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Old 09-29-2013, 05:31 PM
 
3,463 posts, read 5,665,887 times
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My Wife had four dedicated snow tires on her Scion XB and it would go anywhere, even after fresh, multi-inch dumping.
I never put snow tires on my Suzuki, and only had trouble in those aforementioned fresh multi-inch, situations. Once they did the first plow & salt, I could manage if I had to. A little unsettling, but slooooooow and steady worked
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Old 09-30-2013, 04:19 AM
 
Location: Vermont
1,205 posts, read 1,973,372 times
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As most have said, get real winter tires! After that, winter driving is about being smooth with the brakes and gas. Leave more room between you and other cars, slow down, anticipate that intersections may be slippery and test the brakes way before them to guage the road condition. My wife has a 4wd, but we still put winter tires on it it for stopping and turning. I live on the way up to Killington and have seen plenty of 4wd wonderwagons off the road or stuck, just because they put crappy tires on them while someone in a Honda Accord blows right by with good winter tires.
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Old 09-30-2013, 05:20 AM
 
Location: Western views of Mansfield/Camels Hump!
2,062 posts, read 3,965,777 times
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Yup, 4WD on it's own will do nothing if you have crappy tires...I own a Jeep but when we first moved up here my tires were old and I just hadn't gotten around to getting new ones...I learned my lesson quick in less than 2" of snow in November.
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Old 09-30-2013, 09:43 AM
 
Location: in a cabin overlooking the mountains
3,078 posts, read 4,378,952 times
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Someone just sent me this video and although it's not VT it does have some classic snow moments including skids, pirouettes, getting dumped on by the plow and sheets of snow falling off the roof.

The People vs Winter - YouTube

I kind of instinctively stay away from buildings in the winter because of the snow on the rooves and the icicles.
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Old 09-30-2013, 12:27 PM
 
Location: Live - VT, Work - MA
819 posts, read 1,496,203 times
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The other thing to remember is that as much as the yuppies would like to think BMW and Lexus have solved for the laws of pysics, they really haven't. AWD, is a great tool on top of great tires and some gray matter between the ears.......of those three I say the #1 is the gray matter between the ears followed by tires.... :-)

That being said, all our vehicles are AWD or 4wd......I like overkill.....
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Old 09-30-2013, 04:59 PM
 
Location: The Woods
18,359 posts, read 26,520,591 times
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Front wheel drive can be done, but I was quite glad to get a 4 wheel drive vehicle again this year. I was on a paved road on the side of a mountain last winter and about went down the mountain the wrong way when I hit a hidden patch of black ice under the snow, going quite slowly. Good tires did nothing. I should of had tire chains on.

Don't forget mud season if you ever have to get off the paved roads.
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Old 09-30-2013, 06:57 PM
 
Location: Vermont / NEK
5,793 posts, read 13,944,094 times
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Priceless video, FugalYankee!!!
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Old 09-30-2013, 07:03 PM
 
Location: Live - VT, Work - MA
819 posts, read 1,496,203 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arctichomesteader View Post
Front wheel drive can be done, but I was quite glad to get a 4 wheel drive vehicle again this year. I was on a paved road on the side of a mountain last winter and about went down the mountain the wrong way when I hit a hidden patch of black ice under the snow, going quite slowly. Good tires did nothing. I should of had tire chains on.

Don't forget mud season if you ever have to get off the paved roads.
Great point....

Snow of any depth is fine with me......but mud is the ****e that really gives me a workout in any vehicle I'm in.....that spring thaw/frozen combo of 10" of wiggly crap on top of frozen hell is just what nightmares are made of......I have actually chosen to drive out of rabbit camp in the spring at 1:30am to ensure I had frozen ruts vs. peanut butter jizzle......
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Old 09-30-2013, 08:41 PM
 
Location: Brandon VT
190 posts, read 652,965 times
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Agreed completely with Logs and Dogs! I'm more scared of that soft dirt road + ice combo you get in March. The most terrifying drive I ever did wasn't the huge blizzard I got stuck in on Shelburne Road, it was going 5 mph for 2 miles on Texas Hill Road when the road was the consistency of jello.

That being said, a front wheel vehicle is completely fine as long as you 1. get snow tires and 2. drive carefully and slowly. Snow tires are no exception in VT, no matter what vehicle you drive.
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Old 10-02-2013, 10:12 AM
 
Location: Central Maine
2,865 posts, read 3,634,681 times
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Lived in the NEK back in the 1990s and all I had was a front-wheel drive with decent tires on it. And I lived on a hill as well. Always made it up, BUT got a running start at the bottom and didn't stop in-between. To add to that, my driveway went UP from the hill, that's RIGHT!!. I remember winters when all I did, day after day, was move snow, always from my driveway. Depending on how well your (snow) driving is, how good your tires are and where you need to go (level or uphill) plus the road conditions will determine how well you do, is my experience.
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