Smaller SUVs better in the Snow?

I used to drive a Civic hatchback that was dropped 2.5". That thing made it through everything except about 15" of snow where I had gotten it stuck a block from my brothers house. That was the only time I'd wish I had an extra 3" of ground clearance. So yes I agree that light cars do real well in the snow. I also agree that tires are also the best thing you can get for snow. It's also a good idea to get the skinniest tires you can so more of the weight is concentrated on the contact patch.

I have a Subaru Forester now and sometimes it's shocking how it just loves bad weather. Too bad it acts like a bigger SUV in maintenance and gas prices though.

I've had a lifted XJ on A/T's and it was "ok" in the snow. Went fine, cornered ok, did not like to stop (though that's not much different than dry or rain).

Currently have a 4Runner (on Revo4s). It's pretty much unstoppable doing anything in any snow, aside from getting hung up in real deep stuff due to the low-hanging front skidplate, and the extremely intrusive traction control (ATrac, which I disconnect on snow days now).

Assuming the snow isn't super-deep, my WRX on wintersports destroys both of these vehicles in every aspect of snow driving...going, turning, and stopping. Not even close. And it feels way safer and more controllable.

And because snow posts are boring without pictures....

not even close to being stuck....

rear wheels are sitting on the speedbump I backed up onto, hence the wierd rake

People dig on Blizzaks for not being good tires in snow, but I'll tell you what: My Golf could plow through stuff that was deep enough that the whole car left a trail, not just the tire treads.

My favorite moment was turning down a side street to see, about 100 feet ahead, packed on both sides with people getting stuck trying to get out of their driveways. No room to turn around... so i went forward a bit more, then went hardcore reverse, flip wheel this way, shift to 1st, flip wheel the other way, and drove out the way I came in. Try THAT with all wheel drive.

Heh, but DON'T try it in a Golf if the 1st/Reverse interlock gate is broken or out of adjustment. That was the only downside to the Golf, keeping up with the Tinkertoys connecting the shift rod to the mechanisms on the FRONT side of the transmission.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: With no limited slip, I have to ALWAYS have the truck in 4WD when the weather sucks.

I've always found that I had to shift into 4wd in the slippery stuff, before the same vehicle with RWD only would need vehicle would start to have problems.

I think it is the extra drag/weight from the 4wd that causes that.

As for ABS, my '90 GMC would turn off the ABS when in 4wd, but that was rear ABS only.

I don't know how well ABS would work in a vehicle with 4wd and no center diff anyway, if one axle locks up they both do, so it would be tough to tell which wheel was the culprit.

I've had many Jeeps and they all have impressed me but, while the XJ's are AWESOME I will say the best one I ever owned (for snow driving) was my Grand Wagoneer. The sheer weight made it awesome.
I'm not surprised about your findings on the Jeep though. If you haven't, take it off road. It'll impress you there as well.

In reply to DrBoost:

I did some soft-roading. It didn't turn out too well.

SBF: That's a bit too soft, if you don't mind my sayin'.

There was a guy up here in Ontario that a few years ago used to routinely win winter nav rallies against legions of AWD Subarus (some even using tractionized winter ties).

His vehicle of choice was an 80's Toyota Tercel running on pizza cutters. It would simply turn, brake, and accelerate better due to lower weight.

DoctorBlade wrote: SBF: That's a bit too soft, if you don't mind my sayin'.

Yeah, I had no clue the ground was that soft there. I couldn't tell you how many times I drove a tractor over that area and it never did that. A lot of that property is peat, it soaks in water like a sponge.

Unfortunately it took a tractor to get it out. It was high centered on the axles.