What is the SAFEST car in HEAVY snow/slippery conditions?

Question

It's snowing incessantly in Michigan, the roads are FULL of snow!

My car is pretty but it's a 2WD sedan....I have realized it's kind of LIGHT too. It takes a lot of concentration, skill and PRAYERS to control it even at 20-25mph! Turning right/left again..at slow speeds, it's very unpleasant if there's a lot of snow on the road.

Please tell me what would be a HEAVIER car (sedan or small SUV) with either 2-Wheel-Drive or 4-Wheel-Drive that will handle better in such crazy conditions.

What should I be looking for when buying my new car?

Answer 1

You didn't mention if your car is front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive but changing tires to Winter tires instead of all-season tires can make a huge difference especially if the car is FWD. Winter tires have a more aggresive,wider tread to allow snow to squish out and improve traction but they wear quicker in dry conditions. If your car is RWD, not much will help but good tires with a lot of tread are always better. I'd try better tires first before buying a new car...all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive cars or trucks also get lower gas mileage than FWD ones due to a more complex and heavy drivetrain so your economy will suffer in the long run. I use to drive a 93 Ford Escort 2 door in Wisconsin winters and went through just about everything with it...no problem.

Answer 2

I like to stick with a midsize sedan (Accord, Camry, Fusion). Go with the 4 cylinder manual transmission version and all SNOW tires. You could also go the AWD way but it costs a lot of money on maintenance compared to my way. When in snow use 2nd gear to 15MPH and 3rd to about 30MPH. This will keep the revs down and make it easy for you to control the car. The key is to use SNOW tires, keep the revs down, and take it slow.

Answer 3

Makes me happy to see so many recommending Winter only tires.  I too have a set of Bridgestone Blizzak tires.  Best money I ever spent for winter driving safety.  In snow it all comes down to traction.  8 wheel drive will not help unless you have traction.  And that is what a set of four winters offers.  I too have spent time up near the Bridge during the winter.   Check out the link below.  I am merely a satisfied customer and a believer in winter tires.

Answer 4

In snowy/icy conditions, everyone is on equal grounds. Sounds weird I know. Personally however, I love my Honda Ridgeline truck with AWD, anti-lock brakes and traction and stability controls.

Answer 5

Driving lessons and winter tires.  My cars have included rear and front drive cars, large, mid-size, and compact, and I have never owned or needed a 4WD.  If you don't have the right tires, a heavier car just gets stuck faster, and stuck worse.  Right now I am driving a front drive Escort, and my wife a front-drive Cavalier.  We have no problem in Winnipeg winters, with the right tires.

It sounds like you may not even have all-season tires, but, possibly, summer tires if you are having that much trouble.

I have been driving 42 years, in Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, all winter cities, and have never had a winter accident.

Answer 6

I won't tout any brands. You will notice a huge improvement with any all-wheel-drive (AWD) car, no matter what the weight.  I would avoid 4-wheel-drive because you have to select the 4 wheel drive mode, and that's probably not such a good thing for a beginner.  For added safety, I would try to look for a car that has a low center-of-gravity (less prone to rolling).  Most 4 wheel-drive vehicles are SUVs and trucks and they have a higher center-of-gravity.

Whatever you do. Please don't mind driving slow. Only idiots drive fast in that weather. Don't worry about holding anybody up; you are probably saving their lives by doing it.

Answer 7

I have a simpler idea!  Put 4 Blizzak w/s 50's or another brand of "full snow tires" not all season on your vehicle and slow way down and it will be better than driving a tank.

You can get them on rims and balanced to your door from one of the tire companies on the Internet and they tend to be the best price. I would think it would be under $500 delivered with spacers and lug bolts. I have never bought the warranty. If I wanted to do that I would go to a discount tire place.

I have a rear wheel, tiny S-2000 with these 4 snows for the winter and the car acts like a 4x4 when it is moving. When I start off it is a little squiggly. So start slow and if safe; drive at a reasonable speed under the speed limit.

Don't forget that when warm weather comes remove them and put the summer all season tires back on.   I usually get 5 years out of snows and sell them for 1/2 of what I originally paid.

Answer 8

The Subaru Outback, the Volvo XC90 and the Subaru Tribeca.

There is another way to improve the traction, performance and safety of any vehicle traveling in snow buy winter tires.

Winter tires are not like All-Season tires. Winter tires have special rubber compounds designed to improve traction, handling and braking in all cold weather conditions, not just ice and snow.

Winter Tires are designed to deliver safety and control in snow, ice, and cold weather conditions. Many people think that all-season tires can deliver this same performance, but this is not true. The superior traction that winter tires deliver, as much as a 25 to 50 percent increase over all-season tires, can very well be the margin you need to stop in time or turn to avoid trouble.

Answer 9

My Jeep has been my all time favorite in the snow. And I'm on my second Jeep. Years ago I had a Subaru, the traction was great, but it was still too light in major snowstorms!

Answer 10

Any car with 4WD drive and anti-lock brakes, ESP and TCS. Snow tires are necessity.

That's Electronic Stability Program and Traction Control. The ESP can brake each of the four wheels individually which can prevent skidding or put the car back in desired direction when already skidding. Traction control prevents wheels from spinning in low traction road conditions (snow, rain, mud).

Different manufacturers use different names and abbreviations for those systems, but pretty much every one offers them in their cars. For example, my Mazda 3 has DSC (dynamic stability control) and TCS (traction control system).

Having a normal 2WD car with ABS, ESP and TCS is immense contribution to safety in extreme and unexpected road conditions and situations.

Answer 11

I'm from Bavaria, Germany, and learned how to drive a lightweight car under heavy snow conditions. First thing of all, your tires have to be fit for snow, so use good winter tires. A heavy car will help you exactly nothing, as the weight of the car reduces the snow (on which you can drive) to an ice plate (on which you can't, even with the best tires).

When you're really in deep snow, light weight is an advantage. Use 2nd gear only, even when you have an automatic, and be really, really careful with the gas. Try keeping up a constant speed. The moment you switch into D and hit the gas, youzr tires will turn on the snow and produce an iceplate from which your car won't move an inch.

If you have a gearbox car, you can use second gear and the handbrake to climb up snowy hills; I'm not sure if this will work with an automatic; I never drove one.

If your 2WD is front-driven, take some sandbags into the rear compartment. This will balance the weight of the engine on the front axle and help the rear wheels get a grip to the road, and besides, if you take a shovel in, might help you get your car free when you really get stuck on snow or ice. Throw some good shovels of sand under the wheels, and you can work it out.

Happy driving.