FWD + snow tires vs. AWD + all-season tires

[Thirty-Nine]

With our impending winter weather advisory, I got to thinking. Which car should we use if we need to get around:

FWD Yaris with studded snow tires

or

AWD Suzuki SX4 with all-season tires

http://www.subcompactculture.com/2009/12/poll-fwd-snow-tires-vs-awd-all-season.html

[Thirty-Nine]

posted

however you should have added AWD with winters.

... and I will.

Can I borrow some money?

:biggrin:

[IllusionX]

good luck stopping with all season tires.

[talnlnky]

no contest... AWD only helps you start, it does nothing to stop. Starting is only a problem 5% of the time, if that. Stopping is the true issue. How many people had insurance claims or tickets because they couldn't get their car moving? How many people died in horrible accidents because they couldn't get the car moving?

awd/4wd is mostly a gimmick when it comes to driving in the snow. My first car was a 5sp jeep cherokee. it did great in snow, not because of the 4wd... but because the tires had that huge 1" deep knobby treads. There were a few times the back end started to get in front of me tho.

[why?]

AWD and 4wd do help stability though. Avoiding accidents is not all about stopping, but getting out of the way is good too. But AWD and winter tires are the best in snowy conditions.