My first snow drive

You could have passed him going a lot slower than you did and it looks like you had room to stay in the ruts

 

I don’t know what sudden turns you’re trying to make at 60mph but it’s not gonna happen on ice anyway.

Rear wheel drive is asking to fishtail. Perhaps not as badly with modern traction control, but certainly on older trucks. 4x4 keeps the truck tracking. And yeah, it sucks ass on tight corners if there’s too much grip on the road surface. But that’s not your typical highway situation.

But i guess we’re all experts in our own minds. Good luck out there y’all

 

Winter driving is a series of contradictions.

I will say, depending upon the conditons, little beats a Subaru and a Tacoma parked in your yard for choices. For one vehicle, an AWD version of the 4 Runner. We had the previous gen with both awd /4 wd 4Runner with studded snows....it was the safest all round winter diving vehicle we ever had.

 

Soooooo much bad information being tossed around here.

Snow driving threads bring out more opinions on the wizardry of 4wd than a good rock crawling thread.

 

^ True, it’s really road condition based what system is going to work best for you, and those conditions change often.

I agree all wheel drive is often better than the locked 4x4. But i like being able to throw it into 2wd and do donuts, so...

 

The faster you drive the more the the difference in speed needed to negotiate corners in 4 wd. It’s that simple. The faster you go, the greater that situation occurs. IMO, 40-45 mph is max in 4 wd with no center differential in snow. If you’re fish tailing in rwd in a truck for normal driving, you need more weight in back and better tires to get better balance.

Rwd ? For years, we negotiated winter with a 2wd Toyota Truck with 4 studded snows and 300lbs of weight in the back. Fish tailing was NEVER an issue. Fish tailing in rwd is manageable, as the vehicle will always follow the front wheels, even driving sideways.
Fwd on the other hand completely eliminated your ability to steer with the power on. I don’t know about you, but making a hill with any corner at all in fwd, is a huge challenge.

 

I’ll take my commuter Impreza with Blizzaks over my Tacoma in bad snow every day of the week. That AWD is amazing.

 

They aren’t opinions. There is the right way, and the wrong way to negotiate each situation. Read your owners manual; it generally gives you guidelines of reducing speed when in 4 wd for the exact reasons we state, no center diff. and the importance of snow tires and reduced speeds.

 

Exactly. I refereed BB games for 25 years, even when snow was predicted. Regardless of who was scheduled to drive, my fellow officials would ask we take my wife’s Subaru with snow tires. It never failed us. If we need a truck for really deep snow predictions, , the game was usually cancelled.

I was also a cop for ten years. Crown Vic’s with weight and winter tires weren’t bad, but nothing beats a Subby for winter driving, bang for the buck. I also also winter plowed out a very large business lot for a contractor. Yes, I drove to the plow with my wife’s Subaru. The ads aren’t far off.

 

Riddle me this Batman.

How did most of our parents and grandparents ever survive driving those old school rear wheel drive vehicles in the snow?

I have been driving pickup trucks in NY/NJ region since the 80's and this 2016 is the first 4x4.

I never missed a day of work even in some pretty bad snow storms by Northeast standards.

Maybe I just imagined it all?

Lol

 

for sure. If I didn’t need the bed for my camping gear and kayak plus high clearance for getting up into the mountains I probably would have bought a turbo Forester. Subaru’s are unstoppable in the snow.

 

I’m talking 65-75mph interstate, not a twisty country backroad. And yeah, Fwd isn’t ideal for cornering — and it loses it’s grip advantage when the weight transfers to the back going uphill - but they sure track nicely on the interstate. Depends on the car too - my 95 continental was extremely predictable understeer - but my 05 sentra would wildly oversteer. /sketch/ in a fwd

We may have a difference in the snow & ice we get as well - i’m from Alaska, and once winter sets in it’s more or less permanently icy. They plow it constantly but fresh snow dumps will change the traction level a fair amount. I’ve /never/ felt 4hi bind up in these conditions at speed because the highway’s corners are mellow enough

again, each method of power delivery has benefits and drawbacks

My friend hails from Colorado and similarly had an old 2wd tacoma, had worked at a ski lodge and hadn’t had problems there - but he was almost always drifting just getting it to move around anchorage. Quite a few times he wouldn’t come over because it was too dangerous for his truck.

 

Well I didn’t say all the information way bad. But you’re awfully quick to jump on me for no apparent reason. Maybe I did read my owners manual. And I do have snow tires. And I do drive at reduced speeds when the conditions warrant.


Spoiler: I didn’t read my owners manual.

 

I’m not saying you can’t manage in 2wd in slick conditions on the interstate. I’m saying 4x4 is categorically better

i’ve had a few rwd beamers and loved them. But if the conditions on the highway were bad enough, they were prone to oversteer.

 

No, forgive me for seeming to jump on you. Just using your post as a jumping off for making general comments. I find the most reliable information tends to come from people that live where winter driving is worse.

 

Maybe, but the number of AWD/4x4 vehicles that skid off the road/ into other vehicles during relatively minor storms here says otherwise, again -lol.

 

my theory on that is that the 2wds didn’t make it out of the driveway!!

The ditch divers are more likely driver error than vehicle

 

I hear you. As usual, winter driving is so variable, tires are actually more important then the drivetrain. So, the debate about 2wd vs 4 wd is not set in stone. I have had nothing but and/4wd for the last 25 years. So in general, we agree. 4wd gives you the option of both.

My take....i remember. My dad had VWs with snow tires. Nearly all cars were underpower and everyone threw weight in the back for deep snow. 95% of all the cars also had much narrower tires which are better for point loading in snow.

It’s an issue today, because everyone has wide tires which float. Also, fwd SUCKS and properly prepared RWD is better.

We also stayed home moreduring storms.

 

It’s the driver not the vehicle. I see people everyday driving like the OP video. I usually see them twice. Once when they fly past me like a jackass and then again when I pass them a mile up the road because they ended up on the side of the road in a ditch.

 

Exactly. Too many people buy awd/4wd and think they are the cure all. Crappy tires and excess speeds completely diminishes their advantages.

A 4 wd with summer tires will accelerate faster then a 2wd with winter tires, but it can't stop or turn as well...you then drive INTO trouble with 4 wd