I've been lurking for a few weeks and have been really impressed with the knowledge and atmosphere of the forums. I did brief search before posting, but if these topics have been beaten to death please don't flame me too bad.

If I buy an 05, it'll most likely see a good amount of snow. For those of you that have driven the current Mustang GT in the snow, how do they perform? Does the existing traction control system make a big difference in the snow and on wet roads?

Also, I believe V10 briefly mentioned seeing an "Advance Track" stability control setting on the 05 Stang GT. Has this been a confirmed feature? I glanced at the order guide and didn't see it specifically mentioned, but I might have missed it.

Finally, I'm not really sure about the difference between stability and traction control. Are they two terms that describe the same system, or are they radically different?

Thanks for putting up with all the questions. And if this has already been covered to death, please just point me in the right direction :worship:

Mark

 

Your best bet is to purchase another vehicle to drive during the winter. Driving a high-performance RWD vehicle in the snow is asking for trouble.

If you have to drive it in the snow, at least get some snow tires, because if you don't, you will get stranded...

 

Don't pay too much attention to the above poster, he probably hasn't done much snow driving in a recent stang. Even the mid 80s and onward Fox Bodies, while not great, are drivable in the snow without any changes in weight or tires or anything.

Advance Track is a confirmed feature.

The included tires are all season, and will be fine for snow.
The 99-04s are not too too bad in the snow, and the 05 will be even better. Much better balance to avoid slipping. Throw a bag of concrete in the trunk and you'll be fine.

From the way I understand it, traction control is the grip of your tires to the surface below. Stability control is keeping the car stable as it rides, not the tires but the ride itself.

 

If you take a look at the pictures from the Foxboro thread, you can see the mass of the powerplant is set further back in the engine compartment, moving more weight back into the car and thus creating better distribution of the weight. This makes the car more stable, giving enough push to all the tires to grip in the snow.

 

Traction control only optimizes available traction by reducing torque and/or applying brakes to a spinning wheel. If your car doesn't have much winter grip, traction control will simply make it marginally easier to access the grip you have. It won't increase traction at all - that's determined by the slickness of the pavement, the design of the tires and the weight over the contact patch.

Stability control measures your inputs in terms of cornering and braking and compares them to where the car is actually going. If the two are terribly out of sync, stability control can brake one or more wheels to help move the car back on the desired course.

Neither raise the ulimate traction limits, but both make it easier to stay out of trouble. If you feel confident driving in the snow, I'd say invest in a good set of four winter tires (with a narrower width and higher profile). This will add substantially to your Mustang's snow traction. That, combined with a good traction and stability control will likely make the car quite capable in normal snow conditions.

 

I overheard the engineer that brought the 05 to Denver say that the traction control is awesome on this car. He said that this was the first one he could really drive in the winter, because it's so much improved.

 

Thanks a lot guys. That clears a lot up.

I don't really have the space, or want to spend the money, to keep a garage full of cars for each driving season. It sounds like with traction control, snow tires, and a little common sense the new mustang should be ok in the snow.

Mark

 

Wouldn't doubt its way better...

Better tires (width/tread for all year driving), better weight distro., better traction control system,

 

I just hope they got around the chopping your engine down to 4 cyclinders when it kicks in

 

Not sure about a lot of people on this board but when I started driving, front wheel drive wasn't in very many cars. I learned on an old 75 Maverick. Rear wheel drive in the winter isn't horrible if you "know how to drive" in the stuff. Front wheel and 4 wheel drives give people a false sense of security...you can't drive like a bat out of heck in those and expect to corner/stop on a dime. Winters don't seem to be nearly as bad as they were 20-30 years ago. In short if the new 05 will be your only daily driver you'll be fine. Just use common sense and a little driving skill.

 

I grew up in Nebraska, and now live in KS, and spent plenty years driving my Cobra in the snow.

With a High horsepower vehicle, and Z rated tires, it's a no-go in the snow. However, if you get a good set of snow tires, and drive with common sense, it's doable, but not the best situation.

For me, anything over 1 inch of snow, the Cobra stays in the garage.

