winter driving?

[sms]

If this topic has been discussed before, sorry. I did not see previous threads that talked about it.

I am looking very seriously into the purchase of an 03 T-bird. I am in love with it. But, I live in Chicago and can't afford to store the car for summer use only. What can I expect in terms of handling of this car in the winter? The dealer is being pretty open with me -- reminding me that it is a rear-wheel drive car and will definitly not handle as safely as a front-wheel drive car on any snow or ice. He told he that it should do fine though if I am willing to put snow tires on it in the winter time.

Can anyone with experience comment on this.

Thanks.

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[LON O'CONNELL]

I have heard several people say that it handles well in the snow & ice with the traction control it comes with. The May 2003 Motor Trend Magazine has a section about convertibles. It pairs up cars to look at, Corvette - Mustang, a couple others, and VW Beetle - Thunderbird. The VW - Thunderbird comparison was done in the snow. Of course the VW out did the T-Bird in the snow due to front wheel drive, but Motor Trend did give the T-Bird good winter driving marks.
Then of course you have a few people who have posted threads that the T-Bird is no good in winter weather driving. But the positive statements have been 5 to 1 on the good side. Hope this helps in your decision process.

 

[Tundrabird]

Took our 02 bird out after the first snowfall and had a hard time just getting up our driveway and back into the garage. Put a good set of snow tires on (Blizzacks) and had no trouble at all through the winter. We were able to get a spare set of rims which makes the change from summer to winter a breeze.

 

[DMIR.T-Bird]

Ive only owned thunderbirds, and at that, only rear wheel drive cars. The front wheel drive cars have some advantages, one of them being handling in the snow/mud. They are two different styles of car. My biggest problem was in my 94 and 95 in 6-12 inch snow becase the underside of the car was hanging in the snow. Still got around ok, just need to pay more attention to what, when, why, and where you are driving. Big (2%) grades were where the issues were very noticeable.
I say go for it. I usually drive my cars forever (tons of miles), this one (not so many miles!)will hopefully stay that long.
Lee😀