Winter with AWD

Ii emphatically agree with the comments about turning and stopping.
Failure to get going can ruin your day. Failure to get stopped, or loss of traction while driving, can ruin the rest of your life!

Don’t judge people in the old days when almost all cars were front engined and rear wheel drive too harshly for not putting snow tires all around. The drive wheels on those cars were at the lightly loaded end. The steering end had plenty of weight. This gave a car with pretty good balance of handling with just two snow tires. Much more predictable that a front drive car with just 2 winter tires. Even with 4 winter tires a front wheel drive car is still a little squirelly and will lose the rear before the front.

@oldtimer-11 - It’s also important to note that maintaining control of the rear of the car is WAY more important than the front when encountering a slide in wintry conditions. Most front end slides can be recovered fairly easily by lifting from the throttle and steering into the slide. Once the rear end snaps loose most drivers are just along for the ride until they hit something. Back when rear drive was the norm the snow tires helped with rear end bite for acceleration but also helped prevent “snap loose” conditions that caused car crashes. The problem with putting snow tires on the front wheels of front wheel drive cars is that you have done nothing to prevent the rear end from sliding around and making you lose control.

For the record, I use four winter tires on all my vehicles from November until April as I live in the snow belt of New York State. The difference in winter driving is dramatic.

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I have found that when going down any grade in slippery conditions, you will have a mind altering experience with chains on the front wheels only. You can be going 5 mph. Or you can be barely moving. When hills are the norm I feel you need equal traction on the rear wheels as the front, whether you are going up or down. In my experience, I find the force of gravity pulling you down the hill, causes silmilar effects on a car as traveling too fast for conditions on level ground.

N[quote=“VDCdriver, post:30, topic:96515”]
you buy your tires (winter tire
[/quote]

Yep…Not only that, but at least in northern climates, when buying a new car, even after negotiating the deal, I have yet to find a dealer that will not throw in a set of steel rims or include them at a reduced cost. With a little foresight, you can save tons of time and money.

Of course, if the winter rims are ugly steel black ones, be prepared to have the grandchildren refer to it as a “cop car” during winter months.

True, but it makes you easy to Xmas shop for… hubcaps!! :grinning:

Try finding inexpensive full wheel covers for 18 inch or greater rims. On line replacements never fit. Car part stores don’t carry them.