I had an 95 850 T5 wagon, the first winter I used the All Seasons and it was terrible, the second winter I used snows and it was a great winter car. I have an WAD V70 now and plan to put snows on it this year, forward traction is not too much of an issue with the WAD and all seasons but cornering and braking sure are.
Is that the W button???
No. It uses the brakes and the throttle rather than the transmission to control the onset of instability.
Volvos are designed in Sweden, a country that knows about snow.
Basically, as far as control and braking are your concern, the tires and braking system (ABS) are the main issues. Decent studded or friction snow tires designed to your geographical area make the most difference. ABS helps you to control the car when the brakes are not stopping you fast enough.
As to the drive system, I prefer FWD over RWD, since I am not an especially skilled driver and the RWD can cause your rear wheels to try to overtake if you overaccelerate, while the FWD just plows straight. Also I kind of feel that the FWD digs better into snow, but that is just a feeling.
However any AWD is much more better than two wheel drive in snow. There is no difference when braking or cornering, but there is a big difference when accelerating or when trying to get going at all. I have wished for AWD several times, like when I got one of my driving wheels on some slippery stuff or nothing at all (like when they plow the road over a ditch or when I drive past the plowed stuff into the ditch).
The fancy direction control and stability things they have invented the past few years are nice. Very nice.
So about the Volvo and Subaru, for winter use I would pick an AWD, after that I would take etiher one. I have a Volvo, but when the time to change comes, I might as well pick a Subaru.
My current car is FWD V70 classic (2000 model, the last one of the 850 tradition) and I do most of my winter driving over main roads that are plowed and salted and I have studded winter tires. If I lived in the rural areas, I would definetly look for an AWD. Even now with my skiing and climbing trips I feel like getting one, if I could afford it.
The W button locks the transmission in 3rd gear to reduce torque to the wheels... I have never had to use it in my life... the limited slip differential and snow tires make short work out of getting out of the snow...
That is why Volvo has TRAKS available to those that do winter driving. It applies the brake to the wheel with the least traction so it doesn't spin. Volvo also has the Winter position in its AT which starts the car out in 3rd gear so it won't have too much torque.
When it's that deep, I stay home.
Next time you get a Volvo, get the winter package. It has TRAKS which is the FWD traction control.
I'd agree 100% with this post I drive a S70 FWD Wife drives XCountry
S70 is kind of touchy starting out due to tires, even a wet heavy duty traffic strip causes wheel spin
XC is rock solid with all seasons. Of course the laws of physics still apply to AWD as u well know
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