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It's a bunch of white, frozen, slippery stuff - but that's not important.
Drover is right about modern RWD cars. The best tool for snow driving is an experienced and patient driver. The worst is an impatient 4X4 road hog. I've driven cars and trucks on snow and ice for years and never had a problem, except when an idiot going too fast spins out in front of me. Ran a tow service with 2WD trucks to haul 4WD rigs back on the road. Funny. [at least to me].
Friends of mine have two of them.....TERRIBLE in the snow. Tires might help a bit but a short narrow wheel base will always suck... Physics 101.
Don't know what wheelbase has to do with snow traction.
A short wheelbase can make for a more squirrely-handling car, due to its ability to change directions quickly.
Which can mean swapping ends quickly.
Most modern Minis probably have ESP, aka stability control.
Ground clearance will certainly factor into how deep the snow you can play in can be.
BTW, the side-to-side measure between wheels at either end is known as track, not wheelbase.
And Franklyn pretty well nailed it down regarding the best and worst tools for snow driving: the driver.
The first thing one usually sees after a newfallen snow is scads of badly-piloted 4WDs in the median or on the side of the road.
It's curious how many folks here think RWD is a problem in snow. I found quite the opposite in my '60 Porsche 1600S. No traction control; no limited slip, but I never got beaten in an ice race: We plowed out a road course on frozen lakes, and ran with plain nonstudded tires. I used Michelin Xs. Dirt-track technique was the order of the day: brake gently on approach, pitch it in for a late apex, balance it off with power, and accelerate gently out, minimizing wheelspin. I suspect today's motorists have gotten spoiled.
I see several Minis around Fairbanks, so all depends on the tires. But since they don't have a lot of ground clearance deep snow can be a problem. But then, a lot of FWD automobiles don't have a lot of ground clearance, so the same principle applies. I see several Minis driven around Fairbanks, just like other FWD automobiles, and I drive a 1987 Civic Si with studded tires in the middle of the winter. If the snow is too high, then I drive a 4WD Suzuki Sidekick to work and back, and sometimes my wife's Rav 4.
P.S. FWD automobiles do a lot better on ice than RWD automobiles, unless the RWD automobile has a better set of tires for road conditions than the FWD one. Stability control is designed to reduce lateral skids. It does not increase traction. In modern automobiles with traction/stability controls, the traction is directed by the traction control.
It's curious how many folks here think RWD is a problem in snow. I found quite the opposite in my '60 Porsche 1600S. No traction control; no limited slip, but I never got beaten in an ice race: We plowed out a road course on frozen lakes, and ran with plain nonstudded tires. I used Michelin Xs. Dirt-track technique was the order of the day: brake gently on approach, pitch it in for a late apex, balance it off with power, and accelerate gently out, minimizing wheelspin. I suspect today's motorists have gotten spoiled.
Agreed...my Cherokee was a 4x4, but unless I was driving through deeper unplowed snow, I didn't use it often (however, it was a beast with the 4x4...I swear to god, I could not get it stuck). It did just fine in rear drive with decent all-terrains on it. Plus I could powerslide it like there was no tomorrow. My new Grand Cherokee though...I dont think i'll be able to have as much fun. Stability control, traction control PLUS true AWD. I can turn off the traction control, but its still there in the backround making sure you don't do something completely off the wall.
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