yasuro

so i got to test the my winter setup this morning on the first real snow of the year.

the falken HS439s, in combination with traction control, makes it actually difficult to fishtail the car on 90 degree turns. i even did some moderate to hard acceleration on the straights on unplowed subdivision streets and the car stayed well mannered. my mustang actually seems more stable than my old AWD 911 with dunlop wintersports, which is surprising considering the front weight bias on our cars.

so either the falken HS439s are much better in snow than dunlop wintersports or ford traction control is better than the AWD setup from porsche. granted the AWD from porsche is setup for racing, but the rear weight bias should make it better than our mustangs, at least on paper.

so those of you who haven't had the "pleasure" of taking your cars out in moderate snow cover, go out and have some fun. as long as you've got the appropriate tires.

JScottGT

Today was my first time out with my '10 in the snow. I have the stock all-season's (P-Zero Nero) still on the car because I wanted to see how they did before potentially moving to a snow tire. I have to say, they did a lot better than I was expecting them to. With the TCS left on, I was able to move from a stop decently (starting in 2nd), and it was kept in check coming around tight corners. Obviously, if I goosed the throttle, it would kick sideways... but was never out of control.

alcarames

I owned an awd car with summer tires and thought everything was cool until I had to stop. Dedicated winter tires make a huge difference in not only acceleration and handling but braking as well. The rubber compound in the summer tires gets very hard in temps lower than 45 degrees.

IT_Guru

Yep, no issue here either, went with the Michelin X-Ice Xi2. Snow tires are a must here in Michigan. On the road I really have to try to get it to spin or fish tail any. Even took it out in the back yard in about 6 inches of snow to see how they would work in deeper snow. No issues there either, a little slippage but never felt like I was in danger of getting stuck. I may not take her out in a blizzard, but for getting me to work and back snow tires are doing the trick.

rhans

Have you put any additional weight in the trunk?

IT_Guru

Nothing more than keeping it half a tank of gas or more. Thought about it, but after driving with no extra weight decided it wasn't needed.

jlmounce

Just purchased my 11, so I can't report there, but I can tell you that my 08 GT with the factory all season tires was one of the best cars I've ever driven in the snow.

I don't expect this car to be any different. Although, I will take the summer performance tires off for the winter.

Double-EDad

The problem I have with driving in the now isn't MY traction, it's the (in)abilities of the drivers around me. Hard to avoid fender benders in traffic if you are the only one with good tires.

The other thing I hate about snow which no tire can help is getting the car all schlocked up with crap that immediately begins the process of paint degradation.

Ethanjbeau

+1 to that

CHDS PNY

i love me advancetrac...its so awesome in this crap

JScottGT

I couldn't agree more. We got about 5" of snow yeterday and I went out to play around a bit. Driving along I would switch it on and off and it really made a difference keeping me going straight. Keeping with the stock all-seasons I tried adding 200# into the trunk, and it made a world of difference as well. My commute this morning went very easily as I was passing a lot of other cars that were getting stuck.

Overboost

I definitely miss having winter tires on a performance car. I moved my car yesterday and had a tough time getting it back up the driveway, even with all the nannies shut off.

chutoyy

No pictures of wet stangs frolicking in the snow?

orange3.9stang

Posted 2 pics of mine "sitting in the snow" in this thread ...
https://themustangsource.com/f726/go...486697/index3/

First real winter commute in this car was this morning (left home @ 3:45AM). Had 8-10" of heavy wet snow Saturday night ... I43 thru Manitowoc and Sheboygan counties were still mostly snow and /or ice covered thanks to the rain that came before the snow.

I was the ONLY vehicle out there confidently driving close to the 65 MPH speed limit on this stretch of I43, most every one was doing 35-45 MPH ... I would slow down to 45-55 as I approched other cars, but slowly ramped it back up after passing.

I've been doing this same commute for 12 years with good snow tires so I'm not just some reckless idiot ... I know what I'm doing. However my '98 or '04 would have required more intence concentration since neither had Traction / Stability Control or ABS ... definitely welcome features to this new DD.

Handled deep / already rutted drifts on the county roads on the way to the interstate real well too. No damage to lower air dam, bumper cover, or lower black spoiler-ish trim.

So yeh, it sure did frollic this morning ... but I got no action pics !!

Doug

chutoyy

I really want to drive my Mustang in the snow now... ;|