Winter driving

[Fordever]

I think most of my fellow Canadian owners store our cars not because of a fear of driving in the snow but the fact the salt and other crap they put on the roads rot out the underside. As long as you got snow tires most driving should be okay. The only thing I find with driving in the winter is if there is a storm the main roads are constantly cleared but in my subdivision the snow is deep or there is a pile of ice and snow blocking the driveway you have to cut through. Low cars get stuck--every year I'm helping cars get going that get stuck in deep snow in front of my house.

That's why I drive a levelled F150 4x4 in the winter and my car is parked.

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[sk8erord]

I drove my tuned ecoboost last winter on winter tires and never had an issue. This winter on all seasons in the GT... we'll see. Might be some work from home days in the forecast.

 

[Blue Horse]

Grizzlar tire chains--235-50-18 tire size.
$ 95.00.
Now with this set up it is a lot CHEAPER than snow tires + you don"t need another set of wheels + you save on storage space. How in the hell can you beat a deal like this.

 

[awmustang]

I plan to drive my GT year round, however I just bought it this summer and haven't had it out in the snow yet. The only thing I'm worried about is I have 20in wheels which were only available with summer tires. I tried the rain/snow mode on a cold rainy day the other week and it seemed to work great. Years ago I had a 94' v6 Mustang with no traction control or posi, and I was running nearly smooth p-zero's on top of that, needless to say it was really bad in the snow. I would get stuck and when I did move I would fishtail everywhere. These new Mustangs seem to have much better traction in bad weather. I just need to get use to handling the power in bad weather. I'll let you know what I think of the new s550's in the snow in a few weeks. I forgot to add, the past decade I had a 05' Jeep Grand Cherokee with Quadratrac 2 that would drive through everything, I never had to shovel, I was spoiled in the winter but had to come back to a Mustang...GT this time.

You could probably get away with buying some take off 18 inch OEM wheels and their All Season tires. If you really want to get through the winter without having to pretend there's an egg on the gas pedal, then swap the rubber for winters or just go to tire rack and get a dedicated winter setup. They will come mounted and balanced and ready to swap on. That's my preference. I bought this car to enjoy driving it so I don't want to have to drive like a grandma for 6 months out of the year. Dedicated winter performance tires give me the grip to still enjoy driving the car year round.
There's basically 2 categories of winter tires, winter performance and studless Ice and snow. The studless ice and snow will be better in the sloppy stuff, but will be worse when its just dry and cold. So I go for the winter performance so I get pretty decent handling in the dry and cold which is 90% of what I face, but they still give me enough to get through when the dreaded white stuff falls from the sky. TireRack.com has lots of great info. But any winter tire will be better in the cold and snow than any all season tire which will be WAY better than any summer performance tire.

 

[dgc333]

There's basically 2 categories of winter tires, winter performance and studless Ice and snow.

There is actually three categories. Studable Ice and Snow. Whether you install studs or not they will give you the best traction in snow and slop.

Regardless of which category you chose they will be orders of magnitude better than an All Season on cold dry, cold wet, icy and snow covered roads.

 

[Omega]

What do you guys do about tpms?. Don't use them, or get new for the winter set?

 

[Hack]

What do you guys do about tpms?. Don't use them, or get new for the winter set?

I got a second set. They don't cost that much.

 

[VinnAY]

What do you guys do about tpms?. Don't use them, or get new for the winter set?

I left them out of my winter setup, I find I need to drive quite a bit before the light illuminates on the dash but that's all it is, a light. I did not find that anything was affected negatively like any of the traction control or ABS. It's just an annoying light.

 

[VinnAY]

I really don't understand why no one is making a 19" steel wheel for winter setups. I'd have chosen a cheap steely for sure.

 

[Kinjirra]

I got a second set. They don't cost that much.

Now that takes guts....your most likely the ONLY person who would drive a GT 350 in snow.. Kudos you to sir

 

[BmacIL]

Now that takes guts....your most likely the ONLY person who would drive a GT 350 in snow.. Kudos you to sir

The car is meant to be driven. Garage queens = waste.

 

[blk_5.0]

Do you winter warriors change the size of tire? IE, go 18" and more narrow vs 19" etc?

I stayed with 19s because of my PP brakes but went with skinnier tires

What do you guys do about tpms?. Don't use them, or get new for the winter set?

I bought an extra set of CJ Pony pretty cheap. It may have even been a black friday deal, I can't remember. Either way it was cheaper in the wlong run to buy an extra set than to keep having them swapped out

I got a second set. They don't cost that much

Agreed....and you sir are my hero....I would daily a 350 if possible too lol.....almost leased a cheap ram for this winter then came to my senses and decided id rather save the money and get my one nice car to daily next year (something like a gt350) rather than have two nice normal cars

The car is meant to be driven. Garage queens = waste.

^preach

 

[metalhead79]

Tirerack sells Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D and Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II, Winter Sottozero 3 and Blizzak LM-32 in 20" size. Anyone know if the Pirelli's are good? They're quite a bit cheaper than the Dunlop and Blizzak tires.

 

[Hack]

Now that takes guts....your most likely the ONLY person who would drive a GT 350 in snow.. Kudos you to sir

Thanks. To be fair, I do have a second vehicle that I drive more often on snowy/sloppy days. I hate to coat the entire car in salt.

The car is meant to be driven. Garage queens = waste.

I agree.

I stayed with 19s because of my PP brakes but went with skinnier tires

I did the same thing with narrower wheels and tires on the GT350. Wide snow tires aren't going to do much for you except lighten the wallet.

Agreed....and you sir are my hero....I would daily a 350 if possible too lol.....almost leased a cheap ram for this winter then came to my senses and decided id rather save the money and get my one nice car to daily next year (something like a gt350) rather than have two nice normal cars

Thanks! I drive it as much as I can, but I do avoid the worst days. The car actually works really well in inclement weather, but there are a lot of people out there who don't bother buying good tires. I'm mostly concerned that someone will bash into me, but when it's 20 below zero or really messy I do feel like I am just abusing the poor car.

 

[metalhead79]

Ordered Pirelli Sottozero 3 for my Mustang. 255/35R20. Hopefully they won't be to wide for the snow we do get.
Picked up some Continental WinterContact SI's for my wife's Sonata while I was at it.

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