 lb bags or rock salt in the trunk), but it only has a little under 200 ft/lbs of torque so it's harder to break the tires away. I would also check to see the size of tires you can fit on a Mustang. They have wide, low profile tires, and good snows are usually taller and narrower, so you'll have to check the clearances. just my $.02 for now.

[catback]

The mustang is driveable in winter with or without snow/winter tires although much easier with winter tires. The main difference you'll see between your FWD tempo and a RWD mustang is that it's a whole new ballpark when it comes to winter driving. Your tempo had the drive wheels, steering, and weight of the engine all up front and the mustang has the steering and engine up front but the drive wheels in the, much lighter than front, rear. In my own experience this equates to 2 things: 1. the rear can loose traction more easily and once it does it'll remain that way as long as the tires are being spun by the engine. and 2. Should the front wheels lose traction, most if not all steering will halt and the rear wheels will drive you straight into what ever is in front of you. With all said it can be done, just requires caution and time to learn the new skill because one thing is definite with or without snow tires it's nothing like winter driving in your temp.

[stingc]

Originally Posted by Ilow

you grandpa was right, but most of the older cars had much less HP than a mustang GT so the wouldn't spin the wheels like crazy. My RWD Volvo is passable in the snow (I also put 2 25 lb bags or rock salt in the trunk), but it only has a little under 200 ft/lbs of torque so it's harder to break the tires away.

The throttle isn't a button. You just press it more lightly when the weather is bad. Think of this: you're sitting at a stoplight on a sunny day in your Enzo behind an old VW bus. The light turns green, and you're in a hurry, so you stay a few inches off his bumper. Does it really make any sense to say that it is impossible to accelerate that slowly?

Also, the amount of torque that your engine makes isn't very relevant to how easy it is to spin out. the torque at the wheels, which is all that matters, depends just as much on how the car is geared. Of course, almost anything can spin the tires in the snow, so it's maybe more important that the throttle linkage is set up such that it isn't very responsive at first.

[KirStang]

Winter tires, and/or weight in the trunk helps winter driving. Good luck

[lite campfire]

Getting a set of skinny steelies with matching winter tires is supposed to help snow performance a lot. It doesn't seem to make sense when compared to normal traction thought (wider=better), but take a look at rally cars driving in snow if you don't believe me. They all use tiny pizza cutter tires.
I guess putting the car's weight on a smaller contact patch makes you not float over the slush as much, or something.
Also, it saves your nice shiny summer wheels from having to deal with all that sand/salt on the roads.

[MSD]

Stock Mustangs suck at cornering anyway, and in the snow it's even worse. If you do buy one, get narrow snow tires and rims so the weight is concentrated on a smaller area and will cut through the snow instead of sliding acrosss it, and don't get an automatic. My cousin has an auto v6 Mustang and because of the gearing, there's still enough torque to spin the wheels on snow at idle speed.

[Stompy]

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, this one is an automatic, but... I think based on the replies in this thread and from everyone else I asked, it appears I should be fine with some good snow tires. I'm not gonna be taking turns at ultra speeds or anything anyway. For the most part, roads are plowed pretty good here - plus I don't really drive that far.

Another question I have, kind of off topic to the winter handling.. but since it's a convertible, would being out in the winter/snow hurt the top at all?

[KirStang]

In a word, no, your top will be fine.

[krwlz]

Well, I guess if I were you I would ask any of the five mustangdriver's I saw sitting sideways in the road today, looking like they didnt know how they got there, and had no idea what to do from there...

Just my opinion.

[Ilow]

re: the top-- I would just make sure to remove any accumulation of snow as soon as you can, it supposedly damages convert tops if left on too long. (Not that it's any business of mine, but you seem to be asking a lot of questions that lead me to question whether you should be considering this car as a daily driver in your climate at all.)

[phoenix1002]

I had some fun experiences with a mustang last winter...

My ex had an automatic mustang. She didn't have snow tires, but she also didn't have particularly wide tires, either. So while snow tires help in general, they only do so much...

Basically, the car couldn't handle for shit in the snow. I've heard this can be improved with snow tires and by putting bags of sand or cat litter or other heavy stuff in the trunk.

On one particularly fun occasion, we decided we'd try to go to the rock gym. It was snowing a bit when we decided we wanted to leave, and there were 2, maybe 3 inches of snow on the ground. In order to get out of the parking space, I had to scrape away all the snow from in front of and behind the wheels, then drive back and forth until i got enough momentum to move through the snow. I got out into the parking lot, went to drive forwards, and got stuck again. So I dug out from around the tires again. I started driving out of the parking lot, up a slight incline. I made it 3/4s of the way out the driveway, and the car started driving sideways whenever i gave it gas. I couldn't even inch it forwards. By backing up and driving forwards again, as well as shoveling out under the wheels, i managed to make it the few feet to the perimeter road at my school, which had been plowed, but had some snow and ice on it. I couldn't get anywhere on it. I also couldn't get enough control to turn around. So I had to go in reverse back down to the parking lot. Then, when I went to return to my parking spot, I had to shovel all of the snow from under the car to the parking spot in order to park again. It took me an hour to get about 200 feet away from the parking spot and back to it again.

My suggestion, if you're going to be living in a place where you get snow in the winter, but want a sporty car, look for something more along the lines of a WRX. They're sporty, and have all wheel drive. A friend of mine has one, and he loves it.

But if you're set on the mustang, then I'd definitely say you need snow tires and weight in the back of the car if you want it to be remotely useable in the winter. And I'd suggest throwing a snow shovel in the trunk, too, as you'll probably need it to move your car if you stop in the snow.