Driving in snow questions?

Good tires in a bad car will trump bad tires on a good car in every case. Good tires on a good car is equal to Charley Sheen on his best day.

I have a Volvo XC90 withAWD with Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice all around Winning.

nicksta43 wrote: For me FWD is dangerous in the snow. I simply can not do it.

I can't do a Super Model, but that doesn't make it dangerous.

40+ years driving where it snows every winter, FWD is the way to go. Think this, RWD into a corner and it understeers. You are headed half way into a corner and looking at a row of parked cars, wheels turned right but you're going straight. Now what? Hit the brake and hope you don't plank the row of parked cars?

With FWD you blip the gas and the FRONT WHEELS pull you around the corner; you, the kiddies and the parked cars are safe.

Change the gears in your head.

Dan

I prefer as much feedback as I can get from the car. My NX2000 (manual) with stiff springs,shocks,bushings, heavy clutch, no power steering, VLSD, snow tires... was the easiest to control and predict in the snow of a dozen or so cars I have driven in the snow. It never got stuck in the snow or ice. I would routinely drive over the speed limit on steep curvy roads that would be lined with others off to either side of the road.

Manual or auto I don't think matter that much defiantly not as much as some kind of LSD and snow tires as already said by others

In reply to 914Driver:

See my last post in this thread. I grew up where it snowed every year. Simply a skill I don't have. And why I said "For me"

ddavidv wrote:

fanfoy wrote: And the stick lets you do some things that an auto will not. For example, it's much easier to rock the car to get out of snow with a stick then with an auto.

Mmmm....no. Maybe if the shifter is column mounted, but a floor shift auto is way easier to zip between forward and reverse than any stick shift I've owned.

I think you don't understand the method I'm talking about. You don't put it in reverse. You press the clutch, the car goes back. As soon as it starts rolling forward again to go back in the hole, you let go of the clutch. You do this back and forth dance a couple of time, and you're out of your hole.

It's hard to explain, but if you would see it, you'd understand.

Depends on the automatic and the car it resides in. Big heavy full size FWD cars with massive cast iron engines and heavy duty automatic transmissions are hard to beat in snow. The smaller lighter cars where you dont have as much weight on the driven tires, those are where a stick shines.

kurk9 wrote: @Duke do you think its easier in snow with stick or auto?

Actually, Kenny there answers it pretty well: a lot depends upon the car:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: Depends on the automatic and the car it resides in. Big heavy full size FWD cars with massive cast iron engines and heavy duty automatic transmissions are hard to beat in snow. The smaller lighter cars where you dont have as much weight on the driven tires, those are where a stick shines.

If the Corolla's throttle map is giving you trouble, don't start in D. Try going past that to 2. On most modern automatics, that will actually launch the car in 2nd gear. This should help with the aggressive throttle response. Once the car is rolling, shift to D to let the transmission shift up normally.

a FWD Saab 900 with both the engine and trans pretty much right over the front axles is pretty tough to beat in the snow

Transmissions with an electronicly controlled clutch are by far the worst in the snow.

kurk9 wrote: @happyandy Why is it bad? Is it what I mentioned or owithto the ther things?

I started this thread about my road trip with the awful carolla rental car last spring.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Someone already said it. FWD works best with skinny tires inflated properly.

And a hand brake, we must not forget the handbrake!

Duke wrote: If the Corolla's throttle map is giving you trouble, don't start in D. Try going past that to 2. On most modern automatics, that will actually launch the car in 2nd gear. This should help with the aggressive throttle response. Once the car is rolling, shift to D to let the transmission shift up normally.

My first car was a 92 Camry 4 banger, slushbox, selecting 2 gave a 1-2 mode, my solution at slick intersections was to floor it and then let up so the trans would upshift to second gear and pull away.

I love my little 323 in the winter, probably because it's so familiar. But one of the absolute best cars I've ever driven in the snow was the Porsche Cayman R. I could tell what each wheel was doing at all times - the communication was that good. So easy to have fun and know exactly how far to push it.

The_Jed wrote:

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Someone already said it. FWD works best with skinny tires inflated properly.

And a hand brake, we must not forget the handbrake!

Well duh

In slippery conditions, AWD is faster than FWD is faster than RWD. There's a reason why the SCCA separates rallycross classes by where the drive wheels are - there's no comparison in speed or performance between them.

They're also entirely different types of driving. Personally, I find RWD more fun, even if it's slower. It also means that when you go into a corner a little too fast, understeer (as most cars are prone to do at the limit), you just goose the gas a little, kick out the rear, and make the corner anyway.

I'm undecided on whether auto or manual is better. Auto is much easier to get going from a stop, so in that way it's superior because moving is better than not moving. But once moving, you do have more control with a manual - a higher gear, engine braking, and all that fun stuff.

No matter what the car or drivetrain, snow tires are EVERYTHING. They'll turn a turd into a diamond as far as snow performance is concerned, and I don't care what you drive. I was actually having a little trouble sliding my P71 as much as I wanted to yesterday. And that's a big powerful two ton RWD beast that you'd think would be horrific in the snow.

I had a 2005 Corolla as well (auto) and I don't remember it as being particularly good in the snow. As I recall, I wasn't a fan of the DBW, but I don't think it affected snow performance that much. I think it was mostly too light, which is strange because it's got skinny 195 series tires and isn't all that light. I could just never get traction in that thing.

Incidentally, my van (Sedona) is amazing in the snow. So much weight on the drive wheels that it just grips.

Also, I prefer a manual in the snow but only so I can rock the car out easier. While just driving along, I have a hard time remembering to upshift earlier in the snow, so an auto is actually better for me in that regard.

Thanks for your opinions guys, really helped me out. Have a Happy New Year.