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FRD in the snow

6K views 7 replies 4 participants last post by  chiraldude 
#1 ·
Are there any members that use front wheel drive vehicles in the snow? I am sure they do not perform as good as AWD.Thinking of buying a FWD but I am a little worried how they would do in snow.thanks:|
 
#2 ·
yup... been driving FWD since '87 in Montana, Indiana, and Ohio, real winters, real bad conditions... zero problems. Not a 4-wheel drive but 10 times better than a rear-wheel drive vehicle in the snow. Slow down, keep the font wheels pointed toward where you want to go ,,,,,,,,,and you'll have no problems. Yes, the Koreans and Japanese get lots of snow and have designed vehicles in mond of that.
 
#4 ·
AWD/4WD is always best but FWD works. On icy roads, it's mostly stopping that's the problem and ABS is on all 4. The only exception is when you have snow tires on. I got snow tires for the first time on my AWD Santa Fe and that combination is amazing!
Now, I have to ask, what snow are you talking about in Asheville? You only get snow every other year! Plus, when you do get snow or ice, everything shuts down!
 
#6 ·
All 4 wheels. When I was thinking about snow tires for FWD, I went back and forth about just getting them for the front drive wheels. What I concluded is that it can, in some cases, be worse to have them only on the front wheels. If the front wheels get traction but the rears loose it then the back end starts to swing around. That's when you end up spinning and no amount of input to the FWD steering will stop it.
So, I don't recommend snow tires unless you can do all 4. Others may disagree but that's how it looks to me. For rear wheel drive, I think it's different. More traction on the rear forces the front to stay pointed in the direction of motion.
 
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