Wow. Pzero + snow. Insanely bad.

[Mikeyd56]

I never even bothered with the p zeros. Being from Chicago I new I'd need snow tires. we have gotten a decent amount of snow but the issue has been the -5 degree highs.... my blizzacks have been great

Sponsored

 

[badass03ragtop]

So I've been out of town all week and get back to the airport at 11:00 pm to find about 10 inches of snow on my car. That's funny there wasn't any snow when I got there. Imagine that. The airport parking lot had been plowed and thankfully they didn't get within 3 feet of my car. I know this because that's how far the snow was still intact behind my bumper. So I'm thinking I got this. Just back out of the space once I got the windows cleared off enough to drive.

I should mention it was 4 degrees F (that's minus 16 C for you metric guys) at the time I got to the car. Apparently it had thawed a little after it snowed and then refroze as the area where my wipers are at is a solid block of ice from the end of the hood to the windshield. They're encased in there somewhere. No telling when they'll be available for use. :shrug:

Back to the original topic. I eased the car into reverse and gingerly let out the clutch. Movement. Awesome this'll be easy. I made it part of the way and then there was this large chunk of ice, that had obviously fallen off my car sometime during the week, under the snow that halted rearward progress. So I pulled forward and gave it a little oomph going back again. Hit the ice. Dead stop. Bummer.

So I get out of the car and start trying to kick the chunk of ice loose from the ground. Yeah that didn't go as planned. I didn't break a toe but it sure felt like it for a minute. :frusty: So at this point I realized using my heel would be a better (smarter) idea. It sort of worked.

Back in the car I am confident I'll be on my way home momentarily. No this time I got a little further but then it just started spinning. Bear in mind this is on completely flat ground. So I put it in snow mode and try again. No difference. In fact once it starts spinning and the traction control kicks in all progress stops. Hmm. So I put it in track mode and turn off the traction control. Now were getting somewhere. Until we aren't and were just spinning again.:headbonk: I decided to just leave it in gear and let the clutch out, no throttle, in reverse. It just idled and spun. No drama, no movement. Amusing as this was I eventually got bored with it. I decided to take stock in my progress and exited the car again to check. I'd made it roughly 29 inches (about 73 cm in the metric system) from my starting point.

At this point I pull as far forward as I can and try to use momentum to carry me across it. No not happening. Spinning again. Only this time I got far enough that now I can't go forward at all. I should mention I used my foot to clear as much of the snow out of the way as I could prior to attempting this foolish game. No, my car was stranded by a patch of snow and ice an inch thick and 7 feet long. I tend to find these things hilarious because I'm probably not right in the head, and so I was laughing at myself when the parking lot toll guy came over to see what all the commotion was about. Or more likely, to laugh with (at) me.

I suggested that he could push on the front of the car because, honestly, I think the car could have been pushed with the e-brake on there was so little traction. So he did that, I poured the coal to it and about 20 seconds later I was on dry pavement for the first time today. :cheers:

The whole event took about 40 minutes but that included the time spent warming the car, and me, up to clear the windows.

I have heard the horror stories about these tires and cold weather. But I grew up in the snow, learned to drive in it, and have always driven my summer tired cars in it. Slowly for sure, but safely nonetheless. These opened my eyes to a whole new level of snow incompetence. I honestly, despite all the complaints I've heard, never would have dreamed they could be this bad.

So there you have another testament to the Pzero. (zero is for the actual level of traction in winter conditions)

BTW, I still love my car.

Like you, I grew up driving in that stuff, in the Poconos in northeast PA. I was laughing my a$$ off while reading your account of what happened because I can relate to every bit of it!!

 

[Phlyguy]

Like you, I grew up driving in that stuff, in the Poconos in northeast PA. I was laughing my a$$ off while reading your account of what happened because I can relate to every bit of it!!

. Already had my GT try to swap ends on me on a DRY western Pennsylvania road while negotiating a 90 degree turn at low speed but a slight blip of the throttle! Lesson learned (but boy was it cool except for the poor Lady behind me who blew out her Depends watching my posterior wiggling to and fro)! :lol:

 

[Phlyguy]

I'm a little north of you guys in Grottoes (small town close to Harrisonburg) but would love to meet up when it gets warmer....

And I had a similar experience this week with the summer tires...Just wanted to move the car in the driveway and have been unable to, due to ice/snow that's lingering underneath 3 of the tires...Won't go more than a few inches...And very bizarre, since everything's melted under tires of other vehicles in driveway but for some reason it's stayed under Mustang tires...

