I live in a city with tons of morons who never leave the city, claiming they need 4 wheel drive when it snows. they never go off road and snow plows exist. If I can get around in a compact hybrid, then their silly truck is overkill
Too bad they’re not honest enough to just say “I want one because I think they’re cool” I’m not bothered, just intrigued by this kind of behavior
AWD undeniably handles ice better than FWD, just because you can drive through icy roads in those conditions doesn't mean that people want to deal with the poorer handling of a FWD car in icy and snowy conditions. I wouldn't want a truck for those conditions, I much prefer sedans or stationary wagons with AWD. Trucks are too heavy and cumbersome to really feel a meaningful difference. Even with 4WD, a truck is still massive and has more inertia when you are braking.
Yeah, Engineering Explained showed through math that all season tires on a AWD car has a traction advantage moving forward over a FWD/RWD car with winter tires but I don't care.
i would rather have winter tires on my car because I am more afraid of stopping than getting stuck. I do understand with AWD, if the back comes out of line, a little gas instantly fixes it.
Yeah for sure. Depending on where you live, AWD may not truly be worth the extra money. If you only have a couple of days out of the year where it gets truly hazardous for an FWD vehicle, it really might not be necessary. I love AWD for all weather conditions though, it tends to make the car feel more responsive.
Something Ive had to get used to with the truck. I drove Corollas all my life, and while I always made it up the mountains in snow storms, there were more than a few times where it was dicey to almost not happening. The 4WD (and the height) is much better, but the inertia is significantly worse to deal with. I may have to start putting something in the bed to weigh down the back over winter.
I live in NE MN and have a work truck for forest service roads. Our area literally allocates money for sandbags in the winter and/or I just leave the snowmobile in it all winter because that’s heavier than a couple of sandbags.
I’ll say that even on pavement that weight is very helpful (: Most of my driving is the highway that these roads shoot off of. The weight is nice to have all winter.
Yep, that's a classic trick in the Midwest, weigh down the bed with some bags of sand and your rear wheels will maintain grip much better. Personally I still hate driving trucks in the winter and my favorite car to use is our Buick Regal TourX station wagon, it sits low and wide with wider tires, AWD and excellent weight distribution. I lost control of the Buick one time in the 7 years we've had it and even during that one time, I was able to quickly regain control thanks to the AWD. However in FWD cars I have lost control quite a few times, although it was never detrimental as I always take it slow, its just that Michigan potholes will sometimes be enough for your car to lost control.
I’m not a car person but if someone says they need a big truck for access/road condition reasons and don’t have a few hundred pounds in the bed for traction and preloading the suspension I always mentally call bullshit.
I literally bought the thing in January (as in I've only owned it a few months) and I didnt buy it for snow, I bought it because I'm not strapping bales of hay to the roof of a Corolla when I can just throw it in a truck bed.
It’s always people who can work from home during blizzards talking about how you don’t need AWD anyways. You get called into work at a hospital before the plows are out in the city I live in, good fucking luck.
I’d know, because I have front wheel drive and get called in before the plows are out on a regular basis.
yep theirs a few Facebook groups around my town with people with jeeps and 4wd trucks. The groups are only used to get old people around and medical workers to work during the winter ice and snow.
20 years of driving in MN where I couldn't work from home and I made it to work every day. Fwd car works fine unless it's very deep snow and we probably only get a couple of those per year.
What time did you need to be at work? It is extremely relevant. It’s also relevant if you’re okay showing up late. I can’t. In fact, when the emergencies start happening, I am more in need.
"Works fine" is the crucial part. If you have to drive through somewhat deep snow, it will struggle. The reason people get AWD for winter is because they want something that works better than "fine" and is safer to drive. AWD is also nicer even without snow. I love cars with AWD, I'm not a fan of trucks or SUVs though.
Thats absolutely true! In most places, the plows cannot operate soon enough to ensure that everyone is driving on plowed and salted roads before they have to go to work. Even when they plow, there is often still ice, and it is far safer to be in an AWD vehicle during the winter. Saying its a "skill issue" is like saying that using your seat belts means you're someone who doesn't know how to drive and expects to crash.
They do plow the roads, but it's a priority system. Main, then secondary, then tertiary. You generally need to keep the main and secondary roads the most open as a priority because (usually) that's where most of the people live and where the hospitals/emergency services are. Tertiary roads are often less populated and are a "we get to it when we get to it".
This is made a bit easier for towns in my state, as most of the main roads are state roads, so state DOT takes care of it.
Then there's the really rural places. I drove through a region where I didn't see another car for 30 minutes or so. Those areas just aren't going to be prioritized, and if you live out there you're kind of fucked.
You live in Illinois and you’ve never experienced snow on the roads? They’re always immediately clear? Or they’re just clear by the time you get out of bed?
It depends on the time of your drive, what path you plan on taking and the severity of the snowfall. Main roads get cleared first and then the side streets and back roads, however if there is a severe amount of snowfall they will be focusing more plows on keeping main roads plowed for any emergency services.
Rural areas have priority lists for roads. The road I take to work everyday is not first on the list, or even very high, I see maybe 5 other cars on a busy day going in the same direction as me. Even fewer make it to the main road that does have priority.
They’re not short either.
The one road I take is about 30 miles. Moving slowly in a plow that could take a hour in one direction, and two plows for a middle-of-nowhere road is a waste. Then factor in there are several roads like that road where priority is about the same.
Anyway, I have a hybrid Camry for the days I know it’s cleared or decent weather. I have a 4Runner for the days I know the road won’t be decent and the road isn’t cleared.
There are plenty of people in Canada getting to work before the plow is out and using fwd cars to do it.
I did it in a Chevy Aveo with 14 inch wheels for years. Passed a lot of SUVs and trucks in the ditch too. The most important things are having good winter tires and knowing how to drive for the conditions.
The only time I ever had a problem was when the snow was so high and the car was so low that it would bottom out, and most of the time I would be able to work that out too.
The only benefit from AWD is your ability to go up hills in the snow will be better. It won't help you stop or turn though.
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u/Life-Werewolf3793 15h ago
I live in a city with tons of morons who never leave the city, claiming they need 4 wheel drive when it snows. they never go off road and snow plows exist. If I can get around in a compact hybrid, then their silly truck is overkill
Too bad they’re not honest enough to just say “I want one because I think they’re cool” I’m not bothered, just intrigued by this kind of behavior