[tryin2buy]

I've owned RWD, FWD, 4x4 and most recently AWD.

Rear wheel drive-never again! If there was even a little pile of snow in a parking lot the thing would get stuck. It was a LONG time ago, a 1980 Mercury Capri (yeah, I'm dating myself!)

Never had any problems with my front wheel drive, not as thrilled with the 4 wheel drive as I constantly have to put it in 4WD for the stability on slipperty roads.

My FAVORITE to drive in the MI winters is All Wheel Drive. 1 1/2 years ago bought my son an '03 Explorer with AWD. Holy Moly is that thing great to drive in the winter!! The traction is amazing and that was with some pretty worn out tires! The fuel efficiency sucks, the trans blew, wheel bearings/hub breaking almost got him killed, etc, etc,. Its been a never ending money pit but the thing is awsome in the snow .

[alleyyooper]

When the good people of Michigan became able to afford a car to drive in the winter they were nearly all rear wheel drive. They drove at a slower speed carried weight in the back and had tire chains. Any body who thinks you need 4x4 all wheel drive in the winter here in Michigan should just stay AWAY.

Having a 4x4 or all wheel drive just gets people driving way to fast for the conditions. Many in the ditches in the winter are just that.

Al

[darstar]

Originally Posted by tryin2buy

I've owned RWD, FWD, 4x4 and most recently AWD.

Rear wheel drive-never again! If there was even a little pile of snow in a parking lot the thing would get stuck. It was a LONG time ago, a 1980 Mercury Capri (yeah, I'm dating myself!)

Never had any problems with my front wheel drive, not as thrilled with the 4 wheel drive as I constantly have to put it in 4WD for the stability on slipperty roads.

My FAVORITE to drive in the MI winters is All Wheel Drive. 1 1/2 years ago bought my son an '03 Explorer with AWD. Holy Moly is that thing great to drive in the winter!! The traction is amazing and that was with some pretty worn out tires! The fuel efficiency sucks, the trans blew, wheel bearings/hub breaking almost got him killed, etc, etc,. Its been a never ending money pit but the thing is awsome in the snow .

FWD is worthless going up hill in deep snow. Its bad going backwards. I see every winter people trying to dig out of a parking spot where the front wheels are impacted in the snow bank. Unless you have a FWD that is truly designed for winter weather , like a SAAB , then most are crap, hard to handle ( oversteer), require lots of CV joints, and , with a traverse engine, impossible to work on. Many times the engine has to be pulled to work on them. Try pulling a trailer with a FWD, you will see the problem. very unsafe. Give me RWD any day.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by alleyyooper

When the good people of Michigan became able to afford a car to drive in the winter they were nearly all rear wheel drive. They drove at a slower speed carried weight in the back and had tire chains. Any body who thinks you need 4x4 all wheel drive in the winter here in Michigan should just stay AWAY.

Having a 4x4 or all wheel drive just gets people driving way to fast for the conditions. Many in the ditches in the winter are just that.

Al

Most of the SUV 4 x 4 owners do not know how to put the vehicle in four wheel. Have never been off road in their life ,...except for when we see them in the ditch !

[nordwulf]

It's no wonder Subaru's are very popular in northern Michigan. Especially the Outback wagons. You'll get the same cargo space and utility as an SUV but better handling and fuel economy as a car. The new 2010 Outback gets 30+ mpg on the highway.

There are many different AWD systems as well and not all are created equal. I am perhaps a bit biased but Saab's Cross Wheel Drive system (XWD) takes AWD to the next level. In combination with the eLSD (Limited Slip Differential), power is sent to the individual wheel with the most grip. That's not something you find on your average AWD vehicle.

http://saabarchive.com/models/9-3/2008/turbox/uk/xwd/index.html (broken link)


YouTube - saab xwd

[darstar]

Originally Posted by Wulf67

It's no wonder Subaru's are very popular in northern Michigan. Especially the Outback wagons. You'll get the same cargo space and utility as an SUV but better handling and fuel economy as a car. The new 2010 Outback gets 30+ mpg on the highway.

