Best/Worst Winter Vehicles!

[gasman]

Best, by far, my current 2008 Subaru Impreza, The AWD is awesome. especially on steep hills. the AWD and the ABS work seamlessly together.

my worst (by far), my old 2001 Ford Ranger I sold last year. if there was more than an inch of white stuff on the ground it wouldn't move. I would loose traction in the middle of summer on greasy roads. I will NEVER own another RWD as a daily driver.

worst in my family, My sister had an AWD 2007 Pontiac Torrent that was one big P.O.S. even though it had AWD it sucked in bad weather, had transmission issue's from the day she pulled it off the lot. also had major electrical issues. and the interior was horrible on it. its the reason why I will never own a GM product in my life.

[Foxer]

I've lived in New England all my life . I am retired age, mind you and I've never purchased a vehicle with winter in mind for myself. (my wife gets 4-wheel drive and winter tires). I've also never owned more than one car at a time in any shape, form or garbage heap.

I have always had cars towards the performance side. .. That's performance, not just Horsepower. Most have been 4 cylinder engines. And I've never had a car that couldn't travel ok in winter .. when properly equipped. That means WINTER TIRES! It's surprising how well my TR4, 5 Porsches, many rear drive Chevy, Pontiac, Plymouth and now Infinity with 330 HP just go through the snow with little problem.

Yes, my wife's Audi is probably the BEST winter car ... it moves when the bottom is being scraped!

[Craig Irwin]

Worse I ever owned, 92 Firebird

Best was a 78 Jeep CJ-7

[B-dub]

thought of another horrible one.. 06 chevy cobalt 2 door.........

...Lmao.. pretty bad when it's own weight send it sliding off the road from stopping at an idle.. that was just hilarious and some guy in a brand new suburban roasted his tires in 4wd pulling us out (with it loaded full of people) ... was a fun day for sure...

[monkeyclaw]

for me:

Best: 1994 towncar, Heavy, sticks like glue

Worst: 2008 dodge charger (RENTAL) Enterprise thought it was the same as the cadillac I reserved... every time I stepped on the gas' the back of the car was in front of me!

AND 1993 Harley dyna Low Rider....not much fun to ride down the mountain during winter snow...BRRRRR!

matt

[charlie8575]

Most of my cars have been full-size GM wagons. Even without snow tires, I've found them to be very, very good in bad weather. In seventeen years, I've only been stuck three times, which is good, and we've had some really bad storms.

I found I didn't like my front-wheel-drive car as much as I liked rear-drive. I had a 1996 Lumina which wasn't bad in snow at all, but I still found it wasn't as well-balanced. The wagons, with full frames and rear-wheel drive, have, as a benefit of being a station wagon, almost 50-50 weight distribution.

Of my five (plus my dad's 1978 Caprice) over the years, only two had Posi. Neither of those are the ones that got stuck.

Worst car? From what I remember being told, my mom's Chevette was a little light in the back. Dad had a 1978 Impala 4-door for a little less than a year that wasn't great to get going, but once moving was fine. The studded snows helped that.

Charlie Larkin

[James Flowers]

I love all of you responses to the bad cars and trucks in winter time. I will bet that not one of you equipped those vehicles for proper winter driving? I would like to see how well you would have fared when there were no four wheel drives of front wheel drive cars available like today. There is no such thing as a bad vehicle in bad weather. Just a bunch of ill equipped drivers. I drove Mustangs for twenty years in all kinds of weather rarely had a problem.

[monkeyclaw]

I would have to disagree with you about winter equipment..... on my part anyway... I rode my old beater suzuki GS650 all winter in 1992....In and out of chicago every day....even in a foot and a half of snow....The vredstein snow tire from germany did help quite a bit!!! .... So did the snowmobile suit... matt

[James Flowers]

I would have to disagree with you about winter equipment..... on my part anyway... I rode my old beater suzuki GS650 all winter in 1992....In and out of chicago every day....even in a foot and a half of snow....The vredstein snow tire from germany did help quite a bit!!! .... So did the snowmobile suit... matt

So you did have a snow tire on it? I think that might be considered winter equipment. Do you think it help just a bit? You proved a point you can drive in winter if you have the right equipment.

