MY BROTHER WROTE:

Interesting about the model changes for the ’13’s to the ’14’s. I got the impression there was a body change.

Shows how the Internet can fool you. I know I told you that I saw a PHOTO of what was CLAIMED to be a 2014 test mule at a track from the rear of the car. Maybe it was really a ’15 and not a ’14. All other pics of the ’15’s are artist conceptions with a fair amount of variability, but a very general trend for the styling.

I saw something somewhere where someone said the chassis for the current Mustang was originally the same for the Lincoln LS. I remember that from when it was shared with the cheapest Jaguar back when Ford owned Jag. So the Mustang chassis has something in common with the “American” Jag. I think that cheap Jag was introduced by Ford to intentionally share Ford parts and to be able to put out a cheap Jag. That Lincoln and the Jag looked a lot alike except the front and rear were different, of course, and the Jag lines were smoother overall.

Just watched a YouTube vid of someone test driving the Ford police cars. The Taurus based one has 365 hp and will do 148 mph. Don’t know if that is the very same Coyote Mustang engine or not, but I think not. The SUV seems to be the same engine as the V6 Mustang and will do 113 mph. The SUV has special software so that a driver cannot tip it over during hard maneuvers, so they can drive it hard and not be too risky.

In any case, it looks like police cars are getting fast again. On NH roads even a guy in a Shelby would have a hard time getting away from one of these Taurus’s.

That V6 Mustang is speed limited to 119 MPH, but with the limit over ridden it goes to about 150 or so. The V8 as I probably said before is 147, good for at least 170.

I decided for sure the best snow tires would be the Bridgestone Blizzaks or the Goodyear Ultra Grips, which are $200 cheaper for a set ($686 vs. 886).

By the way, the Ultragrips are directional. You can’t cross rotate them, only front to back, back to front, on each side.
It looks like in general, any top end tire is directional, summer or winter. The Blizzak is directional, too. All you can do with directionals is pop them off the rims and mount them on what was the opposite side rim. This way you don’t have the same outside edge on the same side on a given side of the car.

I’ve done that in the past a few times when I had the Michelin HydroEdge (which had very good treadlife and is an ultimate rain tire, worked decent for my car in winter). I figure at the very least you have to do that 50% of the way through the life of the tire regardless of how many times you flip them front to rear. I’d say ideally it should be done every 25% of the way through the life of the tire (3 times altogether, the last time you’d be tossing them). That’s my opinion.

The standard size for Mustang snow tires is a 235 by 18, but if I go a half inch narrower for tread contact, it’s a 225 that’s very little shorter. I did the math and when the speedo says 70 mph, I’d really be going 69.1 mph. So that’s nothing, have dealt with worse than that before. Let’s hope I can figure out a way to skip snow tires altogether, but I’m preparing for snow and salt anyway.

In the owner’s manual they have good advice for storing the car if I wind up with a winter beater. It’s very close to what I’d do anyway, in fact surprisingly close to what I had in mind: start it up every 2 weeks, move it forward and backward 25 feet. I think I’d make my own “shaped” wheel chocks to keep the tires round and not flat (see attachment). They make them but they’re expensive. I could make my own out of a bunch of pieces cut from a timber, 6×6 or whatever glued together. I’d set them up so I could drive in and out of them without them sliding around. The other problem I’d really have to deal with is keeping out mice nests. I can get a professional Ford cover made for the car as an option in the loan.