What vehicle for snowy driving?

[Corporateburnout]

I drove to work in all weather conditions in snowy NE for 50 miles each way for 35+ years with good all season tires and front wheel sedans. Never had a accident.

4WD and AWD are a big help for not getting stuck on hills in heavy snow. Icy roads are the most dangerous and tricky.

Experience with driving in snowy conditions is the most important factor followed by good tires and lastly AWD/FWD. Driving at a manageable speed, Keeping a safe distance to other vehicle, slow changing of lanes on highway, using the transmission for downhill shifting, proper steering of vehicle when fishtailing will go a long way to keeping one safe in bad weather conditions.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Proper air pressure in your tires is huge. I monitor mine like I do my portfolio on the cold days. Not having rubber to grab the road is no good.

"Proper" is a pretty gray area. When I was into ice autocrossing years ago, it was a common practice to drop tire air pressure to 22-23 PSI to improve the contact patch. Of course, everyone who was competing had various types of winter tires, ranging from Hakkapeliittas to Blizzaks to dedicated ice-racing tires with 3/4-inch studs.

 

[street]

2012 Cadillac CTS4, AWD does fine in snow.
2016 Chevy Colorado Z71 4x4 when the stuff is deep and going to my camp in the boonies.

I have an "08" Colorado and is the ranch pickup and all my bumming around outfit. I have 140K and get misused a lot form where it has to go. It gets around better then my crew cab pickup in snow and bad weather.

 

[Music Lover]

I drove to work in all weather conditions in snowy NE for 50 miles each way for 35+ years with good all season tires and front wheel sedans. Never had a accident.

Maybe not, but by choosing all seasons you always had less traction than those with dedicated winter tires for every single minute you are on the road. I routinely get stuck behind people with who take forever to clear an intersection in their FWD cars with all-seasons. Traffic backs up because fewer cars are able to move through each light change.

 

[ls99]

Inexperienced drivers with 4x4s just get be further away from help when they get stuck in the boonies.

 

[Mdlerth]

Of course, those of us with personal jetpacks don't care about traction

The late author Tom Clancy had his own M4 Sherman tank. Not particularly great mpg, but it had good traction in all sorts of weather conditions.

 

[RunningBum]

I don't think having 4WD makes one drive like an idiot, but rather some idiots have 4WD and get themselves in a worse mess. My preference is to have a very good vehicle for snowy/icy conditions, and stay home if I can. If I have to or choose to be out, I want to be able to get around. I like to think I'm not an idiot, at least not in this respect.

 

[davebarnes]

This one

 

[Corporateburnout]

I don't think having 4WD makes one drive like an idiot, but rather some idiots have 4WD and get themselves in a worse mess.

I encountered a few of these idiots who think there 4WD is weather proof and drive 60 miles/hour in heavy snow on the highway when traffic is moving at 40 miles/hour. A few of them ended up down into the ditch....

 

[Lakewood90712]

This one

Ya , but does it come equipped with Bluetooth ?

Seems you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a Sube or 4X Suburban when the going gets slushy.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I encountered a few of these idiots who think there 4WD is weather proof and drive 60 miles/hour in heavy snow on the highway when traffic is moving at 40 miles/hour. A few of them ended up down into the ditch....

Then there's the flip side of the coin, a driver poorly prepared for winter motoring, going 30 mph while straddling two lanes on the interstate because he was afraid he was going to slide off the road. I used to encounter drivers like that regularly on my nighttime commute home.

 

[RunningBum]

I encountered a few of these idiots who think there 4WD is weather proof and drive 60 miles/hour in heavy snow on the highway when traffic is moving at 40 miles/hour. A few of them ended up down into the ditch....

Of course. But some people seem to be saying, don't get a 4WD because they all drive like idiots and you will drive like an idiot and get yourself into trouble. That doesn't have to happen.

 

[calmloki]

Gotta get Smart for snow driving:

Honestly, that 8' long car seems like it would swap directions real fast.

 

[copyright1997reloaded]

I live in upstate NY (no, not 50 miles from NYC, real upstate) where we get our "fair share" of snow and icy roads. I've driven all kinds of vehicles here, from rear wheel drive w/summer tires, cars with all seasons, FWD cars w/snow tires, AWD w/all seasons, 4WD w/all seasons, AWD w/snow tires, and 4WD w/snow tires (with and without studs).

You might be able to 'get by' with any of these living here. But doing so with safety and not being afraid to be on a road with some snow changes things once you've tried the various combinations.

I have three vehicles, one Ford truck w/4WD, one Subaru Outback w/AWD (manual transmission), and one summer rear-wheel drive sports car (which never sees the snow nowadays). For both the truck and Outback, I have a set of four dedicate snow tires on dedicated (steel) wheels. On top of this, with the truck I put about 350-400# of sand, salt, etc in the truck bed (my truck bed is covered) over the rear axle. I do this because my safety and my child's safety is worth it, and I frequently take my vehicles to ski resorts through mountain roads.

Could I get by w/o the snows? Yes. But they are worth it to me and also prolong the lifespan of my summer tires. Worth every penny spent, and it makes it much less nail biting to go someplace during the winter.

Comparing the vehicles, the Subaru does excellent in the snow, and you don't have the decision of whether it is slick enough to put it in 4WD. (Note that the AWD drive systems are different on the manual transmission model vs. the automatics, at least on the older models, in this case 2006.) But if the snow is deep enough, I'd rather be in the truck with the higher clearance and better sight in terms of other vehicles throwing snow and slush towards you.

As an aside, I also have chains for the truck which I keep in the truck during the winter. But, I've never had to use them.

 

[Tetto]

My Subie always get me to work in any amount of snow!

 

[Nick12]

My current vehicles are front wheel drive coupes with a six speed manual transmission. When I visit my friends in snow country I have better control in my car rowing through the gears and having a better feel of the engine speed. And the best part, my friends and family don't ask to drive my cars since they do not know how to drive a stick.

 

[travelover]

The late author Tom Clancy had his own M4 Sherman tank. Not particularly great mpg, but it had good traction in all sorts of weather conditions.

....and probably cut down on road rage assaults.