Frank Fontaine

Well, today I drove from way Upstate NY (we're talking Canada) back to Philly. It was crazy, there must have been over 30 vehicles off the road. What did surprise me were some of the cars that I thought were good in snow were in accidents--Saab, Audi, Volvo, Chevy Blazer (flipped-over as well as a Honda Civic), jack-knifed TT. It made me wonder, the vehicles that we think are good in snow, are they really good or do people just drive them more to their limits and make out ok? I've always noticed that tractor trailers and buses DO NOT slow down and figured it was the RWD and weight that made it ok. I'll tell you this much, when you see an accident before emergency vehicles arrive, that's downright eerie. Hat's off to the NYS Police, they definitely had their hands full tonight. GSP and I-95S seemed to be all rain, so we could get back up to 60-70. That 40 mph through NYS added hours to the trip.

Redmax

iTrader: (20)

I think the problem is that people think they are invincible in these vehicles when they are not!!! People drive them too hard and then oops

Nozama

iTrader: (1)

I drive for a towing company and pull more four wheel drive vehicles out of the ditch than any others during winter.

People definitely assume that four wheel drive means safer and faster on iced roads... not true.

nismotech

AWD is definitly faster then any FWD and RWD in winter, atleast from a dead start and cornering, but the thing is you gotta know how your car will behave (aka Skilled Drivers) You don't just hop on a AWD or a 4WD vehicle and think you are now Tsuchia from Best Motoring Video.

Btw, I was having some fun with my friends 2000 Subaru Forester 5spd in the snow 2 days ago when snow has just been pile for like 2inches (Indiana), I was in my Max and I ravved at him just a little bit just to see what he will do. He took off and got like 5 cars ahead in like 10seconds while I was still spinning on my RE92's..... It was funny as hell, both of us was laughing our asses off when we got to my place. Then we went to a empty parking lot to have some fun, I was e-braking and "Sliding" enjoy my time in the snow, while he's showing me the "FUN of any Subaru in the snow" Hope it snows more in the next couple days~

I LOVE SNOW!

Frank Fontaine

I love snow too, unfortunately Phila. is not too well-equipped to deal with it. Nothing like starting up the thrower and clearing the driveway and sidewalks after a heavy snowfall.....AR AR AR AR MORE POWER!!

But back to what I was saying, my hunch is that the AWD vehicles will not get stuck, and they give their owners confidence, which adds up to higher speeds which under most circumstances will be ok. With our normal FWD cars, we don't push our cars to the limit under heavy snow so we're ok too, but perhaps our cars are capable of more. But again, all those SUVS drove like they were invincible, Navigators, Explorers, Xterras, Escapes, X5's. Again I'm still wondering about the tractor-trailers and buses--my hunch is their weight and drivetrain do add up to being capable of higher speeds in snow, with the exception of stopping. btw 5-spd Forester sounds like a fun car to have in the winter.

Maxima-2

iTrader: (8)

HA HA I live right there, I was drinving home from ski country. What a mess, maxi was quite squirley. oh well glad you made it home OK.