Do I need four wheel drive? (St. Louis, Wildwood: high school, college, live in)

[gracie97]

Hi- moving down to St. Louis and wondering how necessary it is to have four wheel drive?

[prairiestate]

Of course not. Why does everyone think that if you're not within 100 miles of the Gulf Coast you need 4 wheel drive? Winters are even harsher in Chicago and I get by just fine with my little FWD Toyota Yaris, even in the aftermath of last winters blizzard.

[GraniteStater]

Only if you live out in the middle of nowhere on a gravel road or deep in snow country. Quite often, and AWD vehicle is certainly sufficient for many of those applications.

[Smtchll]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

Of course not. Why does everyone think that if you're not within 100 miles of the Gulf Coast you need 4 wheel drive? Winters are even harsher in Chicago and I get by just fine with my little FWD Toyota Yaris, even in the aftermath of last winters blizzard.

It's because in a thread when she was asking about West County, some posters said that you need 4-wheel drive in the winters out in Wildwood, which I think is true. I've even seen some pretty steep driveways close to the city, in the Ladue area. I don't think it's generally need there though. So it depends on the specific area you live in. And Chicago is as flat as it gets, so maybe that's why you didn't need it.

[flynavyj]

Yeh, it depends more on where you live than the city itself. For the vast majority of St. Louis you can get by just fine with a standard front wheel drive car. If your current car is RWD (and you know how to drive) you'll be fine with a set of snow tires for your winter driving. All in all, i think 4WD can be overkill, unless you've got a wicked steep driveway, or live in the deep recesses of Wildwood. If you're relatively close to a major rd (Hwy 100, maybe even 109 in a couple spots) you might be ok...but check the terrain first.

[aragx6]

There's a couple of outer-ring suburbs and semi-rural areas where a four-wheel drive would likely prove worthwhile, but for most people it's likely just an expensive upsell from their Audi dealer :P

[loki03xlh]

Never needed 4wd, although the Firebird stays parked from the first snow until the salt is washed off the roads in the spring. (the bike is parked during that time too) My 2wd S-10 works fine with a few concrete blocks in the bed over the rear axle.

[flynavyj]

Originally Posted by loki03xlh

Never needed 4wd, although the Firebird stays parked from the first snow until the salt is washed off the roads in the spring. (the bike is parked during that time too) My 2wd S-10 works fine with a few concrete blocks in the bed over the rear axle.

LOL, I used to throw a few hundred pounds of sand bags in the back of my firebird during High School. Drove the car all winter long, then drove it yearly until I had graduated college. Only had to call in to work once when I deemed it unsafe for me to drive in, simple words were "Ummm, so I pulled out of the driveway, made it up the block, and can't get any further. I'm going back home, not risking my life to fly your plane, find someone else."...they were pretty understanding.

My firebird now sits in it's heated garage bay awaiting a restoration Really need to motivate myself to go out there and start taking parts off, and putting new ones on.