Here in the Midwest, we had an ice storm then about 2 inches of snow last night. I have a long history (I'm 65) of driving RWD cars during my younger years, summer and winter. But it's been a few years (a few decades actually) since I've had anything but a FWD or AWD vehicle.

Well, today was a trial. I've had the Mustang for two years in February, but last winter we stayed in the garage until the roads were cleared. Today I decided to take her out and just see how bad it was.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. I had to remember a lot of my old-school driving habits, but we got home safe and sound and didn't end up in the ditch.

I did realize, however, that 412 hp coupled with a rear wheel driving and snow is a combination kind of like a tuna-flavored milk shake. It just doesn't work well, but you can get past it.

Stay safe out there.

 

Snow tires or decent A/Ss make all the difference. I got caught in a snowstorm once on Pirelli summers and it was no fun.

 

mines still never seen salt- did get to drive yesterday after a good rain washed all the salt off the roads, aaahhh...

anyways, I had a mark VII, similar wheelbase,rwd, that was by far THE worst snow vehicle I ever drove- impeccable highway cruiser, but downright dangerous in snow- it had the goofy air suspension, and the front a-arms are so freaking wide, it has a terrible steering angle when it hit the locks. if it stepped out even a little, it was on the locks before it even got fun. a set of snow tires would help go, but God forbid if it began to oversteer.

when I first got my Mustang, gotta admit sliding it around a lot for fun on dry and wet pavement, its got good steering angle, can hang it out there a mile with no worries while oversteering around corners intentionally, would guess it would do fine in snow. only thing about a stick though, agressive shifting on slick surfaces can end the fun quickly when driving like a idiot... did a little off road excursion in mine one day hitting second too hard - it had just started to drizzle after a long dry spell, road I stopped/ turned onto was slick as snot. hit second, stepped out unexpectedly, lifted and the rears skidded- before I could even push the clutch in the rears were in wet grass getting ready to lead the way. luckily damage wasnt bad, but still- learned a lesson about being gentle with the clutch on slick surfaces... and my old reflex reaction of turning TCS off soon as I started the engine ended that day. tcs off only at the track

 

The mustang is the first rwd car I have had actually (aside from my wife's smart car that only partially counts) and I have yet to take it in the snow. Don't plan to this year but may down the road. Rwd can be a blast (lived in Norway for 2 years and had a couple BMWs with snow tires ) but a car with less power is a bit easier to control overall in poor weather.

I've also had the mustang surprise me in the and even in dry but cold conditions. Rear loves to step out.

 

I drove RWD performance cars for years in the snow and it takes a practiced hand, common sense and good tires. These newer cars with the ABS Traction and Stability control make driving with high HP quite easy. Actually the ones I see in the ditch the most or the arrogant AWD and 4WD owners who think they can plow through anything. Yeah they go through the snow great but they can't stop in it any better then the rest of us.

 

This is why I am looking to get a set of studded snow tires for my wife's smart car. What could be more demoralizing to a stuck SUV than to have a smart car go blowing by in a snowstorm?

And I agree that with the traction/stability control, the car is very well behaved. Turn off those nannies though and it's happy to step sideways in a second!

 

Also throw about 150 pounds of sandbags in the trunk. You'll be shocked at how much that improves traction. And be careful shifting if you have a stick as ford4v as stated. Especially with downshifting on ice and snow. I learned that lesson my first year driving at 16. Downshifted picking up my older cousin for school right in front of his house and proceeded to immediately lose traction and ended up in a ditch. My cousin yells what are you doing to me. And I answer all confused that all I did was downshift. He proceeds to call me an idiot for downshifting in snow...lol.

Living in Rochester NY we average 100 inches of snow a year and I've driven my Mustang going on the 4th winter now. It's actually a pretty good car in the snow. But it does have some weaknesses and they become really pronounced in the snow so you have to watch out for those surprises.

 

heel-toe and it works fine usually. main reason I like a manual tranny in the snow is so I can downshift

 

Winter tires + 160 pounds of sand in the trunk makes a big difference. I wouldn't even have thought about driving my car without those things on the KC roads this week.

 

I'm in the KC area, too. I guess we got the same snow. LOL!
The extra weight in the trunk is a good idea. I need to find something heavy to put in there. Is there anyplace that sells sandbags already filled up that won't leak out into the trunk? I've never looked for any before.

 

I found 70lb tubes of sand at my local Ace Hardware. I placed one on each side, oriented facing up toward the passenger compartment and tucked to each side of the trunk.

