Colorado man gets 'too inspired' by Forza Horizon so takes his Ford Mustang off-road on muddy trail and it doesn't go too well

This guy may have played too many video games and decided to do something unorthodox with his Ford Mustang in Colorado.

The Mustang isn’t designed to be driven off-road, especially his, which appears to be even lower to the ground.

The first few seconds of the video reveal some minor damage to the front.

But it gets much, much worse later.

Why taking a Ford Mustang off-road can be tricky

When it comes to off-roading, three things must be considered.

The first one is the terrain.

Which sounds a bit obvious, but maybe it isn’t.

For instance, most cars can deal with gravel, washboard roads, or even a bit of snow, dirt, or mud.

However, only a handful of vehicles can handle tough off-road tracks or steep hills.

But then this brings us to the second and third points: ride height and tires.

Traction is important – four-wheel drive always beats front- or rear-wheel drive off-road – but you won’t go anywhere on the wrong tires.

The best off-roader in the world will still get stuck with slick tires on ice.

TThe other factor is ride height – or more accurately, ground clearance – which is ultimately what caused the damage to this Ford Mustang.

This Mustang is not in good shape

This Ford Mustang driver attempted to tackle an incredibly steep incline in the woods in Colorado, and it didn’t go well.

In terms of traction and tires, the car did well.

The track was covered in a combination of dry dirt and wet mud, and the driver managed to keep full control of the car without sliding, which is a win.

Sadly, this particular Mustang was way too low to the ground, which caused some minor damage to the front end but massive damage to the rear section.

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In the first few seconds, you can clearly see the front splitter bending and twisting in a way it’s not supposed to.

Then, moments later, a wider shot reveals severe damage to the rear bumper.

And that’s only what we can see, because hopefully there’s no structural damage underneath.

One viewer wrote: “When you got too inspired by Forza Horizon.”

The most important component of off-roading

Year in, year out, a tire brand called Nokian Tyres invites journalists and media representatives to their track in Lapland, Finland, for some interesting tests.

One of the most revealing involves a few VW Golfs on five or six different sets of tires ranging from ranging from slicks to winter tires to studded winter tires for hardcore Finnish (or Colorado) weather.

The idea is simple: get in and drive.

It sounds easy, but the problem is that the test is conducted on an ice track, and the ice is ultra-smooth and slippery.

The whole point is to prove that tires matter more than we think, and it works.

I did that twice, and the difference was absolutely staggering.

On slicks or normal all-season tires, the car simply wouldn’t move.

The wheels kept spinning aimlessly.

On winter tires—or even better, on ‘hardcore Finnish winter’ studded tires – the FWD Golf drove more or less normally.

Still, as the Ford Mustang owner proved, it’s still hopeless if the car is too low and ends up being damaged.