mustang in the snow
Mach 1 Member
Joined: September 21, 2005
Posts: 947
Likes: 0
Not to worry. I've been driving my '99 in the snow for years up here in Michigan and we get plenty of snow. There are several things you can do, and once you get a feel for driving in snow, you should be fine.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
Mach 1 Member
Joined: August 3, 2011
Posts: 759
Likes: 1
From: Slidell
Shelby GT350 Member
Joined: July 9, 2011
Posts: 2,556
Likes: 2
From: IL
Originally Posted by UMich97
Not to worry. I've been driving my '99 in the snow for years up here in Michigan and we get plenty of snow. There are several things you can do, and once you get a feel for driving in snow, you should be fine.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
When I had my 02, I used the sand tubes from Ace Hardware. They're like $4 each and sit perfectly in the trunk over the wheel wells. 2-3 should be sufficient.
My C/T is cooler than Arin is.
Joined: August 6, 2004
Posts: 4,596
Likes: 4
From: Parkersburg, WV
Not to worry. I've been driving my '99 in the snow for years up here in Michigan and we get plenty of snow. There are several things you can do, and once you get a feel for driving in snow, you should be fine.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
1. A cheap way to improve handling in the snow, is to put some weight in the trunk. Some people use salt bags, but I prefer sand. It's cheap, fairly heavy, and on the off chance the bag breaks, it's not corrosive on the inside of your trunk.
2. The best thing you can do, is get snow tires. This isn't a cheap solution, and I drove plenty of years with all-season tires just fine, but with snow tires, I'd honestly rather drive my Stang in the snow than any front wheel drive car with all-season tires. In other words, they make a huge difference.
3. If you have the traction control option, make sure it's on. This ones pretty obvious, but it works and works pretty well, considering.
Outside of that, just try not to go too fast. ...and if you get a chance, take your car to an open parking lot sometime when it's snowed a lot and get a feel for how your car handles in the snow (with and without the traction control on). It's really helps a ton if you know the feel of your car and how it reacts in snow, so worth it if you can find a spot, where if you lose control, you won't hit anything or anyone.
Oh, and if you have a manual trans, you can always start in 2nd to limit the power to the wheels if you are slipping, or you can "rock" the car back and forth to get it moving.
Also try to stay outta any deep snow when parking, as the Stang is pretty light, which can make it challenging, but I'm talking 6"+ deep, not an inch or two.
Hope this helps.
Team Mustang Source
Joined: May 27, 2004
Posts: 1,184
Likes: 1
From: NY
Agreed to what UMich97 said. I'd like to add more about snow tires. Yea they may be expensive but so is a wrecked car. And your life is priceless. So if you can afford it, get snow tires, all four. Snows on the front will help significantly with steering/stopping too. Also, for an easier switch during the seasons, get a cheap set of rims to mount the snows on. I've run the same set of Dunlop Graspics for 4 winters now and they are still amazing. A world of difference!
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