I only drive in snow occasionally. I know FWD cars are fairly good in snow. I owned one and I found it terrible in rain. Fish-tailed. My RWD car is great in rain or on dry pavement.
Is there a RWD car that is very good or at least acceptably good in snow? I drive in snow so infrequently that it doesn’t seem worth getting an AWD.
Tires
Is the answer to all of the above.
Bad in rain ?..tires.
FWD, RWD good in snow ?..tires.
I Have RWD Cars And FWD Cars. They All Work Well In Rain, Snow, And On Dry Roads. None Of Them Fish-Tail. I Think You Need To Give More Information To Get To The Source Of Your Problem.
What FWD car did you own that fish-tailed in rain ?
CSA
We’ve owned several fwd vehicles…with a total of over 700k miles on them…and NEVER experienced fish-tailing in the rain.
Maybe the older Chevy Citations which didn’t have independent rear suspension had a problem…but most cars these days have independent rear suspension…
Tires will also make a huge difference in it’s stability.
Driver.
I had a Ford Taurus wagon that fish-tailed a bit in the rain. Never felt is was stable. I have a Lexus now with Michelin all-season tires that are rated well for snow. The car is great in the rain & on dry pavement, but I’d have to give it a C or C minus in snow. Just does not feel as stable as the Taurus wagon which was very good in the snow.
RWD cars are OK in winter and snow but you need winter tires. RWD with traction control and winter tires should handle snow fine.
but I’d have to give it a C or C minus in snow.
Wife has a ES-350…and we had record snow-fall this past winter…Her car handled GREAT in the snow…never had a problem…just all-season Cooper tires.
I would add to these “technique”
and maybe “maintenance”, especially alignment.
Old thread alert!!
Nice catch, Volvo!