Over the years, during "snow-days", I see 100's of RWD cars in the ditch or parked on the side of the road, and only a handful FWD or 4WD cars suffer the same fate. Some of it is inexperience, but the majority of it is the shortcomings of a RWD car in the snow.

Don't let me change your mind on the purchase, but prepare yourself properly and you won't end up stuck and stranded.

 

Yeah, in other words...

Don't drive like a tool!

That and the snowtires + bag of sand helps big time

After that...the only thing you gotta watch for is 'the other guy'

 

Advance Track is Ford's stability control system. To date, it has ONLY been availble on Lincoln models and I belive some Ford and Mercury SUV's.

I have not seen any mention of Advance Track being available on the 2005 Mustang. It is NOT mentioned in the latest 05 Stang ordering guide. When I saw the 05 and went through all the message center displays I was shocked to see the message "Advance Track OK"

So at this point I have to assume that the 05 Stang has provisions built in to add Advance Track at some point in the future, but it will NOT be available at introduction.

Advance Track is not the same thing as traction control (nor is it "ride control). Advance Track (stability control) is intended to keep you from spinning your car (oversteer) or running off the road in an understeer condition. Traction control cuts engine power to stop a wheel from spinning. On 2 wheel drive cars (like the Mustang) it only has sensors on those 2 wheels. It works by sensing a significant difference in tire rotation speed between the 2 tires. Some systems work by sensing a difference in the drive tire rotation speed and how fast the car is going.

Advance Track has tire rotation sensors on ALL 4 wheels and includes sensors to determine where the streering wheel is turned and which direction the vehicle is going. If there is a difference between the 2, A/T can indpendently apply braking force to any of the 4 wheels and control engine power to get you pointed back in the correct direction. A/T also incorporates the regular traction control described above.

A/T really works. I have a Lincoln LS with A/T and with the A/T. I have tried to spin it out. So far I haven't been able to do it. Instead of the rear end coming around the car sort of "crabs" sideways and ends up still going forward. Ford's A/T has received good reviews from the automotive press. In general it's perceived as a stibility control system that does it's job without being intrusive (unlike stability control systems from some competitors which are very intrusive).

 

Usually around here the first dummies in the ditch are the people driving 4WD suv's who think they can still drive as fast as they want.

 

Usually around here the first dummies in the ditch are the people driving 4WD suv's who think they can still drive as fast as they want.[/b][/quote]
Yeah, at least half the vehicles I see in the ditch in Minnesota and Wisconsin and 4x4 trucks and SUVs. They get started great, but they are really bad turning/stopping when the road gets slippery. That 5500 lbs wants to keep moving in a straight line, which is often times straight off the road, or into another vehicle. :angry:

 

That reminds me of a snowy morning a few years ago. When I got into the office I picked up a call from a customer who asked me "Did you make it into the office OK with all the snow?"

Well besides being a dumb question, since I WAS in the office to pick up his phone call I said. "No problem other than all the a-holes on the road with their SUV's who don't seem to understand that 4WD won't do sqaut to stop thier 5,000 lb POSs on snow or ice."

After that the customer didn't say much of anything. I found out later from one of his co-workers that he was one of those a-holes who had just craked up is brand new SUV a couple weeks before while driving in the snow. :shock:

 

For those who have snow tires who installs them for you? Do you just run the car + the extra tires over to the dealer? When do you usually put them on/take them off?

 

Is there going to be a button to turn this off? That would suck if there isn't, because how in the world are you going to light 'em up before a trip down the dragstrip?

 

With snow tires, usually you go with skinny (its better snow traction) tires on a steel rim.
I change them myself...although on my 6...I just use the AllSeasons during the winter, and have my 255s on the 03 Cobra rims for the Spring/Summer/Fall

YES there is a traction control button.
Its normally on, when you start the car....you have to turn it off (becomes a ritual... clutch, start, turn off T/C)
There are mods to have it reversed as well. Start with it off....and you have to hit the button to turn it on.

 

www.ponyexpressperformance.com sells the traction control disable module for the lazy people...