Its not impossible to drive our cars in the winter. I do it frequently, just drive slow and drive safe and youll be fine, also mod away!
One car drivers mods/winter driving
Hey guys,
This is just a thought that has been going through my head for a while now and I was curious to see what other have thought.
So, everyday I am constatly on this forum, scanning through other members post regarding power mods and what have you. I catch my self very tempted to perform mods like tuners, rear gears and even forced induction based on the gains other member have praised. I have the money for it and an entire shop that could help me with these mods for little money.
Then I realize, my car is a year round car. Please dont jump on me with the typical "A Mustang should never see snow...etc" It is a summer and winter car! I drove it through this past winter here in Calgary. Now i realize many of my fellow Mustang brothers live in southern areas of the United States and have never considered what it is like to drive a highish powered rear wheel drive sports car in the 5 to 6 inchs of snow five to six months out of the year.
Dont get me wrong, I honestly have so much more fun in the winter then i do in the summer and I am very proud to show up to work in my rear wheel sports car when other guys complain about how bad the roads are when they are driving 4 cylinder, front wheel drivers, and 4X4s.
Back to my origianl point. As all these mods are very tempting in terms of power/accelarations, i realize that simply installing 3.73s, that i really want to do!, would put my car past the breaking point in terms of winter driving never mind forced induction.
Unforuantly, my Mustang is all i can afford to own so it is my solo driver and being a younger man I cant afford to insure two cars, never the less park them. Looking forward to my next car three to four years from now, I have a hard time beliveing I will be able to drive a more powerfull car without some form of all wheel drive. As much as I would love to have a GT, I realize i would need a somthing else to back it up for bad weather. I would HATE to be paying for a car I could only drive 6 months out of the year!
This thought process does make it a LOT easier to save money but it is also depressing as I would like to gradualy build up my Mustangs perfromance.
I think a WRX STI is next on my list, Realistically.
Anyone else in a similar situation or have you even thought about it?
Just throwing this one out there.
This is just a thought that has been going through my head for a while now and I was curious to see what other have thought.
So, everyday I am constatly on this forum, scanning through other members post regarding power mods and what have you. I catch my self very tempted to perform mods like tuners, rear gears and even forced induction based on the gains other member have praised. I have the money for it and an entire shop that could help me with these mods for little money.
Then I realize, my car is a year round car. Please dont jump on me with the typical "A Mustang should never see snow...etc" It is a summer and winter car! I drove it through this past winter here in Calgary. Now i realize many of my fellow Mustang brothers live in southern areas of the United States and have never considered what it is like to drive a highish powered rear wheel drive sports car in the 5 to 6 inchs of snow five to six months out of the year.
Dont get me wrong, I honestly have so much more fun in the winter then i do in the summer and I am very proud to show up to work in my rear wheel sports car when other guys complain about how bad the roads are when they are driving 4 cylinder, front wheel drivers, and 4X4s.
Back to my origianl point. As all these mods are very tempting in terms of power/accelarations, i realize that simply installing 3.73s, that i really want to do!, would put my car past the breaking point in terms of winter driving never mind forced induction.
Unforuantly, my Mustang is all i can afford to own so it is my solo driver and being a younger man I cant afford to insure two cars, never the less park them. Looking forward to my next car three to four years from now, I have a hard time beliveing I will be able to drive a more powerfull car without some form of all wheel drive. As much as I would love to have a GT, I realize i would need a somthing else to back it up for bad weather. I would HATE to be paying for a car I could only drive 6 months out of the year!
This thought process does make it a LOT easier to save money but it is also depressing as I would like to gradualy build up my Mustangs perfromance.
I think a WRX STI is next on my list, Realistically.
Anyone else in a similar situation or have you even thought about it?
Just throwing this one out there.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
Mods or not, if you drive too hard when the roads are covered in ice and snow you're gonna have trouble. I don't really see any problem with giving your Mustang some performance mods, it won't prevent you from being able to drive carefully in foul weather. My V6 will see the winter as well and I plan on putting some winter tires on in early December to give myself a fighting chance.
Have an 87 5.0 (much much less power) but it got me through a 10inch snow storm with no wipers and no heat .. 120 lbs of sand in the trunk and some half decent all seasons .. regular 20 min drive was 1hr45mins though :yelwacko:
I drove my car all threw last winter with my 3.73 and my stock Pirellis P-Zeros. While it was interesting at first once i got the hang of it and took it easy i had no problems.
I've been driving RWD manual vehicles in North Dakota winters for 10 years now and the biggest thing anyone can do to their car is the driver mod. Once you know the limitations of how you can/cannot drive you will shortly find out that your tire tread and compound & weight distribution will have everything else to do with getting through icy and snowy conditions.
Sure, you will be able to get around in PZeros fine in the winter, but don't expect to go up an incline with a bit of snow on top of a slick condition. It simply won't happen.
Driving my 99 Camaro with H-rated radials in the winter (it had a LSD) was a cake walk compared to my 87 S-10 with full winter + studded tires and weights in the back. Why? Proper weight distribution and the limited slip diff. :bigthumbsup
The Camaro easily made it to work when 4x4's couldn't. That is completely the driver mod and being conscious of what roads to take.
So yes, I may sound a bit sadistic and will make a bunch of people cringe driving a muscle car/sports car around during winter, but I actually enjoy the feel of being tuned to the car and pushing the limits just so to get the most out of any condition.
