Yeah...that could be true, especially with a less skilled driver.
Yeah...that could be true, especially with a less skilled driver.
Maybe a pickup has enough weight, but a rear wheel drive car in snow - no thanks. BTDT many years ago, & it doesn't always go where you steer it, in snow. No matter how carefully you're driving. Front wheel drive makes a lot of difference.
Cathy
Here's another one: (suzuki.com)
2007 Suzuki SX4 Base AWD From $14,999* Ground Clearance 6.9 inches... 07 Camry are only 5.5 RAV4 are 7.5 inches EPA FUEL ECONOMY ESTIMATES SX4 SX4 SPORT Manual, city/highway (mpg) 23/28 23/28 Automatic, city/highway (mpg) 24/30 24/30
I know. I'm just saying that 4WD isn't a panacea, and that even RWD is manageable. Notice what most NY State Troopers are driving, and have no intention of changing?
I saw one the other day. Small, but good looking.
Still and all, there's no real need for awd.
It is good advice. Around ten years ago, Car & Driver magazine did a test where they looked at winter performance, and pitted a 4WD on All- Season tires against a 2WD using snow tires...IIRC, for 8 of the 10 tests, the 2WD w/snows outperformed the 4WD on All-Seasons.
The C&D article used to be on their website, but it disappeared some years ago. The below webpage reads like what I recall it having, so it might be someone's effective mirror of the original:
Naturally, having 4WD and Snows is better still, but for the simple question of the relative ranking of 4WD *versus* Snows, the conclusion is that Snow tires provide more benefit than AWD.
Insofar as the Prius, I would recommend avoiding it as a potential "snow car", with or without snow tires. Reason being is that there's a plastic assembly that covers the engine pan area that is highly prone to being damaged. A friend has one and he has had to get it repaired two winters in a row, after it becoming damaged by him driving through some of those snow chunks that snowplows leave behind.
A couple of suggestion on snow tire selection:
-hh
Perfect advice. You win 11 beers. :-)
They CAN be, and my work requires that I drive into neighborhoods all the time, which are least likely to get attention from snow plows.
This past winter was just bad, I suppose. We don't usually get a lot of snow like that. Global warming, eh? :)
Ohhhhhh...
We bottom the car on all kinds of apartment lot speed bumps all the time anyway. Scrapes the frame.
Yep, and it was a real pain last winter because they left 6-8" of snow in the neighborhood streets that partially melted, really slamming the car up and down, so badly that we bent a front axle and had to replace it.
Interesting, thanks!
My cousin just got a 2007 Prius in CO. If you see one with "Pizza" for a license plate, say hi for me. (She may be making a delivery...)
Do note that CO offers a nice state income tax credit for the listed hybrids...
I wish they would pit a 4x4 with low profile tires on 24" wheels to a stock '87 Yugo in the snow.
Why people buy 4WD and then eliminate all tire traction is beyond me.
Cuz it looks cool, I guess. On the other hand, all the trucks around here that do snow plowing have slim tires, like most passenger cars.
And that is the main trouble in the snow with the Prius - the meager ground clearance. It is the same ground clearance that helps it get better gas mileage due to better aerodynamics. I found this out last winter (in NJ) where we had some inches of snow. I, as I often do, just ran up and down 600 foot long the driveway in the Jeep to pack it all down. Well, it did not pack down in between the wheels and the Prius did have trouble with the piled up snow in the middle. Tomes
Someone mentioned that the Prius has a plastic pan covering the bottom of the engine area that can get damaged in snow?
What if someone had the car raised up several inches? Is that expensive?
Just you never mind that idea. In order to pimp a Prius, you must be Asian, and live in either Los Angeles or Tokyo.
LOL!
Wouldn't that negate much of the engineering that went into it, re: its aerodynamics & mpg?
Cathy
>
Seriously...forget it.
You know, in between an SUV and a Prius, there are cars that get decent mileage and are good in snow.
Probably. That's why it needs to be adjustable - put air springs on it instead of conventional coil springs, and have a ride height switch like a Range Rover. 'High' for snow and mud, 'Normal' for dry roads.
Or you get tall skinny snow tires and reprogram the speedometer for taller tires when you put them on.
If the Toyota Engineers were planning ahead, you'd have a screen on the dashboard display to simply enter the Rolling OD of the tires, and have a function to trim it in for accuracy. Then the computer can also factor the actual tire size into the regenerative braking calcs.
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That sounds good. I don't think I'd have to worry much about aerodynamics when driving 5 MPH over bumpy snow in the streets.
Can they do that?
Cool.
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