Ice Driving! Which engine layout is best?

which is better for bad winter driving?

  • Front wheel drive

    Votes: 78 67.8%

  • Rear wheel drive

    Votes: 37 32.2%
  • Total voters
    115
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PanGasket

PanGasket

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Well, since being couped up is getting to us, lets do a nice friendly poll thread.:-D When driving on ice, which is the best? Front wheel drive or rear wheel drive? My mom slid her Exploder into a ditch today trying to be ballsy and go some where. She keeps blaming it on the fact that her car is rear wheel drive even though she is incapable of maintaining a lane while completely sober.:angry7: And im not even exaggerating. All the cops in the area pull her over and breathalize her constantly:toothy10:

So lets here it! Which is better?:-D

4WD is not a choice as, obviously, it'd win
 
I have never owned a FWD car and never will. I have always driven my cars rain/sun/snow/ice including the car I had just out of high school a 73 camaro with a balls out 66 327 that shouldn't have made it past the cam break in because the walls were so thin, it also had a 4 speed with a Hurst V-gate shifter and 4.11 posi. I NEVER had a problem driving in the ice and snow. You just have to keep your wits about you and not drive like a retard!
Cars were all daily drivers when new and now that they are old there is no reason what so ever that they shouldn't be driven now!


Anyone that blames it on "rear wheel drive" needs to go back to drivers ed or hand in their license.
 
When I had my 65 GT 'vert on the road as a daily driver, that's exactly what it was whether dry, rain, snow, ice whatever. Bought a 69 Charger in 87 and used it as my daily driver until 96. It went in the snow quite well!
 
I'm from Upstate NY, where we get 150 inches of snow each season.... on snow and ice it's FWD. Hands down!
 
Reality nothing's that good on ice. If you are not use to driving on it.
Front wheel drive is a little better then rear wheel drive.
Even a 4x4 isn't that great.
It's not the driving as much as stopping.
You just drive slow. I've seen a lot of people even here in Minnesota that go into the ditch no matter what they drive because they don't know when to slow down.

If there is snow off to the side you are better off getting your drive wheels on it, it will help traction a little bit.
 
If you ice race, everyone runs a FWD with bridgestone blizzack tires in the no stud class. So what does that tell ya. AWD the best
 
FWD does better in the snow. I chose RWD because I've never had problems driving in the snow, be the roads plowed or not. Because of the fact, I'm one of the few teens who's parents could care less if I drive in the snow.
 
FWD will "go" but I don't like the way they handle, especially if you get a little loose. I believe MOST people, including me, cannot truely handle a "loose" FWD.

I used to think I understood RWD when loose, and would much rather have a RWD on ice because of this, if the choice must be 2WD

I'm sure 4WD is best, but even then you need to be able to quickly and easily get the damn thing in and out of 4WD. There are times when the front end does not want to cooperate.

If you are not used to the trickery of a (!! generic term !!) limited slip rear, they may be of more harm than help.
 
FWD. Weight over the wheels, and can pull you through a turn, rather than pushing. Drove in the snow and ice once while going skiing in my old FWD Diamante. Mercedes behind me was drifting all over the place in turns at the same speed...But what do I know, I live in So. Cal!
 
gotta rock a SUBARU as your daily...... the symmetrical AWD is unbeatable in the crap we get up here!
 
JR said:
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Click to expand...
I am just wondering about these specific 2 really versus each other. :toothy10:. Some people claim one, others claim the other one sucks compared to it. I was just wondering what the majority was.

Also, what came to mind was I left out the option for mid-engine cars. :toothy10:
 
Best I have ever driven on Ice is my studded up 4x4 3/4 ton chevy. I could nail it from stop and go like mad, but it wouldn't stop any better than anything else.

ICE is hard to drive on no matter what you are driving, slow & smooth, put trans Neutral when stopping before applying brakes.

I have driven 4x4, front wheel drive and rear wheel drive on ice without any real problems, but I grew up driving rwd cars. Had snow tires on the cragers on the back of my 69 Roadrunner in Highschool.

Studded tires make driving on ice much better, but outlawed in a lot of areas.

Back in the day eveyone had snow tires and knew how to drive. today people expect the goverment to have the roads cleared and snow & ice free so tey can drive posted speed limit at all times.

Anyone need a set of 13" sbp wheels with studded snow tires? have a couple of sets. My 67 Dart converible had a set in the trunk when I bought it and a 68 Barracuda fastback has a set or two in the car when I bought it.

Best to stay home when there is an ICE STORM
 
rear wheel is fine if it has traction control other then that front wheel drive is best in my opinion.
 
More important than front/rear drive is the nut behind the wheel! I had a 63 chevy II when I lived in Colorado and used to pull people out with it, after driving through what they got there 4wd stuck in. They couldn't stand that!
 
I say RWD if only because it's more fun...

My 72 dodge coronet is my bad weather car. Spun out one time in the snow my first winter driving when I had skinny, bald tires on it... with 245/60 BFG's all around the past few years I have not had a problem, and in fact I have passed plenty of newer cars, RWD/FWD/AWD/traction control/whatever in the snow.
 
depending on how heavy the vehicle is, fwd is not very good when it starts sliding and its not a good idea to run all seasons on the rear as it may come around to meet the front real quick. it will go where you wanna go. however rwd is easier to handle if it trys to get away on you. I drive fwd with matching studded tires and drive to the conditions of the road
 
RWD, with engine located over the rear wheels, ala VW... The one I had did great in the snow.

My father used to drive Olds Toranados in Chicago for their ability to handle well in the snow. It did well, but not as good as my little VW:D
 
FWD with studded radial snow tires. Not all season tires. I've passed many 4WD in bad weather before.
 
I've driven FWD and RWD without problems on snow and ice growing up in Nebraska and now in Colorado. I've never driven an AWD or 4x4 so don't know how those compare. I've only gotten stuck twice, both times my stupidity instead of the cars fault.
 
fwd does not "kick " out the rear-end as you accelerate if on ice/snow. rwd is more fun in snow, but fwd is way better. hands down.
 
I prefer RWD and a manual trans for couple of reasons. With RWD I can still steer it when I lose traction and with a manual I can use the motor to help slow the whole shebang down. My work truck that I put 50K a year on is a RWD F150 (I know but the company is footing the bill so I'll drive whatever they want me to) and the only time I have ever been stuck in snow was when I chose the plow drift over an oncoming idiot pinwheeling off of parked cars coming at me. My personal truck is a trusty old 12 valve dually dodge truck. Sure it's 4 wheel drive but I only use the four wheel drive in combo with the exhaust brake when rolling down the mountain pass. Uphill and around town is 2HI and throttle induced oversteer at will:-D
 
I used to think FWD was better but a couple years ago I had a 76 valiant 4dr beater.
Piled up a bunch of stuff in the trunk and did not have snow tires, jus 195 75 "Viva" tires.
I was very impressed with the traction, did not get stuck. Now I have a 95 caravan and it has not gotten stuck, however, it seems you have to be real careful about the back end coming around on you when you hit the brakes. Of course last year we had a ton of snow, luckily I had my 4x4 dodge P/U running at the time. I dont think I would have made it in some of the snow storms we had here without the 4x4. Christmas eve was just a crazy storm, I had to go out in it. Kinda an emergency for my neighbor cause his baby was sick and only one store in town open. He thought we were gonna get stuck bbut we didnt. You kinda get a sense of what your vehicle will and wont do in the snow if you pay attention to it. That is what keeps you out of trouble.
I have had many years of experience driving semi trucks in the snow. Now that is something everyone needs to experience.
 
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