Overall THE BEST vehicle for driving in snow

So, with August on the way out and winter just around the corner, what is everyone's choice for best vehicle for driving in snow?  Under $10k, and stickshift is ideal.  2WD need not apply.

4wd/awd with manual trans will limit your choices. 

Name your favorite CUV and toss snow tires on it. Another good choice is older a4's with snow tires on it. 

Snow tires. 

Any FWD with snow retreads in my experience.

It depend on how much snow we’re talking. Deep snow and unplowed roads require a different tool as opposed to constant small fall each two to three inches every day or two.

Late nineties early otts Jeep Cherokee’s. For stock suvs, it can’t be beat in my opinion.

Better than most trucks without a lot of weight the bed and other modifications. 

Ive parked my trucks in the winter for the past six or seven years. I drive  beaters with snow tires in the winter. 94 Sundance, 99 civic, and the latest 05  solara.

In that time I’ve need four wheel drive to get to work twice. I live in the northern half of  Wisconsin. 

Your profile says you live in VA so I'm going to go with "literally anything with snow tires and more than 3" of ground clearance". I mean I live in ohio and I'm not even planning on running snow tires this winter, just good all seasons.

1988 BMW 325iX.  I love mine, and it's a beast in the snow.

They built them for several years but in my opinion 1988 is the year to get.  They were all manual transmission that year, with all the options - leather sport seats, premium stereo, 15" alloy wheels, etc.  They were 'decontented' in following years to get the price down.

It's a toss up between these two I owned: 2007 Hyundai Accent or 2000 Suzuki Vitara 2-door. Ultimately the Vitara was more capable being 4wd and having more ground clearance, but the Accent was more fun. 

SAAB 9-5 with a stick and snow tires. Good luck getting it stuck. 
 

Otherwise, pick your desired Subaru. 

The best car in the snow is the 77-96 GM B-body. Your AWD requirements lead me to believe you are confused as to what best means.

There's even a build thread for it: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/kristi-kt-3-snowcat-restomod/108414/page1/

4wd just means you get to the accident quicker.  You can't turn or stop any better with 4wd or awd...

The answer is actually miata with snow tires.  For real.

If the miata can't get going, you shouldn't be going.

Couple things:  This isn't for me.  I've been driving in snow for a little over 40 years.  I currently reside in Virginia, but I haven't always lived here.  The only AWD vehicle I've ever owned was an Audi A6 quattro.  I recognize that a Subaru has merit here, but I freaking hate Subarus with a passion that burns hot and violent.  FWD with snows will do the job most of the time, true, but I'm curious about AWD options.  BMW X-drive is something I had considered.  Aren't they notoriously bad? 

When I lived in the Great White North in the '80s, the company supplied us with Subaru 4WD sedans or wagons.  My '85 GL wagon was nearly bulletproof.  Never got stuck and never failed to start.  Good luck finding one that survived, though.

Edit - Sorry.  Didn't see the Subaru hate until after I posted

We had a '74 Beetle.  Went thru a lot of deep snow.  

Lacked heat the first 15 minutes then was a furnace.   

mtn said:

SAAB 9-5 with a stick and snow tires. Good luck getting it stuck. 
 

Otherwise, pick your desired Subaru. 

I agree. I had a 9-3 with studded snows. It was automatic but it was a snow beast. The traction control was perfect for snow. 

New York Nick said:

mtn said:

SAAB 9-5 with a stick and snow tires. Good luck getting it stuck. 
 

Otherwise, pick your desired Subaru. 

I agree. I had a 9-3 with studded snows. It was automatic but it was a snow beast. The traction control was perfect for snow. 

Yeah, I listed it for a reason. Unbelievably capable in the snow. As good or better than a 4Runner, at least as long as the snow wasn't high enough that it was pushing it. 

1988RedT2 said:

BMW X-drive is something I had considered.  Aren't they notoriously bad? 

The BMW e30 iX all wheel drive setup was purely mechanical, without all the electronic gadgetry of the X-drive xi system used in e46 and newer cars.  That said, I know guys who have the newer versions and their cars have been very reliable too.

My addition is an XJ Cherokee.

You might need 4wd...maybe.

My favorite is 2nd gen explorers but I've even had good luck with my zx2.

AWD/4WD does help you turn more in snow, for the same reason why front wheel drive is usually better in snow.

I cannot stress how much tires matter though. In the deep woods here I run studded mud terrians. I know a lot of people say mud terrians suck in winter, and they are right....but studded mud terrians are near magical and I've tried every other variation on snow tire. Studs make a stupid huge level of difference.

Get the best snow tires you can. The tires matter more than the car in most cases.

 

Snow tires and AWD are not mutually exclusive.  He asked for the best, so I think snow tires would be implied.  Is there an AWD vehicle with 3 LSDs for under 10k?

If not, there are several Subaru routes to 2 Limited Slips for under 10k.  I had a 2.5RS on snows (in VA) and it was a phenomenal snow vehicle.  I loved "launching" it aggressively and crab walking away from most stops with all 4 spinning.  It never got old.

For people not familiar with Northern VA, it gets slammed with big snows not-infrequently.  Some years are relatively snow free, somtimes there are multiple blizzards back to back.  My Miata on snows would certainly not make it through nearly as much snow as my Subaru would.

One of the best snow vehicles I ever had was a Toyota Yaris hatch on snow tires. It was 2wd but my stick shift Mazda CX-5 was pretty decent on all seasons in the snow. You can kill the traction control in those to get more spinnage going. Might take a little looking but you might be able to find a stick shift CX-5 in that price range.

Without consideration outside of snow?

Fordson Snow motor.