[monkeyclaw]

I do agree with you there... The proper equipment Always helps...........and you point is valid matt

[Lownslow]

Best

88 mustang 5.0

91 Cougar 5.0 HO

90 Camaro

01 S10

02 Blazer

Worst

08 Honda Pilot

89 Celica convertible

99 Chevy Silverado 4x4

09 STI

[jbwelda]

[Pete J.]

'69 Mustang - 200 cube six - Yea I hear you all moaning but I owned that car for 4 years and drove over Telegraph canyon between Cheyenne and Laramie Wyoming umpteen times without snow tires while I was at U of W. Never got stuck, never slid off the road, drove in some really hellatious weather and it always got me there.

Worst winter cars, 74 911 - 6 winters in northern Michigan - wouldn't take the bugger out on the road from October to May. After the first winter, the heat exchanger rusted away and no heat. Bugger was ###### near uncontrollable on icy roads.

82 Honda Accord - Tap the brakes on slick roads and become a passenger as the scenery when by the front windshield. OK with studded snow tires on all four corners. Eastern Washingtion winters were a real pain as long as I owned that car.

[David G.]

The worst winter driving car I ever owned was a '74 Camaro. Long ago on a winter morning in north-east OH (snow belt country) I tried to back it out of my driveway. The gas tank sloped upward from the rear axle to the bumper just enough to allow the snow to pack under it and actually lift the rear wheels off the ground. I was able to pull it loose with my '71 Pontiac Ventura.

Later that same winter, I was driving the Camaro to work on the freeway. The roads were wet and had those slush piles that accumulate between the lanes. As I made a lane change at about 60 mph, despite having snow tires, the car began to fishtail as it crossed the slush pile between the lanes. The back of the car swung to the right and the to the left as I began to correct for the skid. It must have slid for more than a quarter mile at an angle that had me trying to slook around the A-pillar to see where I was going. The car eventually encountered a dry spot on the road that pulled it straight. That was the first and last winter I drove that car in the snow.

Over all, I'd have to say that that Camaro was the least road-worthy car I've ever owned.

The best winter driving car I've owned was a '71 Super Beetle. If you've ever owned a Bug and drove it in the snow, you know just what I'm talking about.

[diymirage]

the very worst winter car i ever drove was a V6 camaro (cant remember the year) that was out fo alignment

needles to say i totalled that sucker

my hyundai tiburon wasnt too bad in the snow, i had it for two winters and only spun her twice

the first time nothing happened

the second time this happened :

[diymirage]

The best winter driving car I've owned was a '71 Super Beetle. If you've ever owned a Bug and drove it in the snow, you know just what I'm talking about.

(hoping you speak german)

i remember seeing this in english once, the question was:

how does the snowplow driver get to the plow ?

[Eshaver]

Eelco I know where you are comming from with the Volkswagen Bugs . The only problem with them was the lack or shall we say poor design for a heater . I worked on many of them over the years replaceing the rusted out heater boxes on the bottom of the motors . I had a couple of Chevrolet Corvairs . Anyone care to remember the famous " Gasoline powered heater that was on a 1960 model ? Ed Shaver

[David G.]

diymirage,

That car looks bad, did you come out OK?

(hoping you speak german)

i remember seeing this in english once, the question was:

how does the snowplow driver get to the plow ?

That was cool, thanks for sharing it!

I miss my Bugs

Eelco I know where you are comming from with the Volkswagen Bugs . The only problem with them was the lack or shall we say poor design for a heater . I worked on many of them over the years replaceing the rusted out heater boxes on the bottom of the motors . I had a couple of Chevrolet Corvairs . Anyone care to remember the famous " Gasoline powered heater that was on a 1960 model ? Ed Shaver

One of my earlier Bugs (I've owned four over the years) had a dealer-add-on gas heater in the front... mounted right above the gas tank When I described it to my Volksie mechanic, he said, "Get that damned thing out of there!" I asked him why and told him it seemed to work well, he said "You've got an ignition source above a gas tank that is notorious for leaking fumes. If you don't asphyxiate yourself first, you're gonna blow yourself up!"

