• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Get 4 wheel drive/all wheel drive/multi-wheel drive car just for snow/rain?

JEDI

JEDI

Lifer
it's snowing right now. normally thats not a problem. front wheel drive and my all season tires (Michelin mvp4?) has gotten me thru snow in past winters.

but today on my way home, i slid past the red light where most of my car is now past the cross walk. luckily cars were driving slow because of the weather and stopped in time.

but OMG what a scare!
what if there was a car already crossing the intersection and i t-bone him. worse yet, what if he hadnt cross the intersection yet, couldnt stop in time, and t-bones me on my driver side door.

now i'm thinking of getting a used 2nd car (4 wheel drive/all wheel drive/multi-wheel drive/etc) for when it snows/rains.

Yes/no?
 
Last edited:
Getting a beater is always good if you don't want to mess up your car but an AWD car will not help you when stopping. You need proper snow tires and drive properly for the condition. That'll help you out more than any AWD car ever could.
 
I buy Subarus for all of the snow we get here. I will never buy a two wheel drive car unless it is a summer weekend toy.
 
JEDI said:
so awd/4wd just allows me to not get stuck in snow?

so awd/4wd does nothing for rain since u dont get stuck in rain?
Click to expand...

propulsion <> stopping.


But I'll admit that is how I sold the 4Matic idea to my wife. It's safer :biggrin:
 
Last edited:
JEDI said:
so awd/4wd just allows me to not get stuck in snow?

so awd/4wd does nothing for rain since u dont get stuck in rain?
Click to expand...

..stuck..in..rain??? Um, no. And, to reference the OP:

JEDI said:
it's snowing right now. normally thats not a problem. front wheel drive and my all season tires (Michelin mvp4?) has gotten me thru snow in past winters.

but today on my way home, i slid past the red light where most of my car is now past the cross walk. luckily cars were driving slow because of the weather and stopped in time.

but OMG what a scare!
what if there was a car already crossing the intersection and i t-bone him. worse yet, what if he hadnt cross the intersection yet, couldnt stop in time, and t-bones me on my driver side door.

now i'm thinking of getting a used 2nd car (4 wheel drive/all wheel drive/multi-wheel drive/etc) for when it snows/rains.

Yes/no?
Click to expand...
 
JEDI said:
so awd/4wd just allows me to not get stuck in snow?

so awd/4wd does nothing for rain since u dont get stuck in rain?
Click to expand...

Dur...

Why would you think 4WD would help you stop? Stopping, in rain, or snow, or dry pavement even, is purely a function of friction between your tires and the road, and it has absolutely nothing at all to do with how many wheels are being driven by the engine.

Edit-You probably would have been able to stop sooner with a good set of snow tires. Unless you were on ice of course.
 
Last edited:
As others have said, snow tires (or Winter tires, they have a "snowflake" symbol on them) are what will help you corner and stop better in snow (but not necessarily ice).

Of course AWD will help you move out of the way faster when someone else who thought they could make it without snow tires is sliding towards you with no sign of stopping in time. 😉

My wife was telling me last week that she had a scary drive to work. She saw a total of SEVEN different MULTIPLE CAR accidents on her 40 mile commute. It was basically a cold snap followed by snow, so fresh snow over ice (snowplows can't do much to ice and when really cold the stuff they spread on it can't melt it). My wife felt her car squirm around and slide a bit, and she has snow tires! This is Wisconsin, so not like it was a freak snowstorm for people not used to snow.
 
Winter tires is all you need for most situations. 4WD is really for deep snow and hilly conditions. Buy the best winter tire you can afford. Based on your post I would suggest a tire more designed for icy road conditions i.e. Blizzak, etc. Stopping power on ice has always been a top priority in my books.

Take it slow and don't rush is really the order of the day. I also hate winter driving.

Best of luck out there!
 
A co-worker swears his 3800lb AWD sedan handles better in the rain than his 2800lb FWD hatch that was lowered by cutting coils off the springs. I am guessing it has more to do with the stock suspension and weight on the sedan and less to do with the AWD, he'll never buy anything but AWD now though. He bought the marketing hook, line and sinker.
 
