Daily Driving a Modern Pony Car In New England? Best Idea Ever, or You're Gonna Die?

While my current DD Mazda 3 soldiers on without question, it's starting to get a little long in the tooth. If it's anything like my wife's former 2010 3, it could go south at a moment's notice, and I'll be without a ride. 

In my search for possible replacements, I'm looking at anything and everything. Some things high on my "I really want these things on my next car" list:

-More room up front for the driver

-Something more fuel efficient than my current car, and with better range

-Something that's fun to drive, faster than my 3,  and won't bore me to death

-Good radio/infotainment system

-Proven platform that is reliable/easy to service

-Priced around $20k, give or take

-Winter capable

With that in mind, and my brain scrambled by a car feature/test drive I did on a 2018 Mustang GT yesterday, I realized that a pony car could be a viable option! Sadly, that "fuel efficiency" thing and high insurance costs may leave the V8's off the board, but I have a V8-powered pony car sitting in the driveway, some assembly required, to scratch that itch when the time comes. 

I'm looking squarely at the 2015+ Mustang Ecoboost and the 2016+ I4 and V6 Camaros. I can't bring myself to buy a non-V8 Challenger. I test drove an AWD GT, and it was extremely OK, but it just felt wrong. Although the thought of one of those lifted with aggressive off-road rubber and a push bar would be kinda sweet,but let's stick to the basics. 

So, let's go down that list again. 

-More room up front for the driver: I'm a big guy. Driving a tiny econobox is getting old, so something more fitting to my XXL American carcass would be nice. I haven't been in a new Camaro yet, but I've been in both an Ecoboost Mustang and drove a GT. Both were easy to find a comfortable seating position, and I could deal with the visibility. The Sync 3 screen is large and has a backup camera, which helps. 

-Something more fuel efficient than my current car, and with better range: The Mustang and Camaro both make 100hp+ more than my Mazda, and are somehow more fuel efficient. They also both have larger fuel tanks, which is important to me. I do about 450-550 miles a week, and that's one tank of gas with those. Right now I have to fill up every 4 days, which is annoying. The Camaro has a 19 gallon tank vs the 15 in the Mustang, which is nice. 

-Something that's fun to drive, faster than my 3,  and won't bore me to death: Both the Mustang and Camaro can dip into the 13's with the 4's and 6's, and that's plenty fast for a daily driver. The 3 is still a great handling car, but both of those would likely run circles around the Mazda. 

-Good radio/infotainment system: The Mazda has a 10 speaker Bose Bluetooth stereo that's basic by today's standards. No touchscreens or NAV, but it still sounds great. I have sampled the Mustang's Sync 3, and it is decent. Do GM's radios stack up? 

-Proven platform that is reliable/easy to service: This is a big question mark. My 3 has been one of the easiest cars I've had to work on. It needs very little maintenance, and when it does, it's super easy. Put it this way: in 168K miles, it's been to the dealer exactly once, and that's because it was cold out and I didn't feel like doing the work. How are these things as far as user-friendly maintenance? Are parts available and reasonably priced?

-Priced around $20k, give or take: I can find used examples right in my wheelhouse. A little more might get me into a new Camaro 1LE with incentives, which is VERY appealing, but I'd take a used Ecoboost Premium or a 2LT all day. 

-Winter capable: I live in New England. It snows here. I've run winter tires on the Mazda every winter, and it gets me where I need to go. I'd be getting dedicated snows for the next vehicle as well. I know some (maybe all?) of the Mustangs have a Snow/Wet driving mode, so that is a huge plus. Does the Camaro do that? 

Sorry for the word castle. 

Blah, meant to post this in the "Grassroots Motorsports" forum. 

Mod Edit: Done.  JW

Even the 300 hp V6 Mustang that returned 30 mpg hyw might be a good choice.  

Your not gonna die.  I spend 4 Detroit winters driving a '07 Nissan 240sx and not even with snow tires.   

