Winter driving

[Canadian Pony]

Hey everyone!

First of all, I'd like to introduce myself as this is my first post. I currently do not own a Mustang, but a friend of mine does, and he is responsible for igniting my newfound obsession with this vehicle.

Before I can proceed with this new interest, I must first determine whether or not it's possible for me to use this car as an all-year-round method of transportation. I live in Montreal and the winters can get quite harsh (very cold and lots of snow). Can you guys help me??? And please, be honest!!

Thank you!

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[moubayed]

I had a 2005 Mustang GT a couple of years back, and back then i used it during the winter season. It was quite managable, provided you have good winter tires. If you like a little bit of a loose end, you can even enjoy it a lot during the winter, just be very carefull until you get to know your car first. Everytime i get a new car i wait for heavy snow, and then i take it for a spin on a decently spaced area, to experience the limits of me and the car.
There are most certainly better cars for the winter, but the mustang is a decent vehicle so as long as you treat a RWD car with that much power with the necessary respect.

 

[Ehdrian]

I live in Edmonton and use my GT as my daily driver. Need I say more?

 

[tcman54]

I haven't driven the mustang in winter, being down here in Florida, but knowing how I can break traction sometimes just on rain slicked roads I would be very weary of driving a mustang on snowy icy roads, of course a good and expensive set of snow tires would help but still not sure.

That being said I have the pedal max throttle accelerator installed, drive a lot in sport mode and usually drive like a bat out of hell, those are probably all no no's for driving these stangs in the winter, lol.

TC

 

[Dr. Norts]

I haven't driven the mustang in winter, being down here in Florida, but knowing how I can break traction sometimes just on rain slicked roads I would be very weary of driving a mustang on snowy icy roads, of course a good and expensive set of snow tires would help but still not sure.

That being said I have the pedal max throttle accelerator installed, drive a lot in sport mode and usually drive like a bat out of hell, those are probably all no no's for driving these stangs in the winter, lol.

TC

Florida? Your opinion is invalid. lol j/k Your so lucky living down there and not having the change over tires / wash your car as much. My rents have a retirement home down there and I love FLA!!

I used to drive my 2002 Mustang GT all winter. A good set of snows and knowing the limits of your car you will be fine. The only problem was if the snow was fairly deep the car was hard to get moving but once moving it wasn't an issue. My 2002 didn't have rain/snow mode so i'm sure that helps a bit as well.

 

[Hack]

I have driven GTs through the winter and they work fine. In fact, I have really enjoyed driving a Mustang GT year round. I would recommend a good set of snow tires. Otherwise it can be irritating going from being one of the quicker cars on the road to one of the slowest.

 

[VinnAY]

I had mine last year and I used a dedicated wheel/tire set the Michelin Xi3 and I got along just fine, not one problem, most I had to deal with was 3" though. Start in 2d gear and keep all the traction control's "on" but ya I had not one problem getting around.

 

[marjen]

Daily drive mine including winters here in New England. As long as you can have a light foot when needed and get some solid snow tires it is manageable. The wet mode in the premium model is a great help in the winter months is it really reigns in the vehicle to help keep from spinning out.

 

[wireeater]

RWD has existed for a very long time and have been people's everyday cars for all seasons. Mustang's aren't really any different you just have to respect the car and remember you just have more power available at the rear than a lot of those cars did/do. You don't have as much weight on the rear where your power is coming from unlike a FWD car which has the engine to help weight it down against the power. So using light throttle when accelerating is all you need to pay attention to. Doing anything to get the tires moving faster than the car and you're going to have some fun.

If I actually planned driving mine in the snow I would go on eBay and find a used set of winter tires with at least 60-80% life on them and either mount them to your current set or purchase a used seft of wheels as well. That way you can switch between summer performance/winter performance tires. It saves a lot of hassle and money for mounting/balancing/etc.

 

[Blue Horse]

I live in S/W Florida,and have not had any real problems in the winter months with driving my Mustang GT,and it has the old covered wagon suspension system on it.I run summer tires on it 12 months out of the year,which doesn't seem to be a problem,but since you have that NEW S550 suspension,you should be able to carve those roads just like the snowplows, without a hint of a worry of getting stuck or spinning out.PS. Just make sure your Mustang is clean & waxed up for your winter car shows. LOL.

 

[tcman54]

Florida? Your opinion is invalid. lol j/k Your so lucky living down there and not having the change over tires / wash your car as much. My rents have a retirement home down there and I love FLA!!

I used to drive my 2002 Mustang GT all winter. A good set of snows and knowing the limits of your car you will be fine. The only problem was if the snow was fairly deep the car was hard to get moving but once moving it wasn't an issue. My 2002 didn't have rain/snow mode so i'm sure that helps a bit as well.

Funny about washing the car, being retired and not really having to be anywhere at a given time and having a 2 1/2 car garage all to my self my new Mustang barely has ever seen rain in the 9 months I have had the car, haven't really washed it once and it's still the cleanest car on the road around my town.

TC

 

[vernonator]

I will add to all the others - I drove GT's for YEARS as my DD in Midwest snows. Get a set of DEDICATED snow tires (Blizzaks are my model of choice) and you will be good to go.

This winter I am in luck, got a new job that is 100% Work From Home so the Stang will be in the garage if there is even a HINT of snow in the air or on the roads. Have decided to leave the PZeros on (as they are not in need of replacement yet) and only drive it on those sunny warm days we get in-between snows here. Otherwise I will just take the wife's Explorer - she WFH as well.

 

[blk_5.0]

Another daily driven 5.0 here. Previous to my 15 i also had a 14 GT that was driven year round. I have had no issues through Michigan winters -as others above stated just get yourself a set of snow tires/wheels and you should be all set. My only concern would be clearance - where I live the roads get plowed pretty quick and if they haven't been I am not going anywhere. If you are in an area where you're consistently driving in heavy snow you might have issues with getting stuck just because of how low the car is.

 

[statix]

I had a 1998 Mustang that drove very well in the snow (NY, MI, NJ, MD, VA, NC). That car had a lot of milage on it. :-) Now I have a 2015 Mustang GT and I'm sure it will do great in the winter. All Daily driving. Make sure you get some good tires.

 

[blk_5.0]

I will add to all the others - I drove GT's for YEARS as my DD in Midwest snows. Get a set of DEDICATED snow tires (Blizzaks are my model of choice) and you will be good to go.

This winter I am in luck, got a new job that is 100% Work From Home so the Stang will be in the garage if there is even a HINT of snow in the air or on the roads. Have decided to leave the PZeros on (as they are not in need of replacement yet) and only drive it on those sunny warm days we get in-between snows here. Otherwise I will just take the wife's Explorer - she WFH as well.

Be careful with those stock PP tires. All it took was driving home one October day in sub 40 degree weather and rain for me to stop being lazy and go out and get my winter setup.

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