Winter Driving

Topic: Winter Driving (Read 1076 times) previous topic - next topic

Winter Driving

January 22, 2013, 09:56:47 AM

Who lives in a frozen state (or Canada) and drives their Bird/Cat in the winter? Last year was the first I had with mine, but since I had 3 cars and my sister had none, I loaned it to her (in stock condition) for the winter. This winter it's MY DD, and it's up by around 130hp. I've been getting along on 4 new Winterforce (unstudded) without any balast, mostly by just braking in neutral and letting the tires have just a little slip on take off. I'm an experienced winter driver, I've had about 8 yrs experience in the northern tip of Michigan's lower peninsula, along with 8 more in central Michigan, so I know a few things about winter driving, but this is the most powerful RWD car I've ever spent a winter with and I'm looking for tips from guys who've done what I'm doing now.

Winter Driving

Reply #1 – January 22, 2013, 11:48:40 AM

HA!!!!

welcome to the the board!,, just kidding.

the length of the car is adding to the overall light weight it experiences.
to put it to you bluntly, the rear will pass you up in a heart beat! winter time takes out at least two or three of our cars a year.

you are lucky your not doing mountain driving up and down hill, these things get stuck right where they sit on level ground.!!!

no tips here,, just do your best because its a different world when sitting in these fox bodies.

Winter Driving

Reply #2 – January 22, 2013, 12:07:47 PM

Tires play a big roll in this as well. When I was driving my bird (2.3l w/5spd) out in Washington state in the winter, I took off my Goodyear Eagle Aqua Treads and ran a set of all-season M/Ss and I didn't have much trouble at all going thru the Cascade mountain range to help a friend move from Idaho to my place in the middle of a winter storm. It would get squirrley if got on it, but it otherwise it handled pretty good.
Of course I'm used to driving semi-trucks in the winter without any incidents. Just do things like everything is in slow-motion.

just my .02 thou

Winter Driving

Reply #3 – January 22, 2013, 12:12:13 PM

I'm hoping to have a different DD by next year when I start getting into the body work. And a house. With a garage.

Winter Driving

Reply #4 – January 22, 2013, 01:23:05 PM

Tires Tires Tires The skinnier they are the better they are in winter.

Winter Driving

Reply #5 – January 22, 2013, 01:49:30 PM

wondered why the kharmen ghia was doing exceptional in the snow,, didnt realize skinny was good for winter.

Winter Driving

Reply #6 – January 22, 2013, 02:45:58 PM

I daily drove my 83 for many years through several lousy NY winters, and i have to agree about the tires. I always had a load of photo gear (3-500 pounds worth in the trunk as well. Even still, the piest front wheel drive cars i ever rented performed better in rain and snow, than my Bird.

Winter Driving

Reply #7 – January 22, 2013, 05:56:47 PM

I have firestone winterforces on my MN-12 supercoupe. That car is unstoppable, and has full exhaust, intake, pulley, and its a 5 speed. I take it snow drifting and drift it within a foot around poles for fun, lol. Never gotten that car stuck, and I'm blaming the tires!

Winter Driving

Reply #8 – January 22, 2013, 06:16:48 PM

I drove my dear ol' 83 through many'a northern Ohio winter. Stock 5.0 + winterforce tires. I never had much trouble other than uneven braking slides. I drove my 87 5.0 HO swap before that for years. I drive a RWD astro van in the winter now. I prefer RWD, that's what I am used to after all these years.

Winter Driving

Reply #9 – January 22, 2013, 06:19:41 PM

I gotta agree with Tom: Skinny and tall is best. You know how wide tires are pr0ne to hydroplaning? Well it's a million times worse in snow. Skinny tires dig in, while wide just floats on top (which is exactly what you don't want for traction).

The only one of my Foxes I drove in winter was my '87 Sport. I had 205/70R14 Bridgestone Blizzaks on the stock polycast wheels, and that car was a tank in the snow. The traction-lock rear end helped greatly. I drove it in storms with well over a foot of snow on the ground (although admittedly less on the actual roads) - snow so deep that the air dam was scooping it up and piling it into the A/C condenser. I only ever got into one situation where the car wouldn't move, and that was when a light turned red on a 30% grade, and when I started to go I was just spinning on ice that previous cars had packed down. I just backed up about 30 feet and tried again with no problems.

