How Much Weight in the Trunk for Snow Driving?

[Mustang Convert]

How much weight should I put in the trunk for driving in snow and slush? This is my first year with a RWD. Also, what do you guys use for the weight? Sand bags, kitty litter, etc. that won't take up a ton of space? If it matters, I have Continental Extreme Contact DWS all season tires on my EcoBoost Mustang.

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[fionic]

You should've bought real winter tires.

Also, the car drives fine in snow without weight.

 

[Mustang Convert]

I didn't ask about which tires to put on it, but thanks.

I don't get this forum's hate of all season tires, but that's not the conversation I'm trying to have here. This comes up every time I make reference to the tires on my car.

 

[Stewdog]

If you have a weight set, put a couple of 45's in the trunk.

 

[mc lane]

well
there are 2 Topics relevant

1. pure traction for going uphill
indeed a rwd care has a disadvantage in direct relation to weight Distribution
the more it is front biased, the less traction you have and the earlier you get stuck

2. stability and staying on the road
the more the weight Distribution is front biased, the less the cars tendency to leave a straight line, the more the weight Distribution is rear biased, the higher the cars tendency to oversteer

as the People at Ford have probably done whatever they could to build a car which handles well as Long as you set the drivemodesetting to snow, why ruin their work by altering the weightdistribution?

best Thing is to get the best tires on the market, because These tires are the only 4 patches (each about the size of your Palm) where your car has contact to the roadsurface
and the Investment on 4 top-tires is still less Money than the lightest Crash will cost you. worst case: you loose control and Crash into an oncoming truck and loose your life.
you did not by any cheap far-east subcompact something, so do not go on any cheap something tires

 

[fionic]

I didn't ask about which tires to put on it, but thanks.

I don't get this forum's hate of all season tires, but that's not the conversation I'm trying to have here. This comes up every time I make reference to the tires on my car.

the thread is about snow driving and you have tires that aren't really good at anything. sorry

 

[Hack]

You should've bought real winter tires.

Also, the car drives fine in snow without weight.

Agreed that the car drives fine without weight, but I disagree with your strong criticism of the tires. No need to buy expensive tires unless you prefer them. I will say that the snow tires are well worth it to me. Much better grip and more fun to drive on in the winter.

No weight in mine. I like the Blizzaks I have on it. It's their second season on a Mustang (ran them on my 2011 GT last year). When I dug them out from storage I couldn't tell which ones had been on the rear and which were on the front! I was surprised, because while I do try to go easy on them those rears do slip every once in a while! ;)

When I previously had a V6, I was fine with all-seasons. I think the ECOboost should do ok with all-seasons as well (it's close to the same weight slightly heavier/lighter depending on the transmission choice). The 2015 also has more weight in the rear than previous generations, so that should help. It really depends on your tolerance for slowing down in poor conditions and how poor the conditions are that you drive in. I mostly like the snow tires for getting out of the parking lot at work onto the busy street. Then there typically are a couple really icy days where it's very nice to have the extra grip.

I avoid putting weight in the trunk of my Mustang because it will tend to move around and make a mess/scratch paint etc. I would highly recommend no metal weights! They will slide like crazy and could even damage the rear quarters! Sand would be acceptable, especially if it's in a soft container. I still wouldn't do it if it were me. Just practice and learn the new skills you need to drive in the snow.

Starting out go easy. Try to limit how much you spin the tires. Zero spinning is best, because the tire will heat up and nothing is more slippery than ice with a thin layer of water on it (produced by a warm tire). If it's below zero a little spinning is less of a problem, because it's unlikely to melt anything. However no matter what excessive spinning of the tires is a no-no. Go easy and make your steering/gas/brake inputs gentle and smooth. I hope this helps.

 

[Mustang Convert]

the thread is about snow driving and you have tires that aren't really good at anything. sorry

No, the thread is about how much weight, if any, to add to the trunk GIVEN my current set of tires. I am not asking about the best tires for snow driving.

Also, I'm assuming you have no basis for saying the ExtremeContact DWS tires are good at nothing other than just generally hating on all seasons. Nearly 4,000 tirerack reviewers ranked this the #1 tire in its category and gave it excellent or superior marks in every category, including snow and ice traction.http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHPAS

 

[mc lane]

ok
a pic tells a thousand words
a vid a Million

[ame]

btw: you did not put a ton of plastic Spoilers onto an old and rusty subcompact to pretend it is a 2015 Mustang

so do not put weight into the trunk to pretend you got good tires

 

[Mustang Convert]

as the People at Ford have probably done whatever they could to build a car which handles well as Long as you set the drivemodesetting to snow, why ruin their work by altering the weightdistribution?

Ford was under pressure to build a lighter Mustang, and adding weight to the rear solely for winter drivers would not have been an acceptable option from the factory, especially since many Mustangs will never see snow. Weight can be added and removed easily, so why make it a permanent part of the car when it won't benefit many drivers?

If having weight over the drive wheels is the main advantage of FWD in the snow, then how is adding weight to the rear not beneficial for RWD?

 

[Max57]

Excellent video above! :first:

Which brings me to a related question. Can the studless winter tires be used year-round, or would the winter tires wear more quickly then all-seasons if used on a 12 month basis?

I thought I did see someone post in another thread that they were using winter tires all the time and were very pleased with the car's performance.

 

[mc lane]

Excellent video above! :first:

Which brings me to a related question. Can the studless winter tires be used year-round, or would the winter tires wear more quickly then all-seasons if used on a 12 month basis?

I thought I did see someone post in another thread that they were using winter tires all the time and were very pleased with the car's performance.

you could use them, but extensive wear would not be the main Problem
due to the fact, that the rubber mixture is made for low temperatures, the will not only wear in warm weather, they simply will not perform well (ok you might say now: i do not use my Mustang like a race car and i do not drive around Corners with the door handles Scratching the tarmac, but):
the stopping distance in case of an emergency stop will be much worse than on summer tires. (like: you do not use an F150 for a track day, and you do not use a Mustang for towing a 3 ton Motor boat)

 

[Max57]

you could use them, but extensive wear would not be the main Problem
due to the fact, that the rubber mixture is made for low temperatures, the will not only wear in warm weather, they simply will not perform well (ok you might say now: i do not use my Mustang like a race car and i do not drive around Corners with the door handles Scratching the tarmac, but):
the stopping distance in case of an emergency stop will be much worse than on summer tires. (like: you do not use an F150 for a track day, and you do not use a Mustang for towing a 3 ton Motor boat)

Point well taken. Thanks.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

How much weight should I put in the trunk for driving in snow and slush? This is my first year with a RWD. Also, what do you guys use for the weight? Sand bags, kitty litter, etc. that won't take up a ton of space? If it matters, I have Continental Extreme Contact DWS all season tires on my EcoBoost Mustang.

I tried putting 200 lbs of sand in the trunk of my old Mustang. Did absolutely nothing to improve traction. All-seasons are fine if you live in a place where winter temps rarely dip below freezing and you get maybe a dusting of snow once or twice a winter.

 

[mc lane]

sorry
i could not find a vid in english language
but i am sure you will understand the vid even with the Sound of you Computer turned off
[ame]

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