Live in the snow belt?? What car do you drive?

[amyy]

Another loyal Subaru driver here.

 

[mrodgers]

North western PA here, well above the PA snow belt. 24 inch snowfall isn't an OMG! moment, it is expected at least once and occasional/often 18 inch is expected as well. 12inch snowfall is the norm and the 8 inch storms that the news panics about is nothing more than a mere dusting (actually the news ridiculously panics about 2 inches like it's the end of the world anymore....)

As has already been said, any car with winter tread tires beats out just 4WD on regular tires any day of the week.

I've been driving true 4x4's for the past 15+ years. I'm not talking the AWD crappy mallrunners, true yank a mechanical lever and both axles are mechanically locked together 4WD with off-road designed tires. This past winter (a relatively rough winter with snow, but nothing greatly unusual with occasional 18inch storms) I regularly drove a car for the first time in 15 years. It was an old million mile Honda Civic with winter tread tires. It went every bit as good as my true 4WD's with off-road tires. It did FAR better than the Ford Escape did (the Escape is terrible in snow and not just because of the tires.) I was amazed at the abilities of the Honda with the snow tires.

I drove the Honda into the untouched snow in the work parking lot. This was probably 35 inches deep snow at least from several snowstorms. The car plowed the snow up on top of the hood and I stopped just to see if I could get moving again. No problems whatsoever. On the roads where the snow is regularly plowed off, no problems whatsoever. I was fully capable of just driving as normal.

Don't worry about what car you need for snow. You only have to worry about what tires you put on that car.

 

[Tigger2252]

Thanks for the laugh. Only funny 'cause it's true!!!

Have you seen the Golden Snowball? http://goldensnowball.blogspot.com/ Binghamton beat Buffalo last year

I live in Syracuse, the winner of the Golden Snowball. I own a 2000 Ford Explorer AWD that has gotten me through many winters here in the snow belt. This year I will be driving an AWD Buick Enclave. I wanted another SUV but the Enclave is pretty heavy, and with the AWD and wheel base I shouldn't have any trouble getting out of the driveway. We are fortunate to have an outstanding highway department around here so unless we get 3 or 4 feet overnight we usually can get to work.

 

[GrimGrinningVal]

Chevy Equinox. The 4 wheel drive kicks in automatically when the system feels a tire slipping. Last winter I had to climb up a hill after turning around due to an accident at the bottom of the hill. Lets just say, I gripped my steering wheel, and prayed that I could get back up that hill and I did! I could feel the 4 wheel drive kick in and my Equinox did a great job! Also handles ice well, if any vehicle can be said to do well on ice. lol!

 

[Bilberry]

What ever car you end up buying, what made the biggest difference in handling snow for me was snow tires. You can have a little, light, sports car - add snow tires to it, and it will travel in slick conditions well.

 

[tvguy]

Weird! Where in Canada do your uncles live? I am Canadian and can't recall any other Canadians professing a love for RWD vehicles in snowy conditions.

Ottawa, Ontario, Saskatoon, and near Prince Albert Saskachewan.
I was in Saskatoon and Prince Albert this summer. The one thing different I was struck by when it came to vehicles in Canada this trip was how many 2 wheel drive standard cab Toyota Tundra and Nissan Titan pickups I saw. At least here in California, everyone buys at least the extended cab versions, or the crew cabs. The U. S. Nissan website doesn't even list them making a standard cab for sale here.

 

[golfgal]

I have 3 uncles in Canada. They swear by anything big, american, and with rear wheel drive. One is a Chrysler man, one a GM man, one a Ford man. 2 have Ford Crown Victorias now, one a Mercury Grand Marquis since GM doesn't make anything large and rear wheel drive cars, and Chrysler stopped for a number of years.
All 3 uncles refuse to buy front wheel drive, and all 3 feel 4 wheel drive is unnecessary, including the uncle who lives in a community with no paved roads.

That's probably because they like to do donuts in parking lots . I am sure they also weigh down the back of their cars/trucks with huge bags of sand like we did in the olden days. No need for that with FWD.

 

[720L]

We have found that for 99% of the time a car with front wheel drive and good tires works as well as any 4 wheel drive/AWD car and gets WAY better gas mileage. Traction control is a plus, especially since you don't have to have it on all the time. Usually when we see cars in the ditches during a storm they are SUV's that had just flown past everyone driving safely because they assume they are safe because they have an SUV .

agree

 

[mrodgers]

Chevy Equinox. The 4 wheel drive kicks in automatically when the system feels a tire slipping.

This is exactly what makes the Ford Escape so horrible in snow. All this automatic stuff is junk.

If the vehicle "senses slip", isn't it reasonable to assume that you've SLIPPED? You've already slipped. It's too late. It might be fine when you are trying to go from a stoplight, sure. Tire slips, car won't move, car senses, 4wd kicks in, car moves. But what about while you are driving, around a sharp corner for instance? You've slipped. You are heading to the ditch. You are sliding across the lane of traffic. You've already slipped.

The biggest experience I had of this automatic crap was trying to pull out into a stream of traffic from a stop in my wife's Escape (actually, it's a Mazda Tribute, but the same thing.) Saw a big enough break and gave it some throttle. Pulled out and as I turned the wheel the front wheels slipped. Sent the front end sliding towards the opposite lane of traffic. No problem, right? The 4WD automatically "kicks" in..... and breaks the rear loose and the rear end whips around.

