How well do rear wheel drive Mustangs handle in the winter? After I get an 05 next year, I plan on making it a summer car and park it in the winter. I live in Indy, so the winters are 50/50 for being bad... The plan is to park it, but plans can certainly change.

I am used to driving FWD cars, so a little snow and ice are no big deal. I have heard some horror stories with rear drive vehicles...

Any thoughts?

 

They handle great in the winter, ummm, as long as the road is dry.

 

This topic came up quite a bit in the past. There were alot of ppl who posted their experiences with the previous generation Mustangs, and other RWD cars. I bet if you searched on "winter" you could find the threads.

 

You will have to invest in some snow treads and put 4 bags of sand in the trunk.

On hard pack with ice...Stay home.

Worst part is the wax job in the spring when you can see all the damage that sand and salt on the road did to your ride.

Oh ya, turn off the TCS and remember to turn into the slide.

 

Basically, they don't handle well at all on ice and snow, you should take it slow on wet roads year round as well. When you have RWD and a car with a lot of torque, it doesn't take much to spin the tires on slippery surfaces, just take it easy and keep yourself and that stang in one peace.

 

Ummm.... I feel much better now. I think.

 

I had a V6 Mustang when I lived in central Indiana, usually when there is frozen precipitation, the other drivers will stay as far as they can get from you. I had to keep it under 20 to keep it from fish tailing completely out of control.

 

Pack kitty litter instead of sand in your trunk. It'll weigh the back down and if you do get stuck.. you can pour some out by your tires to get traction.

That's what I do.. and having 4 Blizzaks and stock rims aren't bad either

 

Throw a set of blizzaks on the stockers with some weight (possibly several 40lb bags of pet food if you want to save a trip or two) in the trunk and you should be fine. That's my plan anyway.

 

I've been through several winters on stock tires and never been stuck or lost control.

 

Lol, this thread is over 5 years old.

 

Mine is a DD. Swapped the BFG's for a set of 17" Pirelli's. No major problems even without sand or extra weight. A good set of snow tires would be great in deep snow. Haven't needed them so far this winter.

The TCS does it's job well. If you get into a bind, turn off the TCS. Extra weight in the trunk causes it to get loose in the rear more easily. If you want to put weight in put it closer to the rear axle.

Moral of the story, don't drive like a madman.

 

I've driven every RWD mustang I've ever owned as well as each corvette I've owned in the snow. These cars are fine in the snow, just don't drive like you're on dry pavement.

I will say that of the RWD cars I've driven in the snow, my S197 is the best among them. It's definitely got the best balance and it somewhat limited torque at low speed helps at well.

I'll say this, any car can be driven in the snow successfully. It takes a discerning driver that concentrating on the road and not trying do disprove physics.

If you drive carefully you'll be fine.

 

My Mustang is a daily driver with 45 mile one way commute to work. I've driven through raging blizzards and with 8" of snow on the road. Never a problem, never been stuck and never lost control - and I am on the stock Pirellis and don't add any weight to the trunk.

The only accident I've had in the winter was with a FWD car. With the Mustang and RWD you can use the throttle to get some controlled slides - with a FWD, once you lose it recovery is tough.

FWD was very rare when I got my license; all we had were RWD basically. We sure as hell didn't sit home all winter! All it takes is a little technique to drive in the snow.

 

Well, we just had our second batch of snow for the winter (Atlanta), which mainly becomes ice, I don't take my car out in it, b/c the last batch I couldn't get out of a parking lot with maybe a 3% grade. I take the wife's AWD Audi A4 instead.

 

It snowed about a foot and a half a few weeks ago, I tore around in that with a lot of spinning. Unfortunately I even made it to work.

I run Toyo G02 winter tires on 17" take off rims.

I'd hate to miss out on all the driving I get in all winter. Much of the time it's a little cold, which is good for power, but the roads dry up and you can still get your kicks.

 

Well, I try to avoid the snow here in CO- but because that isn't always possible, I use second gear- A LOT.
-Jim

 

I had fun in the parking lot this morning

 

Of course I have a v6 auto but I haven't had problems...yet. I've got two top cap concrete blocks in the trunk and i'm easy on the throttle. But we have had mostly snow this year, I'm sure i'm not going anywhere on ice.

 

bridgestone blizzak lm-20's on stock 17's. no weight in the trunk, but i bet that would help. i only got stuck once, and that was trying to plow myself out of a 2 foot snow bank i parked in.

even still, was still able to get unstuck after some rocking back and forth for 10 min.

i would say snow tires are manditory in the snow. all season won't cut it, unless you live in a place that treats the roads very well very quickly. a few inches of slush is no problem for all season, but for ice and snow, you really need snow tires.