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

[martl]

Originally Posted by saab2000

1. Yes, you need winter tires for snow.

2. Yes, you can afford them and won’t regret it. I know nobody who has made this investment who has regretted it. Nobody. This includes immediate family members who were skeptics.

When i studied car engineering, we had a guest lecturer professor who had 30 years of experience engineering tires and was serving as an expert at court for car/tire related accidents. I remember his words:

"When you go around any bend in your car, there are enormous forces at work trying to drag you to your death at the next guardrail. The only thing preventing this are 4 patches the size of the palm of your hand, these take up all the forces that keep the car on the road.
Of all of the 30000-100000 bits and pieces that combined are your car, you want *these* to be the newest, highest quality, most well maintained bits of them all."

[Louis]

Question for the OP:

If you haven't bought the car yet, why don't you just get a Subaru (or any of a number of other AWD vehicles) instead? That seems to me to be the simplest option.

[charliedid]

[QUOTE=saab2000;2555007]I grew up with a Custom Cruiser like that! Just without the fine, artisanal 'wood' panels. Solid white and vinyl seats.




We had this exact car and I loved it. Wintery Chicago suburbs were no match for this thing. We would drive to the U.P. or Colorado every winter without fear

Safe at any speed.

[biker72]

I lived in eastern Iowa for almost 20 years. I moved to Texas in 1961. My last car there was a 1956 Olds 98...a real tank. Of course in those days almost all cars were RWD. I used all season tires and never got stuck.

If I still lived there today I'd be looking for a AWD Subaru or something similar.

[vqdriver]

Just get chains and the car you want. We r talking maybe a couple days a year.