According to Tom and Ray, the reason a rear-wheel drive car doesn’t do so well on snow is that there’s less weight on the drive wheels. Does that mean you can put a bag of concrete or sand in the trunk of you RWD car and it will be better in slippery conditions?
Also, just how bad are RWDs in the snow? I’ve never driven one in incliment weather, but I’m wondering if they’re really as dangerous as I’ve heard.
I drive a RWD Ford F-150 and unless I weight down the bed with sand bags I slip all over our slick gravel roads. I have about 350 pounds and it definately helps me quite a lot. The weight serves to even out the heavy weight that the front tires have due to the engine, and give the rear wheels more traction. However, I have noticed that the added weight gives me more flats whenever there isn’t snow on the gravel roads.
RWD vehicles suck in the snow and are worthless on ice. I have been stuck in less than an inch of snow with a RWD vehicle. My dad taught me as soon as I got my own car to always put weight in the trunk for more traction. I used bags of kitty litter since I use kitty litter anyway (I’d store a whole summer’s worth of litter in my trunk over winter :)).
Surprisingly, one of the best non 4wd vehicles I owned and drove was a Toyota MR2. The engine was behind the seats and a little forward of the (rear) drive wheels. Too bad it had such low clearance, it couldn’t clear big drifts.
I drive an '85 MR2, and although it works decently with just studded snow tires, I often get stuck in my driveway in 2-3 inches of snow unless I put chains on.
The weight in the rear does help; I have better luck than my pickup-driving friends. But a RWD car also has the disadvantage that the drive wheels don’t turn with the steering wheel. When you’re skidding or have less traction in the front, the car won’t go where you expect it to.
I learned to drive in rwd cars, and I’ve driven both in snow and ice. Fwd has more weight over the driven wheels. However, when the driven wheels slip, you also lose steering control. With some weight in the trunk (or pickup bed,) a rwd isn’t bad. You have the added option of throttle steering. That is, if you’re going too straight around a corner, you can blip the go-pedal a bit to throw the back of the car around. The best combination I’ve driven, though, is FWD with antilock brakes and traction control. The TC applies antilock braking to the driven wheel that’s spinning. You almost can’t get stuck unless the snow is deep enough to drag on the bottom of the car.
I live in Colorado & have 3 RWD cars (one a pickup.) While they do have a little less traction on slick roads, I’m used to driving RWD & if you know how to handle it, there isn’t much of a problem. I used to live in the mountains, and the ONLY time I’ve ever lost control on icy roads was in a Blazer in 4WD; luckily I landsd in deep snow & the only thing hurt was my pride!
However, I put weight over the axle of my pickup all winter, and it does make a huge difference. Also, of course, having good tires, especially on the rear wheels. “Siping” the tires (where they put little razor thin cuts across the treads) really helps too, though I’ve been told they reduce the tire wear a little.
Consider two cars that are manufactured & driven in a very snowy country: Sweden. Saabs & Volvos - at least until very recently - are almost all RWD. I have an older Saab & pushed my neighbor’s FWD Mazda all the way down the block in a recent snowstorm because his car couldn’t get going on the snowy street!
Regarding the weight, Home Depo used to carry - and still may - mesh re-inforced plastic tubes containing about 35 pounds of sand. Before I switched to FrontWD I put two of them in the trunk in the winter.
Back in Saskatchewan, there are people who pack the bed of their pickup with straw bales, and then fill it with water. A few hundred pounds of ice gives pretty good traction, and goes away by itself in the spring.
I used to throw those tubes of sand into the back of my Corolla. They provided weight and the added benefit of giving me sand to toss under the tires when I did get stuck.
I also found that floormats work well when you need traction to get out of snow.
I have a half-ton Japanese-made RWD pickup. It’s quite good in snow, but poor in ice without weight in the back. I put about 350 lb. of hardwood logs in the back most winters, but I haven’t really needed it yet this year. It decreases acceleration and gas mileage but it’s worth it in icy conditions.
Keeping control is a matter of experience. I’m so used to knowing what to do with RWD that I seem to have forgotten how to drive a FWD in winter. The only time this year I’ve noticed any loss of control (slight) was the one time I drove a FWD car, my brother’s Toyota.
Our RWD Toyota pick up did great in the snow, especially with a load of snow in the rear bed! Sand bags & kitty litter also work well.
I only got stuck once in three years, so snow & ice didn’t seem to bother it much.
Most RWDs have an unequal weight distribution – they tend to be front-heavy, which can cause traction problems, hence the need for extra weight in the trunk.
Some, like my BMW, have a more equal weight distribution (nearly 50/50), which helps quite a bit. Having the right tires helps, too; a narrow tire tends to do a bit better in snow.