Everybody makes a big deal out of RWD and the snow. I am curious what your thoughts are? Assuming you put a good set of snow tires on (e.g. dunlop wintersport m3s) is RWD really that bad?

In the RL today I was tearing through the snow with the snow tires. I am really not sure how much of a factor the AWD was..

 

RWD is the worst setup, but its doable in most situations. I drove a Mustang GT for a few winters in Connecticut and I don't remember having any real problems. Not the best for steep unplowed hills, but for normal driving its manageable.

 

Driving in the snow is all about traction. RWD is fine as long as it is on a car with traction control or the driver is really skilled. The snow tires will ensure that the power is transferred to a surface so that the car actually moves. AWD simply allows more options when transferring that power.

It's just a matter of degrees of safety. The AWD will provide a higher degree of safety when compared with RWD, but with a decent driver and a healthy respect for the traction issues related to snow, RWD with snow tires should be fine.

 

Traction control + Snow tires is all you need.

Can be done without traction control but its night and day with it though.

I said this before but my Audi with all seasons handle worse in snow than my 330ci did with snow tires.

 

My FWD is useless in the snow with 3 season tires. If I drove on a hill my car would go backwards. I almost cannot get into the garage sometimes. And it's maybe a 5 degree incline.

Most RWD cars have 3 season tires since they are sporty vehicles.

Tires make all of the difference.

 

Traction control is cool , But if you get stuck turn that shit off. It use too piss me off in the TL when you need the tire spin in certain conditions, Like when you get stuck in deep snow.

 

My Corvette with traction control on actually did real well in snow until a decent sized hill came into play. It's easier for a fwd car to pull a slick hill rather than a rwd trying to push up a hill. Out of cars that I have had, my Cadillac, Trans-Am, Dodge Shelby Charger all really sucked in the snow. The Corvette wasn't bad considering, but my Acura, Civic, Jeep and Escalade have never gotten me stuck anywhere.

 

ive driven several RWD cars in the snow, one of which was old as hell and had no trac ctrl and if ur not stupid its very doable, and if ur confident and know wat ur doing it can even be fun. When people say they dont get RWD cars cause of the weather, i just find that a lame excuse or they just really suck at driving...

 

I've driven RWD cars for about 20 years of my 23 years driving in New England. Never had dedicated winter tires (at best all seasons). Never had a problem...

RWD is the worst set up for winter driving, but my next car will probably be RWD...

You thinking about the IS350 too ??

edit: FWD is better, AWDor 4x4 best, but RWD is the the most fun and challenging to drive in winter... I want to have fun and be challenged. I hate just going along for the ride

 

I drove my 05 GT in heavy snow last week and it was decent. That's on the stock Pirelli A/S tires. I never got around to buying snow tires. I turn off TC, since it is useless and start off in second gear. The car would be very competent with snow tires.

My brother drove his M3 home from work in 8 inches of snow. It has Blizzak snow tires and he stated it was amazing.

 

Also, I feel that RWD is better than FWD in the snow. If you know how to drive a RWD car, you have more control. In a FWD car, if you lose tration, you also lose steering. You can steer a RWD car using throttle. Most people don't know how to drive, so RWD gets a bad rap.

 

IS350 is the top choice

 

Interesting, maybe I should learn how to drive

 

Nothing more fun than steering a car with the throttle .... I like being able to kick out the rear (fishtail) at will...

It's funny how alot of boy ricer types will talk on forever about how RWD sucks, but then they are equally amazed at "drifting"... I've been drifting since I was 16 (in snow w/ rwd)

Might as well pull this one out....

 

^

 

I've seen that pic in sigs before. I love it!!

Right now with the cold weather and salt, I can steer my car with the throttle and induce oversteer. My car breaks them loose to redline in 2nd @ 55mph. It has a few mods though

In the summer, it hooks!

 

Winter driving training should be mandatory.