Actual 4WD or even 2WD and the situation would have been under control. Tires slip, lift off the throttle, tires stop slipping. Or with real 4WD, it would have been in 4WD and the situation would have never even presented it's self.

Automatic this and automatic that. It's allowing us to learn how to drive less and less and making us rely on our vehicles to do the driving more and more. We haven't been able to select the proper gears for years now. Then we haven't been able to properly brake in a slippery condition. Recently we now can't figure out how to lift off the throttle so that the tires stop slipping. And today, we can't look at the road conditions and state "I need it in 4WD." Now we have to drive around in poor conditions in 2WD until after the fact that we needed the 4WD to begin with and the car automatically "kicks" it in, again after the fact!

 

[tvguy]

That's probably because they like to do donuts in parking lots . I am sure they also weigh down the back of their cars/trucks with huge bags of sand like we did in the olden days. No need for that with FWD.

Yep, on the sand bags.

 

[tvguy]

This is exactly what makes the Ford Escape so horrible in snow. All this automatic stuff is junk.

If the vehicle "senses slip", isn't it reasonable to assume that you've SLIPPED? You've already slipped. It's too late. It might be fine when you are trying to go from a stoplight, sure. Tire slips, car won't move, car senses, 4wd kicks in, car moves. But what about while you are driving, around a sharp corner for instance? You've slipped. You are heading to the ditch. You are sliding across the lane of traffic. You've already slipped.

The biggest experience I had of this automatic crap was trying to pull out into a stream of traffic from a stop in my wife's Escape (actually, it's a Mazda Tribute, but the same thing.) Saw a big enough break and gave it some throttle. Pulled out and as I turned the wheel the front wheels slipped. Sent the front end sliding towards the opposite lane of traffic. No problem, right? The 4WD automatically "kicks" in..... and breaks the rear loose and the rear end whips around.

Actual 4WD or even 2WD and the situation would have been under control. Tires slip, lift off the throttle, tires stop slipping. Or with real 4WD, it would have been in 4WD and the situation would have never even presented it's self.

Automatic this and automatic that. It's allowing us to learn how to drive less and less and making us rely on our vehicles to do the driving more and more. We haven't been able to select the proper gears for years now. Then we haven't been able to properly brake in a slippery condition. Recently we now can't figure out how to lift off the throttle so that the tires stop slipping. And today, we can't look at the road conditions and state "I need it in 4WD." Now we have to drive around in poor conditions in 2WD until after the fact that we needed the 4WD to begin with and the car automatically "kicks" it in, again after the fact!

We are in the process of switching our fleet of 4x4's from Explorers to Escapes. Our photographers love the Escapes so far in the snow. I had to take one up in a storm that was so bad it closed the freeway, felt secure the entire way.
One of our competitors bought a couple of Subarus, boy was that a mistake. Not enough ground clearance I hear, A couple of $250 tow bills and their boss said they were never to be sent to the snow again.

 

[NewDCLGuy]

SUV's and 4WD/AWD is great if you want to drive off road, over snowbanks and up steep mountains.

But if you are going to be driving on paved roads, and are concerned about slipping and skidding in the snow and ice, snow tires are by far the most important thing.

We get several feet of snow a year. The folks who live up in the hills at the end of long, unpaved driveways need the 4x4. The rest of us... some have cars, others SUVs... just a matter of preference for whatever you enjoy driving. On the worse snow days, a lot of people stay home from work. If you look at the vehicles of people who do drive in, you'll see the same portion of cars as any other day.

 

[I loveStitchnippyjon]

I think it all depends on what you get used to.
We live in an area that gets lake-effect snows off of Lake Ontario all winter. Usually about 200 inches per year. I have been driving my Forester for 6 years 60 miles round-trip to work and feel very secure in it. It just keeps moving no matter how deep the snow is in the road (and I have "plowed" snow a few times!).
DH, on the other hand, feels the same way about his Camry. In ten years he has only been stuck in snow pulling out of the garage!
So it's hard to say what is "best".....

 

[tvguy]

I think it all depends on what you get used to.
We live in an area that gets lake-effect snows off of Lake Ontario all winter. Usually about 200 inches per year. I have been driving my Forester for 6 years 60 miles round-trip to work and feel very secure in it. It just keeps moving no matter how deep the snow is in the road (and I have "plowed" snow a few times!).
DH, on the other hand, feels the same way about his Camry. In ten years he has only been stuck in snow pulling out of the garage!
So it's hard to say what is "best".....

Interesting, they were using Foresters, and "plowing snow" was where they got into trouble. Actually, durability was the big issue. The tailgates fell off both Foresters the bought. But that probably wouldn't be an issue for normal folks. TV crews are in an out of the tailgate a lot more often than normal folks.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I live in the snow belt too and love my Chevy HHR. It has traction control and handles very well in 8 or more inches of snow. It gets wonderful gas mileage. I get 28 mpg in city and 32 mpg on the highway. Has a digital information center that keeps track of the mpg. Great for hauling things around. I have had my car for 5 yrs and it has seen its share of snow storms.