I agree that snow tires are better for pure snow, but in Canadian urban areas and well travelled roads we have a salt slush which is better handled with all season tires. If one was really serious in cold winter snow conditions studed snow tires on all 4 wheels is best.
Most would agree, but I find FWD does the job quite well. I've seen 4WD do a terrible job of directional stability, but that is a problem of many short and narrow SUVs and cars.
With FWD you can apply power and pull/steer out of the problem. This has saved me more than once. The techniques are different than RWD. One has to learn again.
On the first significant snow I practice getting into trouble and recovering- away from traffic. Most people drive too aggressively in snow and ice, then have no idea how to recover from trouble.
Certainly proper equipment and driving techniques are a given requirement, but I've found that the FWD is much better for my driving style. I also recommend ABS brakes, IMO they should be a legal requirement.
Steering is useless in RWD when your rear-end has gotten away from you.
You lose traction with your rear-end, I'm sorry but your front (passive) steering is not going to help you.
But your forgetting something very important.
For RWD, if you lose traction in the back, you don't give a damn if you can't steer. You let up on the gas and you get your traction back instantly. But if you are in deep snow and you just plain want to move, your in shit if you've got RWD. But with FWD, if you want to get out of deep snow - you will because it's easier to pull a car through snow than to push it.
For FWD, if you gun it and lose traction, your rear end will stay planted and won't swing out on you. So you have to let up on the gas anyways (just like with RWD) but at least you're not sideways going down the road at that point.
Daimler management told Chrysler to come up with an "in-your-face" novelty look with lots of bling that would appeal to a certain urban demographic. It had to be garrish enough to not compete with any Mercedes models. But above all, it had to use lots and lots of Mercedes chasis and drive-train parts.
All that, while they swept the 300N concept car under the rug because it was too classy and hoped no one would notice.
Interesting. This guy does have a bit of a posting history and has owned a
300C for over eighteen months. I live on Long Island and we get plenty of snow here and I'm quite experienced in owning and driving RWD cars, thank you. I don't read Consumer Reports but rather read entusiast publications like "Car and Driver" and "Road and Track". What you fail to see is that the OP asked for those who have experience with the 300 to report on it. Therefore my replying indicates I have experience. There is a good deal of credibiltity in my two words but there is not much in your post.
Kills me that you are comparing 2 different driving tactics (ie winter auto-cross or short-track racing on snow/ice) vs ordinary urban commuting/driving to the local mall/getting out of your driveway/neighborhood in the morning after a heavy snowfall during the night/etc.
MoPar Man wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@Man.com:
Where'd you come up with this? Pure conjecture on your part.
Wrong ASSumption on your part.
First intelligent thing you've said.
I've seen both. Where do you live?
Well, good for you.
Another wrong ASSumption on your part.
Flat out incorrect. What you completely failed to see is that if your drive wheels lose traction in the course of simply driving on a road, you lose steering with FWD and you do not with RWD. Driving without steering is certainly more hazardous than driving with steering. Your problem is that you simply can't understand how that can happen during regular driving.
Now that's a pretty dumb statement. I can't wait to hear why you wouldn't ever be accelerating.
Braking has little to do with which wheels are driving the car.
Uh, yeah... . With FWD the front wheels have to pull the rear wheels through the snow. Or did you actually think that pulling dead weight is somehow easier than pushing dead weight?
< Because the front
And the back wheels on a FWD _aren't_ acting more like 2 small snow plows? LOL!
You obviously know very little about driving in slippery conditions and recovering from skids.
Not necessarily. Most people let up on the gas so aggressively upon skid entry that the engine braking causes the wheels to keep sliding, they are just sliding from a different cause than when under too much power.
But if you get into a skid and ease up on the throttle as with a RWD, the rear end will snap around so fast it'll make you dizzy.
For most folks, the typical FWD car is easier to drive in the snow than the typical RWD car.
Add studded snow tires to the RWD car, along with several hundred pounds of salt or kitty litter in the trunk, and the RWD car will likely go anywhere the FWD car will, especially if you have a limited-slip differential (My first car, a '68 Plymouth VIP, had all of the above and would easily go through snow drifts higher than the hood of the car). If you don't have a limited-slip differential, you can sometimes fool the car into thinking it does by lightly applying the emergency brake.
The benefit of RWD is when the ice and snow are gone, they are much more fun to drive (i.e. - steering with the throttle, etc.).
Having said all that, I've been driving a FWD for the last four years. But I'd drive a RWD if I could afford it!
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