Driving in the Snow

[Sir Henry]

I was scheduled for an oil change first thing this morning so left the house when it was still dark and the roads weren’t plowed. I’m amazed at how well the Outback gets around in deep drifted snow. Even with highway tires only it gets around great. Of course the snow here is the best for driving and I’m experienced.

We received about 6” on top of 2” from days before. Of course that means 2’ drifts at the top of my driveway. I’m glad I plowed it yesterday.

Film at eleven.

[Hatchdog]

Those Subaru’s do get around in the snow well. My neighbor drives an Outback and does very getting up and down our hills in the snow.

[cooperhawk]

Back in 78 I bought a Subaru Brat. (Bi Drive Recreational All Terrain). We drove it up a mountain in Virginia in the dark
of early morning and when the sun came up I looked down and was afraid to drive it down. It was like
a mountain goat.
I eventually gave it to my oldest daughter and she wrecked it.

It was a good little vehicle.

[BrokenolMarine]

Before getting into the 4wd trucks, I had a series of Subarus, (five in total over the years,) starting in Hawaii with a 1980 4wd Wagon. The best of the bunch was a Subaru Forester in the 90s and it would go like a Truck, we towed the kayaks everywhere with it. I remember heading to town for a doctor's appointment after a major storm, and there was that icy slush on the roads. We stopped at a light in Powhatan, and there was a huge monster 4x4 at the light beside us, the kind that has the ladder steps to get into the cab. The boy driving looked down into the Forester passenger seat and sneered at Miss Tina. The light changed and I applied a gentle pressure to the gas pedal and I could feel that computer controlled AWD applying power back and forth to all four wheels, switching when they lost traction. We pulled smoothly away from the light and the slushy mess puddled in the four lane cluster there. We were 200 yards up the road and still moving when I glanced back... the boy at the wheel had goosed the pedal in the truck and all four tires had spun in the icy mess and the truck went nowhere, in fact it had drifted sideways a bit and slid toward the ditch.... He got mad and stomped the gas to the floor and that just made his issues worse....

In Slick conditions, more power isn't the answer.... LOL.

We have been driving the Nissan Trucks now for over a decade, and haven't stuck them, but when the roads are iced over, we ... stay home.

[markiver54]

Nothing is good on ice, short of having chains or studs. I have heard though that the Subarus do well in snow.
My 4Runners have yet to let me down either.

[daytime dave]

Mary has had many Subaru Outbacks for company cars. They did all right in the snow. If you put snow tires or a similar aggressive type tire on they were superb.
I use studded snow tires all around on steel rims on the F150. It goes up my curve and hill driveway when it's icy.
Speed control and traction are key in the winter. All season tires work in every season except winter. They are not built to grip in snowy or slushy conditions.
I see many 4x4 trucks going way too fast in the winter because they can. The only problem comes when they are going too fast and need to stop.
As Gene stated, knowing how to drive in snow is key as well.

[cooperhawk]

A wise old man once said,

"4 wheel drive will just get you stuck another hundred yards further into the snow bank."

I have found that to be true more than once.

[Cofisher]

I learned to drive in a 65 El Camino, in the Rockies. I currently drive a Chrysler minivan. I've had a few 4 wheel drives. Definitely easier. It really comes down to driving smart. I want an Outback. Lol

[Sir Henry]

Mary has had many Subaru Outbacks for company cars. They did all right in the snow. If you put snow tires or a similar aggressive type tire on they were superb.
I use studded snow tires all around on steel rims on the F150. It goes up my curve and hill driveway when it's icy.
Speed control and traction are key in the winter. All season tires work in every season except winter. They are not built to grip in snowy or slushy conditions.
I see many 4x4 trucks going way too fast in the winter because they can. The only problem comes when they are going too fast and need to stop.
As Gene stated, knowing how to drive in snow is key as well.

I’m surprised how well the highway tires do here. They aren’t even all-season. Back in Washington I was like you and had dedicated studded tires all the way around. But the snow was different there and I’m in a very rural place here and only have to worry about myself and not a hundred thousand other drivers.

[RanchRoper]

My son just put Falken Wildpeak AT Trails on his Forester. Good tires. I run AT3W on the Jeep and new one comes with Falken MT’s.
They make good tires.

[Sir Henry]

Even my Transit is AWD and it gets around in the snow just as good. It’s currently parked in the upper garage and will sit there till the snow season is over and all the chemicals are off the road. No use of having two rust buckets.

[daytime dave]

Have to admit getting real sick of tailgaiting bozos who have no clue.

That's a peeve of mine. I don't like that at all.

