Topic: All wheel drive vs winter tyres?

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

I have long maintained this:  That is complete overkill.  As I've mentioned many times before, I haven't met a situation I couldn't conquer in my Altima with Blizzaks.  Do you have to be a good driver sometimes, and know what you're doing?  Well, it helps get through some of the more tricky situations.

I guess you've never encountered a situation like my uphill cottage driveway.  You do mention something about urban areas though, so I'd agree there.

I doubt your Altima would have moved from the bottom of my driveway much of the winter without a rope attached to it.

I can't say for sure, having never seen your driveway, but I can say, you'd be surprised the capabilities of FWD and good tires

[Ex-airbalancer]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

Can I use a Yankee ? Or should this be in the old thread 

[Fobroader]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

Can I use a Yankee ? Or should this be in the old thread 

 

Yeah....definitely in the things that make you sound old thread

[Seafoam]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

I have long maintained this:  That is complete overkill.  As I've mentioned many times before, I haven't met a situation I couldn't conquer in my Altima with Blizzaks.  Do you have to be a good driver sometimes, and know what you're doing?  Well, it helps get through some of the more tricky situations.

I guess you've never encountered a situation like my uphill cottage driveway.  You do mention something about urban areas though, so I'd agree there.

I doubt your Altima would have moved from the bottom of my driveway much of the winter without a rope attached to it.

I can't say for sure, having never seen your driveway, but I can say, you'd be surprised the capabilities of FWD and good tires

It probably would in reverse as all the weight from the engine would be over the wheels.
The old volkswagen bugs were like that.

[blur911]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

I have long maintained this:  That is complete overkill.  As I've mentioned many times before, I haven't met a situation I couldn't conquer in my Altima with Blizzaks.  Do you have to be a good driver sometimes, and know what you're doing?  Well, it helps get through some of the more tricky situations.

I guess you've never encountered a situation like my uphill cottage driveway.  You do mention something about urban areas though, so I'd agree there.

I doubt your Altima would have moved from the bottom of my driveway much of the winter without a rope attached to it.

I can't say for sure, having never seen your driveway, but I can say, you'd be surprised the capabilities of FWD and good tires

It probably would in reverse as all the weight from the engine would be over the wheels.
The old volkswagen bugs were like that.

Tried that with the FIL's Sebring with winter tires, it stayed at the bottom of the hill for a couple of weeks until it melted out some.   I also got stuck with my old F250 2wd after backing down and filling the box with old cupboards, a friend with an ATV eventually towed me out.

[blur911]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

I have long maintained this:  That is complete overkill.  As I've mentioned many times before, I haven't met a situation I couldn't conquer in my Altima with Blizzaks.  Do you have to be a good driver sometimes, and know what you're doing?  Well, it helps get through some of the more tricky situations.

Ahhh, theres the caveat, you have to be a good driver and know what you are doing......If this was the case, modern cars wouldn't need 50 layers of nannies to ensure driver A doesn't smack into driver B, or pole/bridge/light standard/pedestrians..

Remind me again how AWD prevents you from doing that?  If anything, AWD gives you a false sense of security, increasing your risk of an accident.  There is a reason most of the vehicles we see in ditches on the side of the highway are trucks and SUV's.

Truck and some SUV AWD/4WD systems are very different from what you'd find in say for example a quattro or Subaru system.  I don't feel particularly safer in my Silverado in 4WD going down the highway in a snowstorm. 
I do agree to some point though, I have been known to tell my better half that if she sees the swervy VDC light come on in our Outback, that it really is slippery. 
 In  a FWD car you know it's slippery as you are slipping. 

[dkaz]

My sister in law has an Audi Q7 and is convinced the Quattro AWD helps the car stop better. 

[KD]

Well yeah, you can screw a deck together with a screwdriver or use a Dewalt cordless drill, which one is better?? For winter, 4x4/awd + winter tires + extra ground clearance= the only way to go for me.

Can I use a Yankee ? Or should this be in the old thread 

I think i still have one of those around somewhere.  It was my father's....lol.  I think it's in the shed though and i won't be going in there for a while yet. 

[lebowski]

For here in Vancouver and the North Shore mountains, FWD and winter tires get the job done just fine, especially if you stick to the speed limits. That said, I'll never go without AWD + winter tires, if I can help it. Being able to pass someone on the Sea-to-Sky in inclement weather,  with confidence, sans-butt-puckering, by simply applying  [more] throttle in the direction I wish to go, is absolutely worth the additional cost. Maybe that just illustrates a lack of skill or nerve on my part, but I can handle that in return for the additional peace of mind.

[johngenx]

Vancouver falls apart when it snows as no one has snow tires and there's no plows.

If I lived in Vancouver, I'd be heading to the mountains all the time, so I'd have winter tires for sure.  But, I suppose I get why people don't.

[lebowski]

Vancouver falls apart when it snows as no one has snow tires and there's no plows.

If I lived in Vancouver, I'd be heading to the mountains all the time, so I'd have winter tires for sure.  But, I suppose I get why people don't.

So true. We had a "big snow" here 3 weeks ago -- something like 4-5cm's. People stayed home. Buses couldn't get up hills. Total bedlam. But yeah, it happens so rarely, that it just isn't worth it for most city-dwellers - or the city itself - to invest in snow tires.