================
The worst thing that can happen is being parked on an inslope and when you want to move your car, you find out that ice formed beneath your tires when you were gone. Gravel/Sand will NOT help. You know what does? Taking your all weather floor mats out of your car and placing them under the rear tires for traction. You gotta throttle it perfectly with a bit of rocking in order to make it out.
================
As far as mods: I picked up a slightly used set of tires + Konig wheels for my winter set. This is the best winter friendly mod one could do. (plus it saves the shop from swapping tires on my beloved PP wheels)
Sure, you will be able to get around in PZeros fine in the winter, but don't expect to go up an incline with a bit of snow on top of a slick condition. It simply won't happen.
Driving my 99 Camaro with H-rated radials in the winter (it had a LSD) was a cake walk compared to my 87 S-10 with full winter + studded tires and weights in the back. Why? Proper weight distribution and the limited slip diff. :bigthumbsup
The Camaro easily made it to work when 4x4's couldn't. That is completely the driver mod and being conscious of what roads to take.
So yes, I may sound a bit sadistic and will make a bunch of people cringe driving a muscle car/sports car around during winter, but I actually enjoy the feel of being tuned to the car and pushing the limits just so to get the most out of any condition.
================
The worst thing that can happen is being parked on an inslope and when you want to move your car, you find out that ice formed beneath your tires when you were gone. Gravel/Sand will NOT help. You know what does? Taking your all weather floor mats out of your car and placing them under the rear tires for traction. You gotta throttle it perfectly with a bit of rocking in order to make it out.
================
As far as mods: I picked up a slightly used set of tires + Konig wheels for my winter set. This is the best winter friendly mod one could do. (plus it saves the shop from swapping tires on my beloved PP wheels)
+1. Winter tires and some weight in the back and you are good to go.I have 3.73 gears and I drove all winter. I added Blizzak LM-25's to my OEM 19" rims and 100 pounds of gravel to the trunk and I was good to go! :bigthumbsup
Correct me if I'm wrong, but ideally you want narrower tires for your winter set, correct?
Anyone know of any wheel/tire combo's for winter that fit over the Brembo's?
Anyone know of any wheel/tire combo's for winter that fit over the Brembo's?
I have been driving for close to 24 years and with the exception on one car all have been rear wheel drive. If you drive slower and plan your stops in the snow you will be just fine. Mine is a DD also, my last mustang did well in the snow and am sure this one will be just fine as well.
I'm no stranger to RWD in the snow, just trying to make sure I can get a good set of winter tires in the right size on there. Not being prepared is a big :nono:I have been driving for close to 24 years and with the exception on one car all have been rear wheel drive. If you drive slower and plan your stops in the snow you will be just fine. Mine is a DD also, my last mustang did well in the snow and am sure this one will be just fine as well.
I will be driving my Stang in the snow. Snow driving doesn't scare me and the Stang shouldn't be any worse than the 2010 Focus I traded for it (too light, no lsd and crappy tires = worst car I've driven in the snow). Gonna get some snow tires on my OEM's around thanksgiving time.
Hey guys,
I think i may have overstated my point or was just misinterpreted. I have had absolutely no problems driving my car this past winter. In fact, i really enjoyed driving this car in the winter. Lots of fun and never once got stuck. I bough Blizzack LM 60s all around and started driving with dry gravel bags in the trunk and later on removed them when i became more confident. I love that fact that people look at me like I am nuts when i pull up to work in my car when they just got out of there 4x4 with chains on the wheels! I also realized that i will probably never want to drive a front wheel drive car again. The rwd was initially a learning curve but as i got over the curve, I REALLY enjoyed the benefits of this setup.
My big concern was 3.73s. I dident realize there were so many other owners with 3.73s that actually drove in the winter. This gives me great confidence and I am going to peruse this after all.
Again, my fault for embellishing but I wanted to see what others experience and or opinions were on this topic.
I think i may have overstated my point or was just misinterpreted. I have had absolutely no problems driving my car this past winter. In fact, i really enjoyed driving this car in the winter. Lots of fun and never once got stuck. I bough Blizzack LM 60s all around and started driving with dry gravel bags in the trunk and later on removed them when i became more confident. I love that fact that people look at me like I am nuts when i pull up to work in my car when they just got out of there 4x4 with chains on the wheels! I also realized that i will probably never want to drive a front wheel drive car again. The rwd was initially a learning curve but as i got over the curve, I REALLY enjoyed the benefits of this setup.
My big concern was 3.73s. I dident realize there were so many other owners with 3.73s that actually drove in the winter. This gives me great confidence and I am going to peruse this after all.
Again, my fault for embellishing but I wanted to see what others experience and or opinions were on this topic.
You are correct on that. I looked on the tirerack for some snows for the mustang. The car I have on order (which just made it to the dealer today--woo-hoo!) also has the brembo package. The smallest snow tires the tirerack sells that they claim will fit are 18", but they are quite pricey as there are only like 3 choices in snow tires in that size. But I think for the first time, I will go for a set of dedicated snow tires/wheels.Correct me if I'm wrong, but ideally you want narrower tires for your winter set, correct?
Anyone know of any wheel/tire combo's for winter that fit over the Brembo's?
No reason you can't tune either. If to much power for you in the winter, just change the tune to stock for winter driving. Only takes 10 minutes to change the tunes.
1 - 15 of 15 Posts
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