Lesson learned on Winter Driving

[xmadror]

You've just got to do what you've got to do!

This is with Blizzak snow tires in my driveway. When it gets a little worse than this I typically park it and drive my AWD

Must have been worse then the pic is showing because it doesnt look that bad from this angle.

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[Hack]

Tires must be worn out. You should be able to drive right through that amount of snow with Blizzaks.

I could see you getting stuck if you had some crappy all season tires, though.

 

[Stonehauler]

I live in Minneapolis.

-SNIP-

So here we are in early December.

-SNIP-


What did I learn? Obviously that was a BAD idea in the first place and my gut was telling me that before I pulled it out of the garage. Secondly I had a meeting today with a client who is in the tire business. I told him what I encountered. He said that I was very lucky. He had another customer with a Porsche who did the same thing for the same reasons except when he entered a corner on a very dry street but at 20+ degrees his Porsche slide sideways and hit the curb breaking both rims on that side and doing some pretty serious damage to his suspension, bending parts, etc. He said I was lucky that my only issue was getting into my garage. He said that those summer tires are more than worthless on a cold day, they are in fact dangerous. And that when it comes time to change those tires to swap them out with all season performance tires. Get comparable performance but you can drive the car if you need to on a cold day.

So if you are tempted to drive your Mustang with summer tires on a cold day even if the streets are clear, don't. Lesson learned and yes the manual does say NOT to drive it if the temp is 40 or less.

I lived in Northern Illinois for 30 years, went to school in the midwest. My favorite activity on the first day it snowed was to go watch all the out of towners crash at the local (bad) intersection because they didn't know how to drive in snow..

You live in Minneapolis, you should already know that summer tires and cold temps are a HORRIBLE combination. If you want to play in the snow, get yourself some dedicated snow tires. All seasons are ok, but nothing beats snows for good traction.

Second....go down to your local NAPA and get a 3-4 50 lb bags of oil dry. Cheap kitty litter will also work. Use that for traction on ice when you just have to move things around "a little bit" Stash it and a couple of it's buddies in your trunk and you will also get a nice traction boost by putting weight over the rear wheels. If all else fails, rock salt and drive SLOW as to not kick up any salt onto your chassis.

I've seen people do worse things though. On guy brought his car to the place I worked at. At IDLE, the rear tire would just spin in first gear (no posi). He had bald summer tires on the thing.

As for the oil change...just get it done in spring next time.

EDIT - Were you trying to start off in 2nd or 3rd gear? That can sometimes help you get started on ice....

 

[NorthernMuscle]

Tires must be worn out. You should be able to drive right through that amount of snow with Blizzaks.

I could see you getting stuck if you had some crappy all season tires, though.

Ok, since everyone is so sceptical... lol
The tires were a year old, the incline is steeper than it looks, the snow was very slushy and slippery, AND this happened while showing off to my kids. I let the left rear slide off the driveway, where it drops off to a 10ft ditch that just looks flat in the pic, and from there, there's no return.

That said, this is my 3rd mustang that I've put snows on, and I think due to the extensive, and somewhat aggressive (BMR) handling mods I've done, it handles like absolute shit in the snow... I have driven RWD cars in Ontario winters for a few decades now, and am quite accustomed to getting out of my 700ft country driveway... but sometimes it's just too much. For those days I have 2 SUV's, one with height adjustable air ride suspension.... plus a tractor to pull the mustang out of the ditch

 

[brucelinc]

It is a beautiful sunny day in Minneapolis and the roads are dry. Temps are in the 20s and the coyote really howls as it sucks in that cold air. I have other vehicles for when the roads are slick but there is no way I could go without my Mustang "fix" all winter.

 

[NorthernMuscle]

I have other vehicles for when the roads are slick but there is no way I could go without my Mustang "fix" all winter.

Similar here... I don't have the "put it away for half a year" kind of personality, so I drive it and have fun with it whenever I can. Life's short.

 

[regular6g]

You've just got to do what you've got to do!

This is with Blizzak snow tires in my driveway. When it gets a little worse than this I typically park it and drive my AWD

Kubota to the rescue!

 

[Coloradoeco]

I love my sottozero 3s, driven through some nasty stuff in Chicago, Wyoming and Colorado and never had real issues but did not have to deal with any crazy hills or anthing. You definitely have to put more thought into your routes and how you are driving. I forgot from where but read a hilarious note on the web saying pretend your grandma is in the back seat holding a pitcher of gravy and drive like that... has kept me out of trouble so far.

I have only experienced a few winter tires, but have to say, those blizzaks are unreal.

 

[Hack]

Ok, since everyone is so sceptical... lol
The tires were a year old, the incline is steeper than it looks, the snow was very slushy and slippery, AND this happened while showing off to my kids. I let the left rear slide off the driveway, where it drops off to a 10ft ditch that just looks flat in the pic, and from there, there's no return.

That said, this is my 3rd mustang that I've put snows on, and I think due to the extensive, and somewhat aggressive (BMR) handling mods I've done, it handles like absolute shit in the snow... I have driven RWD cars in Ontario winters for a few decades now, and am quite accustomed to getting out of my 700ft country driveway... but sometimes it's just too much. For those days I have 2 SUV's, one with height adjustable air ride suspension.... plus a tractor to pull the mustang out of the ditch

I agree that a hill will make a big difference. I couldn't tell there was a hill from the photo at all.

Definitely with certain tires and certain weather conditions if you start spinning and get the tires the least bit warm on an icy surface you will be all done.

I actually have a similar setup to you with a long gravel driveway. Depending on the weather it can be slick enough that it doesn't matter how good your tires are - you will have some issues. I'm fortunate that most of my driveway is quite flat.

 

[Lightning Struck]

I personally would have jacked the car up and changed the oil myself..

 

[NoVaGT]

29 degrees and clear this morning. Not the slightest bit of problem.

 

[Norm Peterson]

FYI, the Pirelli OEM tires are truly crap. Look at the MP4Ss, or Firestone's Indy 500s. I've got the 500s now, and they work pretty darn good when it gets colder. And there's no popping/banging when the tires first roll on a cold morning.

This is where the PSS would be a better choice than the PS4S - the PS4S comes with a specific warning concerning temperatures below 20°F needing 24 hours at 40°F or higher before doing just about anything with them (the risk is unwarrantable tread cracking). The PSS has no such warning, but I'm sure it would have picked up one if it was discovered to be applicable.


Norm

 

[Norm Peterson]

Did you all know that driving your summer tires in the cold at all can crack the rubber / ruin the integrity of your tires, without you even knowing (until they blow apart)?

Summer tire rubber is not made to the same strengths as A/S rubber. It can fail at much higher cold temps than you would expect!

I really doubt that it's a matter of strength per se. It's mostly about something called 'ductility transition'; where a material transitions from being flexible toward being brittle.


Norm

 

[NoVaGT]

If you drive enough, a lot of the concerns like cracking aren't an issue. The tires will wear out and be replaced long before that happens.

Soooo.......just drive more.

 

[WildHorse]

Well my NT05r's didn't work out so well in ice and snow, so I went with Toyo G3-ICE. it's like its on rails lol.

There stacked on the floor mid left side of pic. 245/45r19 & 275/40r19

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