The couple of times I did use it I got some funny looks sitting at a traffic light with exhaust billowing out from under the right front fender!

I never had much trouble with the heater boxes on the engine, it was the channels behind the running boards that always rotted out in NE Ohio.

Edited December 13, 2009 by David G.

[James Flowers]

The worst winter driving car I ever owned was a '74 Camaro. Long ago on a winter morning in north-east OH (snow belt country) I tried to back it out of my driveway. The gas tank sloped upward from the rear axle to the bumper just enough to allow the snow to pack under it and actually lift the rear wheels off the ground. I was able to pull it loose with my '71 Pontiac Ventura.

Later that same winter, I was driving the Camaro to work on the freeway. The roads were wet and had those slush piles that accumulate between the lanes. As I made a lane change at about 60 mph, despite having snow tires, the car began to fishtail as it crossed the slush pile between the lanes. The back of the car swung to the right and the to the left as I began to correct for the skid. It must have slid for more than a quarter mile at an angle that had me trying to slook around the A-pillar to see where I was going. The car eventually encountered a dry spot on the road that pulled it straight. That was the first and last winter I drove that car in the snow.

Over all, I'd have to say that that Camaro was the least road-worthy car I've ever owned.

The best winter driving car I've owned was a '71 Super Beetle. If you've ever owned a Bug and drove it in the snow, you know just what I'm talking about.

Driving 60 miles an hour on snow covered roads and you blame the car?

[David G.]

Driving 60 miles an hour on snow covered roads and you blame the car?

There was no snow, the roads were wet with just those little slush piles between the lanes. That was the only vehicle I ever had such a problem with. Apparantly those old Camaros aren't even supposed to be driven on wet roads at 60 mph!

[roadhawg]

Driving 60 miles an hour on snow covered roads and you blame the car?

Lol!!! Thats funny right there, I don't care who ya are.

We don't get that much snow in Georgia, its usually ice, but the worst car I ever had was an '81 Citation. If anyone pee'd within a quarter mile of it, it would get stuck.

The BEST was a '71 Pinto. That lil' car would go anywhere, anytime!

[CAL]

There was no snow, the roads were wet with just those little slush piles between the lanes. That was the only vehicle I ever had such a problem with. Apparantly those old Camaros aren't even supposed to be driven on wet roads at 60 mph!

I can vouch for that. I had a 79 Formula Firebird with a SBC and in the rain the rear would break loose on the highway. That was probably my worst snow car ever, too. Even my Novas were better in the snow than that car.

The RX 8 was pretty bad with the factory Potenzas it was stuck on flat ground in a 1/4 inch of snow. It's the tires that make all the difference in the world, and it's not tread... it's compound.

A front wheel drive with good tires have always been the best and I have had many. I have only owned one all wheel drive and it was a horrible piece of junk: Jeep Grand Wagoneer.

[Rob Hall]

I love all of you responses to the bad cars and trucks in winter time. I will bet that not one of you equipped those vehicles for proper winter driving? I would like to see how well you would have fared when there were no four wheel drives of front wheel drive cars available like today. There is no such thing as a bad vehicle in bad weather. Just a bunch of ill equipped drivers. I drove Mustangs for twenty years in all kinds of weather rarely had a problem.

Long ago, I drove an '86 Mustang LX for 6 winters in Ohio. Put snow tires on all 4 wheels, 2 bags of Quikcrete in the trunk for weight, and a snow shovel. Got around just fine. Since '94, I've always had 4x4 SUVs for dailydrivers, much better.

Edited December 13, 2009 by Rob Hall

[Foxer]

Is it just me, or weren't Mustangs and Camaros slippery as stink even on dry, summer roads?

Edited December 13, 2009 by Foxer

[Rob Hall]

Is it just me, or weren't Mustangs and Camaros slippery as stink even on dry, summer roads?

It's all in the tires. My '87 GT was twitchy in rain or leaf-covered roads w/ the original Goodyear Eagle GTs, but w/ a set of Firestone Firehawks, it was quite driveable in rain. I have a set of Michelin Pilots on it now.

In 22+ years, I've only had it in snow twice when I got caught out by accident. Otherwise, it's garaged in winter.