OT: Rear-wheel drive in light snow and all-seasons

[Tickdoc]

I drive a mustang year round with summer tires. Granted our winters can be mild, but I pass jeeps and suvs that have gone off the road all the time when it is icy.

Wagons are great as well even if rear wheel drive because of the extra weight over the axles.

Drove this one through many a snow storm:

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[rzthomas]

I used to daily drive a 1990 Mazda RX-7 Turbo II in all sorts of weather, including snow, on all-season tires. No traction control, but it did have a viscous limited slip.

It was terrible.

[mtechnica]

I have driven an E36 M3 for about 10 years, most in Eastern WA where it snows. In my experience it’s not going to end well trying to drive without dedicated snow tires in the winter. Same went for my old Miata. It was dangerous at best with all seasons. M3 literally can’t move in the snow with summer tires. Good luck.

[stephenmarklay]

You could probably get away with the Conti DWS as above or better yet Nokina WRG3.

https://www.nokiantires.com/all-weat.../nokian-wr-g3/

But as Mtechnica states, snows are very nice. We can still use studs in WA and as a traveling salesman I used the very best Nokian HAKKAPELIITTA 9 and it was very nice.

[R3awak3n]

another vote for if you want to drive a RWD in snow, you need snow tires.

This was the first year I put snows in my car, 4WD sportwagen and man, snow tires make such a difference.

Same as summer tires are awesome in summer. Pretty much made me realize that all seasons are just not great at anything.

I have had FWD and in snow they were not great either but as I have read many times, FWD with snows on is better than AWD with all seasons. I wonder where RWD with snows come in this.

[YesNdeed]

I drove an 89 Mercedes 190E rear drive in New England for years, then a very snowy Winter in Santa Fe with Conti all seasons (don’t remember the exact type), and never had too much of an issue, never lost control of the vehicle. The worst of it was getting out of a snow bound parallel parking spot on the street. With an automatic transmission it’s harder to time, and get the back-and-forth rocking momentum that’s a lot easier with a manual transmission. Dedicated snow tires are probably superior (I have never tried them), but it’s entirely possible to use AS tires.

For a bailout option, keep a bag of sand or two in the rear of the car, along with whatever shovel you can keep in there. A small, camping shovel with a flat edge, or a small snow shovel if you can find one. The sand will provide a little extra weight over the drive wheels, and you can clear a path and spread sand into it with the shovel, should you get stuck. Chains may also be a good thing to carry.

What wagon are you thinking about getting?

[R3awak3n]

only acceptable answer for what RWD wagon he might be getting is Cadillac CTS-V

[Ken Robb]

We should all remember the OP is considering driving into the mountains with snow on the road. Most of SoCal mountains have 2-lane twisty roads with some pretty steep sections. Even a 4-wheel drive on all-season tires that made it up the mountain might be uncontrollable coming down. I grew up in Chicago driving on bias ply regular tires and rarely used chains but there were very few hills.

[Heisenberg]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

We should all remember the OP is considering driving into the mountains with snow on the road. Most of SoCal mountains have 2-lane twisty roads with some pretty steep sections. Even a 4-wheel drive on all-season tires that made it up the mountain might be uncontrollable coming down. I grew up in Chicago driving on bias ply regular tires and rarely used chains but there were very few hills.

pre****incisely.

AWD doesn't GAF about stopping. running AS tires on a car driven in hard winter conditions no matter the drivetrain is asking for trouble.

if you want to save your bacon, don't cheap out - buy dedicated winter tires/wheels.

i grew up in utah. so many folks thought their AWD tahoes and outbacks were sufficient with AS tires until they found themselves in little cottonwood creek or off the side of i-80. all that matters is tires. my RWD volvo 245 DL wagon was a pig in **** with a set of dedicated winter tires. dropped subarus all day long going up the canyons.

