[JViello]

Originally Posted by Cambium

Tires IMO are 40% important. Its mostly the car that matters. Period. But yes, having snowtires is obvious a plus.

Wrong. The tire is what makes the car, in any situation. Dry road racing on snow tires. Try drag racing on street tires. Try driving in the rain on drag slicks.

Try driving in the snow on Summer tires. Our AWD Evo VIII rally car would go NO WHERE on the Summer skins. Like you were on ice. Toss on a set of Nokians and it was unstopable. This is common knowledge to anyone in the automotive world.

Here you go:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFODBAr5q7M (This one is actually funny)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncga6UxlHM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyiBoTxCao

Neeeext.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by illinidorry

You still have a valid point but, that is an Audi A4 with QUATTRO all-wheel drive not a front wheel drive car but one with one of the best AWD systems ever made.

Fair enough, but to prove the point about how much tires matter...here is literally the same model car in the same driveway a few minutes before getting stuck on different tires.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF6q41akx7g

Nokians are nasty.

[illinidorry]

Just to aggravate every one I'm gonna throw something else out there. In deep soft snow, nothing beats a serious mud terrain (big voids no sipes) on a 4wd truck. Put those same tires on a packed snow, icy road and you might as well put ice skates at all four corners. Snow tires don't necessarily help you get through snow, they help get you through the snow and ice that everyone else has driven through, which obviously if you dont live in the middle of nowhere is more important.

[illinidorry]

Originally Posted by JViello

Fair enough, but to prove the point about how much tires matter...here is literally the same model car in the same driveway a few minutes before getting stuck on different tires.

Nokians are nasty.

I definitly agree but thats a pretty sad attempt

[Cambium]

Originally Posted by JViello

Wrong. The tire is what makes the car, in any situation. Dry road racing on snow tires. Try drag racing on street tires. Try driving in the rain on drag slicks.

I guess its all about experience.. I've driven several cars with snowtires on them and can honestly say each car handled differently. Whether it was a stop sign it couldnt stop for (brakes) or the rear end shifting to much (weight) or the bottom of the car getting stuck in 5 inch snow(height)...but it sounds like its the chicken & the egg here because I am agreeing you need snowtires to make winter driving easier but you also need a car that can handle it as well.

[JViello]

All snow tires are not created equal. Modern performance snow tires such as Nokians are in another world from old school "snows".

[skel1977]

4WD or AWD or atleast front wheel drive.

You dont really need 4wd or AWD though. It would have been nice for this past winter season but its not normally as bad as it was this winter. I drive a sports car just fine in the winter.

[Tetto]

Originally Posted by JViello

All snow tires are not created equal. Modern performance snow tires such as Nokians are in another world from old school "snows".

I concur wholeheartedly

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Lincolnian

You cannot go wrong with a Subaru. Great traction, decent gas mileage, and excellent reliability.

Subaru is a fine choice.

Here's how I rate cars I've owned, for what it's worth:

• RWD: can be difficult even with the best tires you can get. (75%)
• FWD: better tires get better results. (80%)
• FWD with traction control: better, even without great tires. (85%)
• AWD or 4X4: you can plan to get through most anything in CT. (98%)

[TobinJ]

Wow this thread exploded...as I noted in my earlier post the kind of driving you do, the kind of training you have and the vehicle you apply to those situations will make the most difference in this situation. A good all weather tire is all most people need (I'm excluding the racing slick argument because that's so off base..with it's tread little shaved off and melted).

There are so many good all weather tires on the market (for those non-auto people you can compare and read reviews on most tires on tirerack.com great place to learn) that buying a spare set of rims and tires and paying for the swapping out is really not worth the potential gain of a snow tire. Especially if you don't have storage space or a way to schlep the tires back and forth to the garage.

That said...an all-season tire with a substantial amount of tread, maintained at the proper tread depth, and rotated on a scheduled basis should provide all the friction needed to steer/propel the vehicle.

I've watched inexperienced drivers in the snow, which is why I recommend driving your car in a parking lot to get the "fear" out or driving in the snow, most drivers panic and want to jam the brake. Also its obvious that some people have no idea what L 2 3 (et al) on their gearshift are for...as their tires spin out of control. I always get a chuckle of the person standing near the car when those tires are spinning...if it ever does catch lord knows where it's going to go. I posted some hints on snow driving in a similar thread, I can post them again, or you can find them in my profile.

To the OP as you start to narrow down your list of potential cars pop on google and look for a forum for that brand. There are forums for each of the major brands and you'll find a lot of info on tires and driving in snow. A lot of the higher end brands...Audi, BMW, Mercedes have winter driving clinics so if you buy a luxury vehicle make sure to sign up for their marketing and watch for the clinic.