 

My traction control and ABS stopped working on my 5 series. Thank god I got winter tires, otherwise I'd be in the ditch somewhere. 325 lb/ft of torque and no traction control really don't make a good combination in the snow. I'm sure the car would be a lot safer with it. When I'm in 4th and going about 20 mph, the tires start spinning if I press the pedal half way down. I got the tires not even a month ago, and I could never survive a chicago winter with all seasons on this car.

 

Seriously. Or people with little experience/skills should stay put.

I think I've seen 3 accidents two weeks ago in the same highway.

 

Some Blizzacs on my Trans Am and i never got stuck last year. All winter long, on hills, unplowed streets, everything. And fuck traction control. That shit cuts power when you need it. It's good for once you are going, but say you are stuck on a hill, then it will not let you move. Turn that shit off and feather the gas in low gear.

 

You canucks are usually pretty good in the snow too...

When I was 16 or so, I would head out to empty parking lots right after it snowed (or while it was snowing) before the plows got out and would just tear it up. Lots of fun and educational too... Doing figure 8's are a great way to learn how to turn while slipping sliding in snow

76 Pinto RWD stationwagon w/ semi bald tires didn't have enough power to really get into trouble, but enough to have a bunch of fun...

 

Where do people go for this? Hell I wouldn't mind just for fun.

 

I know there are a couple of schools in Colorado that specialize in winter driving training. Dunno if it's offered in other parts of the country.

 

What part of Canadia have you been too? I wish that was the case but I'm sitting at my desk at work tonight for an extra hour just so I don't have to head in the snowstrom we're currently having filled with idiots who can't drive in the snow.

90% of snow accidents are by my estimation simply caused by people driving too fast

 

RWD won't stuck in snow if u get good tires, but it picks up slower than others thou

i had the cadillac catera for the winter with 17" Goodyear RS-A, it was kinda terrible to make the car move from a standstill start but managed to drive in -22 degree celcius

stopping the car is more impt than moving the car when u drive in snow, driving slow is the key

AWD doesn't make it any better compare with RWD and FWD in terms of braking distance, so drive safe and slow will get u anywhere u like

 

 

funny story, my friends 350z got stuck in a grocery store parking lot, the incline out of the parking lot was snowed in and he could not get over the hill....my friend had some ropes with his rear wheel drive pick-up truck, he too got stuck. so i hooked up the ropes on my FF corolla and pulled both my friends 350z out and my friends pick-up

my corolla is a beast

 

I have Blizzak LM-22's on my 328is.

No complaints in the snow. I actually drive the car around more in the snow than my 02 Pathfinder with all-seasons.

 

Does the old cement bag in the truck trick really work?

Gibson, who has never driven a RWD car in the snow

 

I've got BF Goodrich Traction T/A on my Integra. Nonetheless, I've been driving one of the fam's Subarus in the past two days, and I will do so tomorrow when I go skiing. The neighborhood streets won't be plowed for a while.

My parents will at anytime be glad to tell you vintage stories of RWD "back in the day."
They hate RWD with a passion.

 

I've been thinking about downgrading from my 05 TSX (Spent close to $30K) to a 2001 Honda S2000 (used one around $18K) to bring down the monthly costs (don't know how insurance would be though), but I'm hesitant because of the RWD and I think it only has LSD and not traction control. Anyone have experience with the S2000 as an all season car (opinions from people in snowy area would be appreciated)?

 

honestly, like has been said many times in this thread, if you know how to drive, and drive slowly in the snow you will be ok. My first car was a 1989 mazda 929. The car weighed nearly 4000 lbs and was RWD with a 200 hp 3.0L V6.

I live in colorado, so it snows a lot here. Only problems I ever had was going up hill and taking corners too fast. You have to take corners a lot slower in RWD cars in teh snow, even with snow tires on. My first winter I took a corner at about 10 mph, one that I usually take at 45+ now in my CL w/ coilovers, and I rounded the corner fine... or so I thought, but I have a tiny bit too much gas at the end of the turn and my rear slipped out.