I can really only talk about the winter driving. It’d be hard to have a worse vehicle in snow than a two-wheel-drive mini truck with street tires and zero weight in the back with a 4cyl and 5 spd and of course no traction control. I drove through five New England winters with it and the ONLY time I got stuck in snow was when I was flying around on a local pond and slid into a snowbank. 

A rear wheel drive with a manual and a decent driver will do fine. 

I've drove foxbody mustang's and 2wd mini trucks every winter for 11 years in Ohio now. As long as your not trying to launch it at every stop it will be fine. Decent tires help alot.

Another vote for:

a manual, with driver skill

I cannot speak for new England winters... but I have plowed through plenty of midwest ones. 

That said, proper tire choice will make life much easier.

It's going to depend on how critical your winter travel is, where you have to drive and how much winter drivability you're willing to compromise on.  If you can stay home when the weathers really bad and you mostly drive in the city where the roads are plowed regularly then sure.  Go for it.  If you really need to get to work everyday and the roads may not be in great shape then that's probably not the best idea.

Can you drive a modern pony car in the snow? Certainly.  Is it as good as FWD or 4WD in the snow? No.  I've had a '78 Plymouth Fury wagon, a '73 Plymouth Fury sedan, a 2WD '78 C10 and an '87 Econline that I've driven in Upstate NY winters.  I never crashed but I did get stuck occasionally and when possible I drove my wife's FWD whatever when the weather was bad.

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I drove a Corvette in the winter for several years. The right tires make it almost reasonable. 

A camaro has a little less weight on the back tires but with a proper trunk maybe sandbags will make up for it

In reply to ebonyandivory :

Thats how things were when I started driving and quite awhile after.  Start in second gear, 3 sp, was normal.

Good winter tires and good driving technique should get you there in all but major winter storms.

In reply to APEowner :

Very valid points, however if the OP was dealing with real deep snow I doubt he would be looking at a pony.

I was thinking about it in the way home, the problem I think with new cars (especially with the 'sporty' ones) is ground clearance. I just saw what appeared to be a very stock Fiero that looked like a Jeep compared the the newer mini van that was behind it!

There can be deep snow here. My Mazda is sorta low and has been able to handle it. In fact, every daily driver I've had, save for a brief stint with my dad's old F150, was done in a regular car, some were even lowered. 

My friend Greg (Pseudosport in GRM speak) had a BMW 135i that made well over 300whp that was amazing in the snow to the point of jealousy. This is one of the reasons I haven't counted pony cars out. They are set up similarly these days with an IRS and multiple traction modes. 

Modern TC is magic wizardry. You can certainly overpower it with stupidity, but it's downright amazing. A lot of the "car drives right through it" that you see with modern cars is the computer being much smarter than the nut behind the wheel. I wouldn't hesitate, with one exception, hills. If you live in a super hilly area some days are going to suck. 

Honestly, hills tend to suck less with RWD in my experience.  Pointing uphill transfers weight rearward, plus a little bit of wheelspin doesn't lead to loss of steering, so it's much easier to hold the car right on the limits of traction and keep moving up the hill while still being able to steer.  With FWD, once you're using too much of your traction for moving, you have none left for steering. 

Just to add another voice to the chorus, I've driven nothing but RWD BMWs through the last 11 NY winters, and I'm in a hilly part of the state. The only problem I had was a freak October storm that hit before I had a chance to put my snow tires on. With good tires it's not only possible by fun. My E39 525i was perfectly tractable, but the longer wheelbase was not ideal for flinging it around. The current 128i is really, really good on its slightly narrower-than-stock Conti snows.

On a side note but apropos, I daily a 2006 Sierra in Massachusetts and we get a lot of snow. So many storms were in full-swing during my commutes.

I was AMAZED, truly amazed how great my truck was in 2wd. It was literally boring. This included much of my commute in the left lane on the highway in complete control. 

Drive carefully, snow tires.  You'll be just, like the many hundreds of thousands RWD performance car drivers who have come before you.

It's *just* winter, you can't let that get ahead of your dreams.

Just think about all the people who daily drive pickup trucks. Those things stop and corner worse than any pony car. And most are operated by non-enthusiast drivers with probably a fraction of your driving skill (assuming you’re into track stuff). 