Unfortunately that car suffered the fate of so many winter-driven rides: It rusted apart. That's why I don't drive any car that I care about in the snow. Even the Pimpmobile (Chrysler 300) is in storage right now while I drive the much more expensive but much more disposable Sonata and the Dakota, which was purchased for the sole purpose of winter driving but is too hard on gas to drive every day.

Winter Driving

Reply #10 – January 22, 2013, 06:23:44 PM

my cougar was always great in Buffalo snows and blizzards... never got stuck, never had a problem stopping.
drove it 14 years in the snow

Winter Driving

Reply #11 – January 22, 2013, 06:35:59 PM

I have driven both my 80's plenty in the winter and they suck on snow and ice, white knuckle driving just going to the store. My first when I had the warmed over 428cj in there was downright scary, and the stock brakes are barely adequate for dry pavement much less snow, had 400lbs worth of sandbags in the trunk to no avail. same with my other even with the stock 130hp 302, would spin the tires at highway speeds. Living in North Dakota I have plenty of experience driving in py winter conditions but I have vowed that when my birdy is all fixed up, it will strictly be a summer car.

oddly enough, my 77 f150 2wd is a beast in the snow and ice, even with no weight in the back. It does have fairly new all season tires on it, but it is much more controllable on the ice. It must have much better brakes then the Foxes do, doesn't slide around and I don't have to put it in neutral to stop. seems like I can feather the throttle easier on it too and not spin out much. Both my birds would get stuck in my level driveway just backing out.

My 93 Deville will embarass 4x4's in the snow, its V8 powered and fwd. a couple years ago we had a snowstorm that dropped 26" of snow, I had to stop 3 times on the 5 mile drive to work to dig the snow out of the radiator, because the car kept overheating. It was pushing snow over the hood most of the way

Winter Driving

Reply #12 – January 22, 2013, 06:36:51 PM

Two winters ago, the last winter that I daily drove my tbird, I put on some WS70 Blizzaks (which I sold last month after not using them the previous winter). I didn't like it because it took all the fun out of driving in the snow. The tires had very soft tread and made everything feel sloppy/squishy on clear roads, but they drove very similarly in the snow/ice, including traction wise. Soft but you had traction. I know that means they did great, but I used to enjoy the empty streets (everyone's afraid of the snow here) and very low traction with a rwd vehicle. Snow tires ruin the fun :p

Really though, tires make all the difference. Chains should still be carried and used on ANY vehicle if climbing mountains, or in similar snow conditions, but around here good tires are enough. I have yet to be able to drive my current dd in the snow, with its 6.5" wide tires, but without them being snow tires I expect the vehicle to do much worse than the tbird did.

I recommend having a spare set of rims with GOOD/unworn snow tires on them, if you get snow every year. Just swap the tires on and off as needed, helping the good top tread last forever. Chains are a hassle to keep changing whenever the snow levels change, and chains do pretty much nothing for ice.

Quote from: Thunder Chicken;407756

Unfortunately that car suffered the fate of so many winter-driven rides: It rusted apart. That's why I don't drive any car that I care about in the snow. Even the Pimpmobile (Chrysler 300) is in storage right now while I drive the much more expensive but much more disposable Sonata and the Dakota, which was purchased for the sole purpose of winter driving but is too hard on gas to drive every day.

While I hate the gutlessness, I do like how my Insight is all aluminum (not that we salt here). It does well for the 9 mile commute in stop and go driving that it's responsible for. The low rolling resistance tires will likely harm it greatly when it does snow. In the icy spots the last couple weeks it has done well enough.

I should add that my Tbird's Blizzaks were the stock 225/60R16 size. Narrower would be better, but the tires grabbed onto the surface anyway. My rearend was also maybe <1 to 2 years old after rebuild at the time too.

Winter Driving

Reply #13 – January 24, 2013, 12:09:07 AM

When it decides to snow enough here in Chicago I'll let you know how a 91 Mark VII with a factory Traction-Lok (that still works!) does in snow.