[oldpotatoe]

What I did with a small 2WD Ford Ranger..even crappier in the snow cuz so little weight over the rear wheels, is get 4 snow tires...and then bags of sand in the rear during winter..NO problem..snow has been around WAY before the Buick Riveria(1979), Olds Toronado or Cadillac Eldorado(1967).....

[martl]

Originally Posted by ravdg316

Does anybody have experience with rear-wheel drive cars in light snow and all season tires? If you're a good driver and know your car, is it really that dangerous?

To reach my tire storage unit, i have to cross a small bridge over a railroad, like 20ft elevation. One year i waited until the roads were snow covered to swap to winter tires.

Going *there* on summer tires (brand new, full threads), i almost didn't make it up the bridge and more slid than drove the way down. Going back, an hour later, on winter tires, it was like driving on tracks.
Difference level night/day.
That was a FWD car, even.

It isn't so much about the threads, its about the rubber component. winter tires have so much more traction in cold conditions, its *very* noticeable, especially when breaking, even when there's no snow.

With the reduced traction and more complicated handling of an RWD, i wouldn't mess around with all-year tires if the area you live is bound to have snow or temperatures around 0°C or below.

[Spaghetti Legs]

My experience from living in California, albeit 25 years ago. I had a BMW 325 sedan, RWD with all season tires. I lived in SF and would ski up in Tahoe. Probably half the time this would get me past the checkpoint on I80 near Truckee, other times chains were required I can’t remember if snow tires with 4wd were acceptable instead of chains, but I think it was.

East coast resident now and been driving rear drive cars with regular tires for a while and this is fine for up to about 4 or 5 inches on the road. More than that I ride my bike. In general these days, road prep for snow is so much better.

[sitzmark]

Originally Posted by Ken Robb

We should all remember the OP is considering driving into the mountains with snow on the road. Most of SoCal mountains have 2-lane twisty roads with some pretty steep sections. Even a 4-wheel drive on all-season tires that made it up the mountain might be uncontrollable coming down. I grew up in Chicago driving on bias ply regular tires and rarely used chains but there were very few hills.

It's all relative. A modern radial all season tire is far better than a dedicated snow tire was in 1960. And yet we drove every weekend over Loveland and Vail passes to ski with RWD and snow tires that were a joke compared with modern tire technology. As oldpotatoe points out - it was 1968 when my mother got her first eldorado with FWD and all-seasons - was a game changer. My father continued to drive RWD with all seasons and chains when required. No tunnels back then .. up and over.

The "magic" of snow tires is siping and compound - mostly siping. The softer compound engineered into the upper 50% of the tread allows the very thin sipes to flex and provide an exponential number of "grabbing surfaces". A snow tire that is 50% worn loses most of this advantage because the micro sipes are gone and the harder compound is exposed. It isn't about lugs. A good condition all-season is a better snow tire at that point. Don't buy used snow tires ... a new all season is much better.

Dedicated snows are never a bad idea, but the world will not end on all season tires - especially if backed up with traction control devices.

[redir]

Where I live in Virginia we get snow every year but I don't find it necessary to change tires. There's just not enough snow. My wife's family in Colorado that's different. They will drive on snow pack all year and snow tires are a must.

I have a truck and a car that are RWD. The truck is just about worthless in the snow but if I weight the back it's okay. My car, a '94 e420 Benz, has some sort of rear wheel traction system that kicks in if it slips. It helps but it's pretty terrible in the snow too. None the less I don't find it worth dealing with swapping tires out for maybe ten snow storms a year.

Well having said that if we get really snowed in my wife has a Subaru Forester, the Colorado State car, that goes through just about anything.

[Ken Robb]

One of the best cars I ever drove on snow/ice was a 1965 Corvair Corsa, 140hp, 4 speed manual, Posi-Traction and studded snow tires (remember when those were legal?). I could floor it in first gear with minimal wheelspin. I don't know if studded tires are legal anywhere these days due to the wear they caused on asphalt roads.