I DD a Firebird in Michigan winters.  Good snow tires,  ballast in the trunk (I have 4 50lb bags of gravel I take in and out as needed) and you will be fine.

Look for a 3.7 V6 Mustang 11-14.

I DD’d a 2013 Mustang in Alaska for 2 winters. It did great, all you need are good snow tires and some common sense. 

I've daily driven a 2wd Chevy express for work for the past 7 years and a dodge van before that for probably the same amount of time. Also my personal cars have been 2wd Cummins ram 5 speed, 2wd 04 ram hemi, 01 ram wagon 2wd passenger van, and a 2wd 04 suburban. Last year I traded in the suburban and started driving my wife's old 06 Toyota Sienna. I miss the 2wd trucks and vans as I feel like the FWD really sucks in the snow. Maybe I'm crazy, but I prefer the control of the rwd in the snow. I'm on call 24 hours a day and get busy maintaining generators when the weather is at its worst. The 2wd 2500 express while not great rarely gets stuck and gets through some stuff it probably shouldn't. 

Two years ago my winter car was a base 2003 or 1 ford mustang.  I put semi decent snow tires on it.  One of the most fun winters I have ever had!  I loved driving it in the snow.  It never let  me down, nor was ever close to being stuck.  At one point I drove to and from boston from maine.  The drive out of boston was dicey at one point, but I was one of the faster cars on the highway.  This was during a major snow storm.  Holy cow, if I didn't have kids and as many cars as I do now, I would be searching for another just to drive in the snow.  At present we are going to prep a miata for rally cross, so I'll get my slide fix regardless.  

Dang, I say go for it.  I have nothing but happy memories of driving that car in the snow.  My sister was in a small hospital in boston.  People would see my car in the parking lot and comment on "who drove that from maine," not realizing it was me.  Too funny. What did people do before all wheel or fwd?  I had more comments of amazement from mainers who were shocked about the car.  Don't even think about it, just do it.  Life is short, new england has snow, find a way to enjoy every bit of the ride.  Just do some epic drifts.

Another anecdotal story: my Mazda P5 was literally stuck in my driveway on 1-2” of wet snow. I had to leave it in 1st while getting out and pushing and even then, the front end just rotated around.

I was horrified at how helpless I was so I bought the (seriously) cheapest no-name snow tires (on equally cheap Grand Caravan steel wheels) and I cannot explain the transition into a car/snowmobile it became.

If more people knew what snow tires were capable of, this AWD craze would never have occurred.

Do the masses think the region just shut down when a 6” snowstorm came around in the past?

ebonyandivory said:

Another anecdotal story: my Mazda P5 was literally stuck in my driveway on 1-2” of wet snow. I had to leave it in 1st while getting out and pushing and even then, the front end just rotated around.

I was horrified at how helpless I was so I bought the (seriously) cheapest no-name snow tires (on equally cheap Grand Caravan steel wheels) and I cannot explain the transition into a car/snowmobile it became.

If more people knew what snow tires were capable of, this AWD craze would never have occurred.

Do the masses think the region just shut down when a 6” snowstorm came around in the past?

My GF had a similar moment of enlightenment after struggling to get home in her Cobalt a bunch of years back. Bear in mind she's a very competent driver who insists on manual transmissions and understands vehicle dynamics. I had had snows for years on my BMW, but she had not on the assumption that FWD could make do with all-seasons. We ordered her a set of snows on steel wheels and mounted them a few days later. The epiphany was quick and total. Her current Mazda 3 is now more winter-capable than most of the mall crawlers roaming around these parts. I'm hoping to get her to do a winter autox up at Lime Rock this year.

The stories I got from my older relatives who grew up in Michigan often mentioned that everyone back in the 1940s and 50s had winter retreads with sawdust mixed into the rubber. They only lasted a season, but they gave good traction in the snow and ice.

Go for it! I've done a few winters with RWD up here in Canada (one on the Niagara Peninsula if you wanna talk about deep snow) and as long as you have good winter tires and aren't driving like an idiot you'll be fine.