Interesting. Your ranking above sounds plausible. Without having the experiences of driving all types (as you), if I were to take a guess at the rankings, I probably would've ranked them the way you did from my readings and from practical driving experiences.AHTOXA wrote:I've driven FWD with snow tires through, what, two winters I believe? I've driven a 4x4 with siped and unsiped mud tires (mud tires often carry a snow tire designation on the sidewalls) and I've driven a RWF with summer performance tires in the snow - twice.potownrob wrote:talking about AWD and FWD with snow tires
Here's how I would rank things in order of worst to best. In this case, "worst" and "best" are looked at in terms of overall traction and safety rather than the fun factor or personal preference.
RWD summer tires
RWD all season tires
FWD all season
FWD winter tires
AWD all seasons
AWD winter tires
4x4 mud tires (loose or deep snow and slush; they need siped for hardpack)
I prefer an all wheel drive with good all-seasons to FWD with a winter set. If the all-season tire is good (which many new compounds are), then the difference between stopping with a snow tire and a good all-season is not so dramatic. Sure, winter tire will still outperform an all-season, but in real world, breaking traction is still going to be very easy, so most will drive accordingly - slower and allow themselves more distance.
Good stuff tho...
PS. MY Jeep Grand Cherokee is 4X4 and has All Terrain tires.... so far, it's been fun plowing through the snow and climbing up some "mountains."
Just about a month ago it was snowing quite a bit and a line of vehicles (including mine, mid-way in the line) was stopped at a red light on a decent incline. As the light changed to green, the Altima in the front could not find traction and grip to pull itself up.
It was sliding from side to side. THe older 'benz behind him decides to overtake and he was stuck in the middle of the road trying.
By this time, with their antics, some space was created and I calmly drove off to the side, between a couple of trees, and onto the pavement (once it was safe) and cruised by all of them with a smile. I remember being in the Altima's position at one point in time.
It was nice to have the assurance of 4-wheel drive esp. when you need it.