Going as slow as I was and having no traffic that might hit me I wasn't worried. Nice thing about RWD is that (as stated in thei thread also) is that you can "steer" with the throttle. After if slipped out I was turned 90 degrees, but still sliding in the direction of the raod at ~10 mph. I gave it some gas, but too much and I did a 180. I was now facing sideways again, but still sliding the same direction. Gave it some gas again, but realised my mistake the first time and eased up on the gas, and the car just straightened itself out.

AFter that experience, I spend a good amount of time purposely losing rear traction in snowed out parking lots for practice.

 

All about the tires. Impossible to control my mom's E34 5-series in the snow with touring tires on it. Like a freakin skating rink. However, with normal all-seasons it handles well.

 

My 2.5TL does just fine in the snow with all seaons. Never even came close to getting stuck.

I used to have a Toyota 4Runner. I had to be in 4WD in the winter just to not get stuck or push my back end out. No traction control on that thing when it was made in 1990!

Overall I think FWD is a LOT more forgiving if you make a mistake on a bad surface (or even a good surface).

 

yes everyone should do that, not only is it fun as hell but you get a feel for how the car reacts in a spin. I cant even begin to tell you how many times ive found myself a little short on traction but have been able to conrtoll the car very easily using the throttle.

 

It's funny how Pro-RWD people say things like "add traction control and snow tires and it's just as good". Well, for one, that's not true. With traction control and snow tires, RWD becomes drivable. But it's still not as good as FWD. It's just physics. Sure, RWD has become a viable option in winter...but just as RWD has become viable, FWD has excelled. I remeber reading a report recently about how adding snow tires to FWD gives it more traction than AWD. But I don't remember seeing anything about RWD.


Unfortunately, crash statistics and road testing don't really agree with your lovely daydream. Sorry.

And good look steering with your rear wheels while you try to "power steer" and plow straight ahead anyway or kick the back end out so now your sideways or even backwards. People love to romanticize RWD when it's really not there.

 

Answer me this, how many RWD cars have you owned ??

23 year of driving in New England, and the CLS is only the 2nd FWD car I've owned (briefly had a early 80's Olds ciera FWD station wagon). We didn't have traction control back in the old days :killer:

Sure, RWD is the WORST platform in snow, but even without traction control and snow tires, I got around fine. Saying that RWD needs traction control and snow tires to be "driveable" is just inaccurate. I've driven 65 miles (Braintree, MA to Warren RI) in 8 plus inches of snow with a rwd Ford Tbird too many times to count without traction control and with regular all seasons without too much difficultly. Just have to pay attention to what you're doing... Oh, and you should have seen the hill I had to drive up to get up to the office park I worked in...

I'll never say that RWD is better in the snow then AWD or FWD, and anyone who does is just plain stupid. BUT, that doesn't mean that you can't drive a rwd car in the snow (if you know what you're doing).

 

I have never driven a RWD car - except test drives - and never in the snow. So, please forgive me for my stupidity, what exactly do you have to know to constitute "knowing what you are doing"....??

 

Exactly, but with the proper setup on a RWD car........you can certainly get by in most snow conditions.

With the worst snow conditions, you should probably try to make an effort to be off the road period (no matter what you drive).

 

Just go mess around in a snow covered empty parking lot, and you'll quickly learn how to control a rwd car in the winter...

Most of it is just basic stuff... but it's easier to learn it yourself rather then having to explain it via text...

From http://www.statefarm.com/insuranc/auto/wintrtps.htm#ice :

Keep your speed steady and slow -- but not too slow. In deeper snow, it's often necessary to use the car's momentum to keep moving.

edit: there are some differences with driving a fwd car (that pulls you thru snow) and a rwd car (that pushes you)... Using the throttle to steer (drifting) is another technique that's different between fwd and rwd...

http://streetracing.tiora.net/japan/drift/drift1.htm