[JEBar]

my first vehicle, purchased when I was 16. was a 1965 Jeep CJ5 .... I'm now 78 and at no time since have I been without at least one 4-wheel drive vehicle .... a few months ago we celebrated our 50th anniversary .... with Maureen being from South Dakota and the realization that a family emergency that requires us drive from NC to SD could easily happen during the winter .... for that reason we resolved to have at least one vehicle capable of getting us there during during bad weather .... back in 1994 such an emergency happened .... on the way out there we hit ice/snow covered roads .... we put our 1988 Chevy Blazer in 4-wheel drive just north of Knoxville, TN and weren't able to put it back into 2-wheel drive until 10 days, approx 5,000 miles later when we got back to clear roads .... in short, as we all know, not all 4-wheel drive vehicles are equal .... our current 2024 Chevy Blazer has all wheel drive which works well but it doesn't have the ground clearance to plow through deep snow .... our current 4-wheel drive 2011 Chevy Silverado has much higher ground clearance and a 12,000 lb winch on the front .... mechanically we believe that both are capable being cranked up at headed west at any time .... it goes without saying that driving in snow and on a sheet of ice is very different ....

[Sir Henry]

I’ve had several Bronco II’s. The 86 had the Dana 28 and the 90 had the Dana 35. Even the front axel in a 4WD can make a big difference. I had to get out and manually lock the hubs on the 28 and could hit a button on the inside of the 35. I preferred manual locking but once in the 35 could turn sharper.

[markiver54]

More times than not, getting stuck is the fault of the driver and where he/she has chosen to drive whatever vehicle they are in without consideration of said vehicle's capabilities. Most situations are avoidable. JMO
BTW, I HAVE lived in and driven in harsh climates for over 3 decades before moving to the south. Common sense rules. Again...JMO.

[dave77]

Even my Transit is AWD and it gets around in the snow just as good. It’s currently parked in the upper garage and will sit there till the snow season is over and all the chemicals are off the road. No use of having two rust buckets.

That's what I usually do, drive my old 4wd '97 Ranger (don't even take my snow tires off in the summer) and my Miata sits in the garage most of the winter with a battery maintainer hooked up.

So far this winter has been so mild I've been mostly driving the Miata, we've only had a couple of inches of snow a couple of times so far. It's just been cold enough the last few nights for the goat paddock ground to finally freeze, it's been a muddy mess.

I've never driven an AWD, have always had 4WD's.

[cooperhawk]

We have a very long driveway so I always have had 4 wheel drive vehicles. I am on my fourth Ford Explorer and they have all proven able to get us in and out if the snow isn't too deep.

Back In 1983 I purchased a new Ford Bronco with the 351 Cleveland and positraction front and rear. I originally set it up to run the beach at Cape Hatteras where we went surf fishing every Summer, but then we moved back to Minnesota. It has extra big rims and wide traction tires for the sand, but guess what, they work well in ice and snow too.

Well anyway, In 1990 I wanted to trade it for an F150 but they wouldn't give me what I thought it was worth, so I kept it and mounted a Western snow plow on it. I'm still plowing with it and it runs great although it's rusted out pretty badly. The radio works, the heater works, the wipers work, heck it's the perfect old plow truck.

Our drive is three tenths of a mile but then I also plow a couple neighbors and our service road.

[dave77]

my first vehicle purchased when I was 16 was a 1965 Jeep CJ5 ....

My first vehicle was a '64 VW which got around very well in snow. Second was a '53 CJ3B and I took it on back roads in the winter and am amazed I never got stuck out in the boonies. I did run walnut studded tires. Toyo still makes a walnut snow tire, the ones we got here back in the 70's were cheap re-treads but were very grippy.

It was pretty basic, had a heater but no defroster, just a towel and sometimes a ice scrapper to use on the inside if it was really cold. Had vacuum operated wipers which were almost useless (especially going uphill, you had to get off the gas for a second to get a swipe), finally bought a aftermarket electric wiper for the driver's side.

[JEBar]

my first vehicle purchased when I was 16 was a 1965 Jeep CJ5 ....

It was pretty basic, had a heater but no defroster, just a towel and sometimes a ice scrapper to use on the inside if it was really cold.

basic would be a good word for our CJ .... no top, no seat belts, no radio, no hubs, the heater was an option that came in a box in the back, no back seat, a Dauntless 4 cylinder engine that could manage 55 mph on reasonably level ground .... we had a hard top (Kelly Cab) and the heater installed .... I installed Warn manual locking hubs, an AM radio, an 8-track tape player, speakers, made a back seat out of one taken out of an old school bus seat .... it had factory installed drain holes in the floor which were most certainly needed because the fold down front windshield leaked ... I wish I still had it

[Sir Henry]

Even my Transit is AWD and it gets around in the snow just as good. It’s currently parked in the upper garage and will sit there till the snow season is over and all the chemicals are off the road. No use of having two rust buckets.

That's what I usually do, drive my old 4wd '97 Ranger (don't even take my snow tires off in the summer) and my Miata sits in the garage most of the winter with a battery maintainer hooked up.

So far this winter has been so mild I've been mostly driving the Miata, we've only had a couple of inches of snow a couple of times so far. It's just been cold enough the last few nights for the goat paddock ground to finally freeze, it's been a muddy mess.

I've never driven an AWD, have always had 4WD's.

I have had both and think AWD is as good as 4WD in road conditions. Off road the 4WD is better for ground clearance but sometimes has a disadvantage if the axel is solid.