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Author Topic: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive  (Read 3658 times)

Steve McF

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In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« on: 28 February 2018, 10:59:46 PM »
In years of driving, I have never owned a rear wheel drive car. They have all been front wheel drives - from Fords, to Rovers to Vauxhalls to Saabs to Peugeots to Nissans. I have never had a problem driving in snow - if you need to take is slowly and carefully then so be it.

Every time I have seen a car stuck in the snow with wheels spinning, going no where, it has been a rear wheel drive car like a Jag or BMW.

What does everyone else think?
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sgould

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #1 on: 28 February 2018, 11:20:20 PM »
It's down to the weight over the wheels to some extent.  My daughter-in-law's Jag couldn't get up her road when it snowed at Christmas.  And there were several cars stuck outside our house at that time.  Mostly rear wheel drive cars and vans.  But up on the main road, the buses got stuck and blocked the road for everyone else.

I tried to go shopping in the Carlsson and had no trouble with traction, but all the roads were blocked with stranded cars.
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Norfolk Jim

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #2 on: 08 March 2018, 09:12:12 AM »
That's interesting as a friend of mine has a BMW 520 diesel and has winter tyres on it and it drives superb in snow like on tarmac. It's all down to the tyres as lets face it BMW's are made in Bavaria which gets a lot of snow!!!!

Another pal has a 64 reg Audi A6 Allroad with normal tyres and he said it's absolute sh**e on snow. Wet and muddy roads fine but snow.................... My MD has an RS4 softtop and put that through a hedge a couple of years ago and he wasn't going fast - her referred to quattro as being catastro....
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phoenix

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #3 on: 08 March 2018, 12:38:42 PM »
It's little to do with the driven wheels and everything to do with the tyres- if they can't get grip, it's game over.

I have passed numerous 4WD vehicles in snow that have been stuck because they had low profile, high economy performance tyres* on and I had mere 2WD but with the right tyres for the job.

*The fitting of this sort of tyre and trend in sizes is why so many cars struggle in snow/muddy fields.
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fka

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #4 on: 09 March 2018, 12:36:21 AM »
Dare I say phoenix, I remember a certain 9-5 with winter tyres being pulled out of a (I'll give you, 'very') muddy field by a large tractor  ;D
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phoenix

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #5 on: 09 March 2018, 08:29:19 AM »
It didn't actually have winter tyres on... I did however comment that I wished I had put them on...
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fka

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Re: In the snow: front wheel drive vs rear wheel drive
« Reply #6 on: 09 March 2018, 08:46:48 AM »
My memory fails me  ::)
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