4 ms·

I live in Canada. In southern Ontario now, but grew up in one of the snowiest parts of Canada. Honest to god, we drove Corolla and Camry’s. FWD. it’s good. Y

I live in Canada. In southern Ontario now, but grew up in one of the snowiest parts of Canada. Honest to god, we drove Corolla and Camry’s. FWD. it’s good. You get slightly better traction with AWD, but when the roads are covered in black ice, it doesn’t really matter how many wheels you have that can drive the car. The thing that you want in the snow are snow tires. They cost $500. That’s it. Hell, sometimes we don’t even put the snow tires on. I haven’t in the past two winters.

dasKrokodil 6y ago
This ^^ For decades, the two scandinavian car makers Volvo and Saab didn't even offer AWD cars. And it snows a lot up there.
yellowapple 6y ago
> Honest to god, we drove Corolla and Camry’s. FWD. it’s good. Great. Glad to hear that works well enough for y'all. Speaking from firsthand experience living in the Sierra Nevada mountains (first Truckee, now Reno), though, such cars have a much harder time here. Main thing is the not-so-flat terrain: being able to distribute horsepower across all four tires helps quite a bit in getting up hills (I've watched plenty of sedans helplessly slide back down even mild grades, tires spinning away, where proper 4WD/AWD vehicles - mine included - had no trouble at all). Even on flat ground, having all four tires producing power makes it a lot easier to get moving, and a lot easier to escape from an uncontrolled slide. FWD is certainly better than nothing, sure, but I wouldn't be picking it over 4WD any time soon. That is: > The thing that you want in the snow are snow tires. They cost $500. That’s it. Snow tires and 4WD/AWD address different aspects of snow driving. Snow tires (or chains) help you stop. 4WD or AWD help you go. Both help you turn. Both are pretty important if you don't want to be stuck in some snowdrift. And all bets are off if it's ice rather than snow. Also, in at least some parts of the US (incl., again from first-hand experience, I-80 through the Sierra Nevadas), 4WD/AWD and snow tires are mandatory if you don't want to chain up (up to the maximum chain control level, at which point chains are mandatory no matter what, but usually roads close entirely before that point). So if you expect to drive under chain control conditions, most people are gonna just opt for the 4WD rather than worry about having to chain up. > Hell, sometimes we don’t even put the snow tires on. I haven’t in the past two winters. It's pretty hard to not buy all-weather (i.e. marked "M+S" for mud+snow) tires nowadays (at least for SUVs and trucks; not sure about smaller vehicles), so I ain't too surprised that you'd be able to get away with this.

dasKrokodil 6y ago

This ^^ For decades, the two scandinavian car makers Volvo and Saab didn't even offer AWD cars. And it snows a lot up there.

yellowapple 6y ago

> Honest to god, we drove Corolla and Camry’s. FWD. it’s good. Great. Glad to hear that works well enough for y'all. Speaking from firsthand experience living in the Sierra Nevada mountains (first Truckee, now Reno), though, such cars have a much harder time here. Main thing is the not-so-flat terrain: being able to distribute horsepower across all four tires helps quite a bit in getting up hills (I've watched plenty of sedans helplessly slide back down even mild grades, tires spinning away, where proper 4WD/AWD vehicles - mine included - had no trouble at all). Even on flat ground, having all four tires producing power makes it a lot easier to get moving, and a lot easier to escape from an uncontrolled slide. FWD is certainly better than nothing, sure, but I wouldn't be picking it over 4WD any time soon. That is: > The thing that you want in the snow are snow tires. They cost $500. That’s it. Snow tires and 4WD/AWD address different aspects of snow driving. Snow tires (or chains) help you stop. 4WD or AWD help you go. Both help you turn. Both are pretty important if you don't want to be stuck in some snowdrift. And all bets are off if it's ice rather than snow. Also, in at least some parts of the US (incl., again from first-hand experience, I-80 through the Sierra Nevadas), 4WD/AWD and snow tires are mandatory if you don't want to chain up (up to the maximum chain control level, at which point chains are mandatory no matter what, but usually roads close entirely before that point). So if you expect to drive under chain control conditions, most people are gonna just opt for the 4WD rather than worry about having to chain up. > Hell, sometimes we don’t even put the snow tires on. I haven’t in the past two winters. It's pretty hard to not buy all-weather (i.e. marked "M+S" for mud+snow) tires nowadays (at least for SUVs and trucks; not sure about smaller vehicles), so I ain't too surprised that you'd be able to get away with this.