. Used to fly for Aircare 5 out at the airport...great roads there for a spin in the Mustang...route 33 into WV would be great as would a trip across the ridge from Front Royal to Natural Bridge

 

[Juben]

Dirtleg and Koncealed I live in-between you guys, am in Roanoke. And yeah, winter tires are what you need for winter although with this hard ice on the secondary roads nothing helps really unless chains.

Ah you live in Lynchburg, I'm in Blacksburg. You get hit with these crazy ass snow/cold from this week too huh? More to come Saturday.

I'm only 1.5 hours from Blacksburg. We have car meets in Wytheville quite a bit when the weather is warm. You guys should come hang out. There's usually 40-60 cars and lots of them are Mustangs.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Dirtleg]

I'm only 1.5 hours from Blacksburg. We have car meets in Wytheville quite a bit when the weather is warm. You guys should come hang out. There's usually 40-60 cars and lots of them are Mustangs.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Wytheville isn't at all far from VA16. Sounds like a good idea.

 

[Koncealed]

I'm down to do a meet up. Just something somewhat close, a couple of hours away at most for me.

 

[tsunami]

I am presently sitting here in front of a warm fire smiling...finally vindicated in my comments made in this Forum last fall. Warning new 'cold-weather' buyers that they would need Snow Tires or at least A/S, if their new Stang came with Summer tires. I was repeatedly berated on how I was absolutely a know-nothing (or liar) and that 'they drove their summer tires all the time during the winter without ever having any problems'.
Reminds me of a Cuban-American living in Key West who accused me of lying when I told him that we fish through the ice and some people even have small houses with bedrooms that they haul onto the lakes.

 

[Juben]

Anyone that's really driven in inclement conditions should know that summer tires aren't going to cut it. I run Blizzacks on my other cars, but the Mustang will only be on summer tires because she isn't moving right now till it's warm outside again.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Phlyguy]

I am presently sitting here in front of a warm fire smiling...finally vindicated in my comments made in this Forum last fall. Warning new 'cold-weather' buyers that they would need Snow Tires or at least A/S, if their new Stang came with Summer tires. I was repeatedly berated on how I was absolutely a know-nothing (or liar) and that 'they drove their summer tires all the time during the winter without ever having any problems'.
Reminds me of a Cuban-American living in Key West who accused me of lying when I told him that we fish through the ice and some people even have small houses with bedrooms that they haul onto the lakes.

Think a lot of us read and heard about the P-Zero's attributes (or lack thereof) through the forum and through trial and error but in my case (I grew up in Rhode Island and currently reside near Pittsburgh so yes, I drive in snow) I had until now never driven on them in cold temperatures (my last 2009 Mustang was shorn with Michelin Pilot Super Sports). Despite reading all I could about them, and until I drove them on a dry road after what I thought was a careful and thorough warming up period, proceeded to scare the bejeezus out of a little ol' Lady in her Buick Regal as my ass end swapped corners due to a seemingly slight blip of the throttle at the apex of a turn. Vindication? Perhaps for some but I would think affirmation is more in line for the majority.

 

[Juben]

I come up to Cannonsburg every so often for work. We have about the same weather most of the time lol. On the P-Zeros note, they suck in anything less than 40°-50°.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[FusionGT]

Had a couple of oh sh*t moments coming back from work today. Getting the car into my garage from the driveway was pretty comical. pzeros do not belong in this weather. Hurry up Spring!

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Hint for keeping your wiper blades from freezing to the windshield -- before you leave your car if you know it might snow, take two long, thin plastic bags - I use newspaper delivery bags or bread bags - and put those over the wiper blades.

 

[Dirtleg]

Hint for keeping your wiper blades from freezing to the windshield -- before you leave your car if you know it might snow, take two long, thin plastic bags - I use newspaper delivery bags or bread bags - and put those over the wiper blades.

Thank you for the good idea. Unfortunately this was a different situation. The entire trough between the hood and windshield was a solid block of ice. The entire wiper arms and wipers were encased in it. The defroster doesn't get down there. I did finally manage to get the wipers free today. Some of the chunks of ice that came out must of weighed a couple pounds at least. Now they are in the up position as it snowed again today.

And I feel I must clarify my original post was in good humor. Some of you get that, seemingly more do not. I was not deluded into believing I'd have no problems on these tires. Just surprised they were even worse than expected. And you have to admit the whole situation was comical. After driving around in the snow a little today it's obvious it was primarily an ice issue anyhow. Certainly they don't have much grip in the snow but getting around in 3-4 inches was uneventful.

Sponsored