AWD can certainly handle better than AWD in wet conditions. Also really stiff suspensions can handle worse in the rain than softer ones.
 
kornphlake said:
A co-worker swears his 3800lb AWD sedan handles better in the rain than his 2800lb FWD hatch that was lowered by cutting coils off the springs. I am guessing it has more to do with the stock suspension and weight on the sedan and less to do with the AWD, he'll never buy anything but AWD now though. He bought the marketing hook, line and sinker.
Click to expand...

Bolded is pure fact. Cut spring cars are so funny to watch cruising down a multilane road and seeing how the other cars ahead of you react to a bridge seam or other bump.

Weight and especially tires are going to be the main factor in stopping in deep snow. The consistency of the snow matters as well, but mostly higher weight and narrower tires will help you get to your friction surface and quicker than just trying to have the tires slow the mass on much slicker surfaces (snow pack).

That said, I do use my 4wd somewhat regularly, but mostly when I am taking advantage of my high ground clearance as well. Most of my time on paved roads is set to RWD only.
I have actually only used the low range lock twice successfully twice, where the other times have actually dug my hole deeper.
 
Last edited:
AWD helps you go, it won't help you slow down. The reason to get AWD is when your area gets really bad snow and you can't get your car going (at least in the direction you intend it to go). What you experienced was probably a combination of tires that weren't ideal for conditions and going to fast when you had limited traction.

I got through plenty of northeastern winters without snow tires or AWD but i learned to slow down depending on the conditions. Brake early if you know you need to stop and slow down well before an intersection if you're not sure you're going to make it through the light. You might hit a few more stop lights but you won't find yourself sitting in the middle of the intersection.
 
Invest in a spare set of rims, floor jack, impact wrench and some serious snow tires. You can put them on for those few months when you need them and they will last for many years.
 
I have a RWD car with Continental DWS tires on it and it goes through snow and stops just fine.

Good tires and a good driver will always do better than average tires/driver in a 4wd. That and 4wd does not help stop, that is tires.
 
sdifox said:
But I'll admit that is how I sold the 4Matic idea to my wife. It's safer :biggrin:
Click to expand...
lol. I'm totally stealing this argument when the issue comes up 😀

This logical problem is also why people with 4wd seem to be the majority of the people in the ditch. If the car accelerates faster, it must also brake faster and take corners fast! :awe:
 
ShawnD1 said:
lol. I'm totally stealing this argument when the issue comes up 😀

This logical problem is also why people with 4wd seem to be the majority of the people in the ditch. If the car accelerates faster, it must also brake faster and take corners fast! :awe:
Click to expand...

Yea people think AWD is the savior for cars yet they're usually the ones that crash first in bad weather.
 
Zap said:
"Honey, better acceleration and cornering allows you to AVOID accidents. Think of the kids!" :whiste:
Click to expand...

I can't even begin to tell you how true that is.

Recently the snow in my area has piled so high up that I can't see oncoming traffic. After picking up one of my friends, I started inching out to make a right turn onto a residential road that usually has no traffic on it. There's a snow pile to my left, so I can't exactly see what is coming. I can see maybe 100 feet away and it's at an angle. It's dark out so I'm mostly looking for headlights. I don't see any. I start to go and HOLY SHIT THERE IS CAR MAYBE 100 FEET AWAY. I stomp on the gas and fuck all happens. As usual, my pile of shit crayola with open differential spins 1 of the tires 100mph and the other does nothing. I'm not accelerating at all even though it has winter tires. I'm 100&#37; relying on the other guy to hit the brakes to prevent hitting me.

FWD cars are dangerous and should be illegal. Everyone knows this.



The same thing also happened about 2 weeks ago. I was making a right turn. I had at least a football field of distance to go and it's only a 40 mph zone, so I went. Piece of fuck toyota crayola traction control kicks in, completely cuts the throttle, I'm not accelerating at all. Meanwhile there's a 6000lb Cadillac Escalade behind me going roughly the speed limit. If he didn't slow down, I would probably be dead right now. Fucking death trap pile of shit FWD car. They need to be outlawed.

I also got stuck in the McDonalds drive through last week. Whoever invented the open differential needs to be killed. I'm not even joking.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top