4-wheel drive needed in Colorado? (Denver, Colorado Springs: spring break, rental, hotel)

[MileHiGolfer]

It's not needed, but it sure is nice to have. My wife's V8 4Runner is amazing in the snow/ice.

My Maxima does OK in the snow/ice, but I'm definitely getting AWD in my next car. There are enough times when it would be nice to have it that I think it's worth it.

[DOUBLE H]

AWD should get you through in almost all cases.
The one case that I was glad to have it was the Blizzard of '82 on Christmas Eve/Christmas day. Anyone posting here knows what I am talking about if they lived in the Denver area back then. And there are STILL some bumper stickers on cars saying "I survived the Blizzard of '82!"

I helped out for a little bit in my neighborhood and took some people to the hospital who needed meds, couldn't get them. Also took an elderly gentleman to Swedish hospital as he had suffered a heart attack. I didn't have to worry about running into anyone on the road because there was no one on the road!

[sterlinggirl]

4wd is nice to have but not necessary for most of us.

The plusses:
Better ability to get going in snow
Usually more ground clearance
You get to brag that you have 4wd

The minuses:
More expensive to buy
More expensive to maintain
More expensive to insure
More expensive to license
Worse gas mileage
Higher center of gravity (bad handling)
Stiffer suspension
Does worse in snow than FWD when 4wd is turned off.

If you want to make a vehicle work well in the snow, you only need two things. The first one is to balance your vehicle to put equal weight on the front and rear tires. The second is decent tires.

[jazzlover]

Unless your driving includes a lot of backcountry road ("jeep trail") travel, an AWD car will do just about anything you need to do in winter driving conditions in Colorado, and a FWD car with traction control will do nearly as much as the AWD under most conditions.

Four-wheel drives are nice for getting into the backcountry--and I have an old beater 4WD for that--but just know that they cost a lot more to fuel, maintain, and license than a FWD or even an AWD car. When fuel prices explode again--and they will--"true" 4WD's will probably become unaffordable as a daily driver for most people. I already use my old beater 4WD as little as possible and rely on my economical FWD for everything that I can.

Also, buying a new vehicle is a fool's game. There are scads of used low-mileage cars out there than can be bought for a fraction of the cost of a new vehicle.

[D-town 720]

I see folks riding their scooters and bicycles in the snow and rain here in downtown....

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Also, buying a new vehicle is a fool's game. There are scads of used low-mileage cars out there than can be bought for a fraction of the cost of a new vehicle.

That depends on how handy you are with cars, and what resources you have. We encouraged our daughter to buy new, as she's alone in a new town.

[MattRlz]

Originally Posted by Katiana

That depends on how handy you are with cars, and what resources you have. We encouraged our daughter to buy new, as she's alone in a new town.

I agree. Buying a new car has nothing to do with being a fool. As I have seen people buy used cars that do nothing but break down and cost more money to fix than if they bought a new car.

[dacx]

All a 4-wheel drive means is that you will get 4 wheels stuck on the ice, not just two.

Seriously, it can be helpful at times but most problems are caused because people assume that because they have a 4-wheel drive they will be safe and not have to drive as cautiously as they would without a 4-wheel drive

[Claudia M.M]

I like having AWD it makes my driving (in snow days) more stable. For sure snow tires are helpfull to.

[80skeys]

GJ got slammed with snow yesterday and I had no problems getting around in my old 4WD F150. I'll go so far as to say that by the looks of it I was having a much easier time than most of the vehicles on the streets.