2005 Mustang + Winter Driving

I just baught a 2005 Mustang GT with $1000 winter tires added. Its fully loaded with the full trim package and shaker 1000 audio. I never owned a rwd or a v8 car before so its like Im relearning to drive. Since a month ago when I purchased the car I had one clear day of driving where I could boot it. The rest of the time I am gripping my steering wheel and riding the clutch cus this thing is snakey in icy road conditions. I admit I have a lack of experience with driving a stick v8 but holy crap using 3rd or 4th gear after hiting 20mph just to keep it straight sucks and it cant be good for my clutch. I am worried that the biggest investment of my life could wind up a write off before summer. I do enjoy the highway driving it seems to have better controll on the ice when its got momentum. Awesome car I do not regret buying it however I dont want to be buried with it too soon. You guys drive these beasts yet? I like it cus its comfortable anyone can fit in them as aposed to previous mustangs and it tears up the road with mean style and promptly responds to throttle. I like the new mustang but in winter its kinda freaky to drive. Big jump from a 5speed tempo lol I hope Markgase2000 enjoys that car I already forgot about it. 2005 Mustang GT is my first brand new CAR!
"DTails , pro ford detailer Alberta Canada."
I dont post much cus I got a 05 mustang , its a party on wheels!!

Welcome to the mustang world and the sucky winter handling.

yeah youll get used to it just dont try to rush it anywhere, once u get used to it i think its actually kinda fun, another thing put a ton of weightin the trunk and get some weight on those back tires, get weights or cinder blocks or something

oh yeah... u lucky bastard

I think many of us on here have winterbeaters cause we expirenced the joy of owning a Mustang in the winter. LoL

that would be my escort... problem is it has a bad starter lol, id rather drive my stang in snow than that car anyway just cause i hate that car

I have no winter beater :( so I have to drive the 'Stang in like 20 inches of snow here in Toronto.

I already had an accident (smacked into a curb, blew out a time and cracked the rim :( ) but I didn't have the Snow Tires yet.

Right now I have the Snows (Blizzacs) and like 200lbs of salt bags in the Trunk. Mileage went down a bit, but I've got stability now (I only slip in very heavy snow)

Oh yeah, learn how to downshift, it's saved my butt like 10 times already in the snow.

yeah downshifting is can be great, thats the first thing i learned when driving stick

Im using Michelin Arctic something or anothers they work alot better than those summer tires. I also added 4 cement sidewalk blocks my problem is I am a retard with a powerfull car. It took me 4 tries to pull into the parking lot at work without sliding past the driveway so I will add a few more blocks and cross my fingers. I will also have some pretty pics of my car I woulda taken some before but I figured every ones seen pictures of them before. I got alot of ideas of modifications but this is my only car and its brand new with warranty and I plan to give it to my grand kids. One thing I can personally say about this car , its almost the same in zip as a mach1 but the shifter is alot nicer and I think a mach1 could hose me but it will be fun to try it this summer when I show up at the track and race with a real mans car instead of driving to it in a fricken 93 ford tempo to watch. I do plan on getting a beater and a summer beater this car is too gem to drive every day. I was told the engine should be broken in nice at 40,000 miles and I plan to make 40k in 5 years. This is my very first car and its gonna kick some bowtie butt this summer.

ya i live in washingtom near everett and it snowed last night. me and my buddy with a 5.0 (i only have the 4cyl but its fun) went up to the school parking lot for a while to work on drifting, good times. a good thing to put in ur trunk is bags of sand. there heavy and dont move. DTails-have fun smoken some chevs (that goes for all of you as well)

I got a few beaters, my 5.0 never see's the winter.

mine either - but i do live in california....

Whats winter like in california? My cement blocks fit perfectly in the trunk all 7 of them lol gotta be at least 300+lbs in the trunk. It works now I get good traction and stop great. The dual sub box in the trunk left me with half an inch to spare on the side so I wedged some foam pads between the sub box and the cement. Also I been turning off the traction controll and it doesnt slide to the side when I punch it. I got to admit the sidewalk blocks look ugly but theres enough room in the trunk for some groceries still. One downfall is the sterio isnt quite as loud as when the back seats are folded open , Im afraid it will shoot them into the backseat of the car car if I stop hard and its expensive leather. I woulda used sand bags but they woulda costed money and my uncle had some extra cement blocks from landscaping. But whatever works right lol Im just worried about the first recalls , this is the first year and the first years of anything got funky lil factory FU's. I remember the the 2000 focuses had tons of recalls one was rear wheels like to pop off errrr I hope thats not possable on this puppy. I remember Altered Beast video game lol it was great!

northern california is like a month of heavy rain and some chilly cold starts in the morning, but nothing like you guys have to put up with. let it warm up for two minutes and she's at normal operating temperature. Snow tires make such a huge difference you went the right way there. I'd be worried about recalls too, a chick i know got an escape two years ago and its been called back 11 times. silly ford. at least they got the styling right on the first try for this generation! how could it be better?

Not to get off of the subject, but how do you like that shaker 1000 stereo. Have not gotten to listen to one yet, but I bet they sound awesome.

i have one in mine and it is by far the best factory stereo i have ever heard...i dont know that its worth the cost of the option though...i would get the 500 and add an amp and subs later...that would be cheaper...

Invest in a cheap winter beater, even if just for the next few months. I mean listen to yourself - you're worried about smashing a nice brand new car... I would be too! I'd especially be worried about other cars plowing into you. People just don't know how to drive in winter, they think because they're in a nice SUV or AWD car that its unstoppable - well that's right! You might have great acceleration off ice and snow but you're not going to slow down any better...

Winter is a total waste for a car like yours/ours. Even if there's no snow at all - once salt trucks lace the road thats it until the first or second good downpouring of spring. You know what I'm talking about right? When the road is bone-dry but completely white from all the salt - its like a layer of chalk that makes it impossible for your rear wheels to hook up (snow tires or not).

Eh Future303, lets sneak out onto the DVP one night with chained tires and go for a little race. :naughty:

Well I got the hang of the crap weather driving and I think it handles alot better than the tempo. The conditions here are horrible , we had a chinook and an Indian Summer for a couple days and the snow melted then it started raining and froze up again. I just take my time and have no problems I can even get agressive with it with some confidence. It just felt like driving a tank at first but now its nice. I will save up for next years winter beater tho I want this car to last.