 

QT, Lowes, etc. Perfect because you've got sand ready if u ever get stuck too.

 

I've got a v6. Easy to drive even during the recent ice storm (i.e. black ice everywhere). I do admit to having snow tires, but it's amusing trailing behind a range rover with it's end swinging back and forth while my mustang is as straight as an arrow.

I'm sure the new Michelin X-Ice3's are most of the reason, but if you take it easy on the inputs, you'll always make it safe. Remember in ice and snow conditions if you go extreme on one input, it can get a little edgy - but you're usually safe if you've got your head about you. If you go extreme on more than one input, it doesn't matter what tires/ABS/Traction control setup you've got. The laws of physics will win.

 

Same here. I drive my v6 in the winter and just having a manual alone has saved me quite a few times from slick spots or people pull in out in front of me on the highway on snow etc etc. I tell everyone who asks me why i drive a mustang in the winter that I feel far safer in this car than any fwd car in bad weather. The only exception is a truck when the snow gets deep!

 

Sorry...but I have to completely disagree about a RWD manual Mustang being safer on snow and ice than a front wheel automatic car. Think about this. We are suggesting put weight in the back of a Mustang to make it more stable on snow and ice. FWD cars have a higher ratio of their weight on the front tires already. In snow and ice, generally you're most vulnerable when you hit a patch of ice or snow and you start drifting or sliding off the road. In a FWD car you'll have understeer which generally makes it much easier to steer your way out of the situation without spinning your car around. Also, when giving acceleration on snow and ice, it's generally so soft that there's very little weight transfer whereas weight transfer is usually where the RWD car is better. So you have all that weight on the front tires for light acceleration. I've driven both for many years in snow and ice. In a FWD car, you start sliding or lose traction and you simply steer your way out of it with very light acceleration. It's a piece of cake. In a RWD car like a Mustang, it's more of an art trying to control oversteer in a precise manner while giving hard enough acceleration to transfer weight to the rear tires for traction in a tractionless environment. It's far more complicated.

FWD is much more predictable on snow and ice.
My Mustang on the other hand is not nearly as predictable. It can lull you into thinking it handles great until you encounter a stretch of chunky ice and snow which throws the car off balance and then all of a sudden a stretch of black ice where you lose all traction on a car that just had its balance completely thrown off. This is a pretty common situation at the junctions of bridges. As you hit the junction during a period of heavy snow, there's many times uneven snow right there with chunks of ice in the grooves and then the bridges themselves tend to have a lot of concrete which makes them more susceptible to having black ice and being very slick.

We have a 4 lane highway in our town that they will shut down 2 lanes completely in the winter time to slow down traffic because the bridge becomes a death trap for inexperienced drivers or those going over that bridge for the first time. I drive my Mustang all winter long and have for the last 3 years. And we get a lot of snow here. But I definitely am getting another FWD or AWD at some point in the future to deal with driving through the winters here.

 

I agree that fwd are better and safer, but to me I feel far more comfortable in my 04 than any other car. I have gotten correcting steering down to almost an art. Every winter since I was 16, so about 7 years, I go out and find empty lots and practice practice practice steering in the snow and ice to know which way to steer when sliding etc etc and how much gas or brake to give it. Now that doesn't mean I wont or can't ever get in a slick situation I can't get out of, but I've been in quite a few and gotten out of them fine everytime and dont ever get nervous driving my car just about the people that are around me. Once I was driving my parents Taurus and put it in the ditch because I couldn't correct it bc of it being front wheel drive, which is mostly just me bc I never drive fwd vehicles. I just prefer to have a manual and I do think anyone who isn't a very experienced driver probabaly shouldn't drive a rwd vehicle in winter. Hope everyone had a good christmas!

 

Really not a problem. Michilen X Ice 3's with no weight in the back.

 

I definitely understand what you're saying!

 

Had a Mark VII myself, it was the only car I ever got completely stuck in the snow lol. Man th at was an awesome highway cruiser though. Of course they were a nightmare to fix, failed aribags, bad HVAC electronics, cracked dashpads, etc.

The new Mustangs on summer tires...scary. With a decent set of A/S or snows, not too bad. The traction control is actually good for the snow on these cars, it doesn't totally kill the engine when it detects wheelspin, feels like it uses the throttle-by-wire to gently limit torque.

 

Poor Poor Mustang. It looks cold sitting out in the tundra like that.