There are many different AWD systems as well and not all are created equal. I am perhaps a bit biased but Saab's Cross Wheel Drive system (XWD) takes AWD to the next level. In combination with the eLSD (Limited Slip Differential), power is sent to the individual wheel with the most grip. That's not something you find on your average AWD vehicle.

XWD (http://saabarchive.com/models/9-3/2008/turbox/uk/xwd/index.html - broken link)


YouTube - saab xwd

Fox Motors here in Marquette sell a boat load of them Subaru's. They may not have the ground clearance for the back woods , but work just fine on city streets and most secondary roads. All my neighbors have them, they make to annual pilgrimage to the tire shop for their winter tires also. Most have separate wheels for summer tires.
No Saab dealers around, maybe they have stopped production , or distribution in this Area of the Country , not sure.

[crazyme4878]

Wow! Five pages of 4WD vs. 2WD? Well, I'll add my own experiences to the mix (without reading the 3 pages inbetween 1 and 5, sorry, not going to do it).

We lived in the UP for 3 years (northern WI for 2 years, northern MN for 3 years) and only had front wheel drive sedans. As others have seemed to mention here, that is the key. I have driven in more than one blizzard (actual blizzards. I know, what luck I have.), and more crappy roads than I can count. And I did it all just fine with the front wheel drive. We never used chains, or even bought snow tires.

We now live in the mountains in Arizona and this winter gave Michigan a run for it's money on snowstorms! They will shut down the highway and check that you have 4WD or snowchains before you can proceed. Our FWD did just fine with the chains on (6% grade) the one time we managed to be in that big of a storm, and did just fine over the dirt mountianious roads in other larger snowstorms.

Of course, no matter if you have 4WD or 2WD, you still have to drive with extreme caution and I wouldn't classify it as fun at all.

[darstar]

Originally Posted by crazyme4878

Wow! Five pages of 4WD vs. 2WD? Well, I'll add my own experiences to the mix (without reading the 3 pages inbetween 1 and 5, sorry, not going to do it).

We lived in the UP for 3 years (northern WI for 2 years, northern MN for 3 years) and only had front wheel drive sedans. As others have seemed to mention here, that is the key. I have driven in more than one blizzard (actual blizzards. I know, what luck I have.), and more crappy roads than I can count. And I did it all just fine with the front wheel drive. We never used chains, or even bought snow tires.

We now live in the mountains in Arizona and this winter gave Michigan a run for it's money on snowstorms! They will shut down the highway and check that you have 4WD or snowchains before you can proceed. Our FWD did just fine with the chains on (6% grade) the one time we managed to be in that big of a storm, and did just fine over the dirt mountianious roads in other larger snowstorms.

Of course, no matter if you have 4WD or 2WD, you still have to drive with extreme caution and I wouldn't classify it as fun at all.

That's where we differ....off roading is great fun !! Especially when there is a challenge...no one likes blizzards, real ones, but everything else is best done in a 4 x 4 with high ground clearance. Stumps , rocks , can be murder on low slung cars. I have done it in AZ. also, in a 4 x 4 jeep mostly for rocks. And one year in a 70 year old roadster,taking the back dusty trails to Scottsdale, was a hoot !

[crazyme4878]

Well, I'm hoping to get a high clearance (and probably 4WD) soon. It is just that there were so many cool places in the northern midwest we could get to without needing one, so why spend the money? However, Arizona is the land of horrible dirt roads and if we want to get to even a quarter of the really cool places, we need one. What I really want is a little Jeep, but my husband thinks a crew-cab truck meets our needs more. Which, unfortunately, he is probably correct on. Have you ever went 4-wheeling down the Cherry Creek Road (starts by Lake Roosevelt and ends in Young)? That is where I really want to go!

[tulips4you2]

I've lived in Michigan my whole life and I right now I'm driving a Dodge Avenger. I've only owned one 4 wheel drive vehicle & thats back when you could actually afford to fill it up.