[Suzet2262]

I have read a few comments people have made on driving in the snow with SUVs. The impression I got is that it wasnt a good idea. Can someone clear that up for me? I would think that driving an SUV would be better than a standard car. Is having 4wd better than 2wd? Do tires really make that much of a difference? Does anyone use chains? I remember when we lived in Iceland, our car had these, I guess studs(?) in the tires. They were supposed to be better than driving with chains.

[square peg]

First Christmas in July, Now this? Here's a link to last winter's discussion on snow tires.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/vermo...questions.html

[Suzet2262]

Originally Posted by square peg

First Christmas in July, Now this? Here's a link to last winter's discussion on snow tires.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/vermo...questions.html

Thanks for the link

[Jason_Els]

One other thing.

Trouble in snow and ice occurs when you can't steer or stop. All other things being equal, SUVs take longer to stop because of their great bulk. Remember high school physics?

An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. - I. Newton

The more mass an object has, the more force is needed to get to a state of rest. ABS helps to prevent loss of control but doesn't help much with stopping distance.

The other issue is maneuverability. SUVs aren't light on their feet. In panic maneuvering an SUV is apt to be much less nimble than a car and, no matter what, its center of gravity will be higher. That's important because the center of gravity will determine what the rollover point will be. The suspensions of SUVs are tuned to carry weight and pull other objects, not to maneuver nimbly in emergency situations.

When you combine the mass with Newton's First Law, the center of gravity being higher, and the suspension tuning, SUVs lose in some very important categories when it comes to safe driving. In an accident, an SUV may be safer but it depends on the sort of accident and, as Volvo likes to remind us, the safest accident is the one you avoid.

[square peg]

A+ for that post, Jason!

[vter]

Many, many folks in Vermont get by with a front wheel drive and good snow tires - myself including. I love driving in the snow - it's fun!

[cinnabon]

Originally Posted by vter

Many, many folks in Vermont get by with a front wheel drive and good snow tires - myself including. I love driving in the snow - it's fun!

SUVs are better driving on snow, but worse driving on ice. And on either surface, harder to stop. Part of the problem is some people get so cocky driving them in winter conditions that they go too fast... & wind up on their roof in a dirtch!

I do OK most of the time w/ front wheel drive and snow tires, but still get stuck in heavy snow not recently plowed, where I see the SUVs cruising right through it - there is no question that they are superior overall.

[VTeratheart]

I totally agree with the cocky-driver post. While I've never actually done a study, I've made mental notes while driving nice and slowly in dangerous conditions on the interstate. That I've noticed, I swear, 99.5% of the time, is that vehicles off the road are 1) in the median (trying to pass) and 2) an SUV. There seems to be a false sense of security about driving one of those vehicles, and that you're invincible driving one in the snow. Anyway, I've done very well in my minivan (2WD) with snow tires. Use common sense and you'll be just fine. Oh, and find an empty parking lot once you're here, that might help, too!!

[tkln]

It's the same thing here in NYC - everyone thinks that they own an SUV and they are invincible. Well, not so...I drive one and know that no matter what, I'm not any better off in most snow or ice than anyone else. The ONLY thing an SUV will help you in is deeper snow where you can get stuck in a RWD or FWD car...as stated above, it's worse in rain/ice/slick conditions because it weighs much more and takes a lot longer to stop.

(Disclaimer: I drive a Jeep, because my 135lb dog will not fit in a car, and it was cheaper than all the wagons I wanted!)

[Suzet2262]

When you are talking about SUV's are you talking about the big ones like the Suburban or the Expediton? What about the mid-sized size SUVs, we are going to be buying the BMW-X5. I heard they handle very well in harsh weather.