-J-P-L-

The majority of vehicles in the northern half of the US are FWD even with all the snow fall.
The unfortunate part is that most of them run inadequate all-seasons. However, with dedicated winter tires, FWD is all you need unless you plan on plowing through over a foot of un-plowed snow (which is very rare unless you live in the middle of nowhere).

I have dedicated winters on a Yaris sedan and feel invincible. Every time it snows, I make an excuse to go driving and I leave the Wrangler at home. Seriously. I drive on snow at the full dry weather speed limit and have full control.

Keep the Prius if you like it. Don't get rid of it because you think you "need" AWD.

Sulu

Not that long ago (to some of us, at least, about 25 to 30 years ago), there were very few FWD cars (and no all-season radials) available. We all drove RWD American cars, even up here in the Great White North (Canada). In the winter, we put snow tires on the back only (not all 4 tires as is recommended these days). We did fine. If we were concerned, we put extra weight in the back. Bag(s) of sand would help with the weight and give us something to throw under the rear tires for extra traction.

I now drive a FWD car on all-season tires, still living in the same area. I do not have much trouble in the winter. I never allow my tires to go bald (unlike a surprising number of other people I notice) and I am extra careful on snowy roads. If the steering feels lighter than usual or if the ABS is activating more than usual, I take that as a sign that the roads are slippery and to slow down. If the roads are really bad, I stay home. No problems.

Be cautious if you are driving an AWD/4WD vehicle: do NOT become over confident. AWD/4WD may give you extra traction to go, but does not help you to stop. It may get you deeper into trouble before you realize that you cannot get out, requiring that much more effort to get you back on the road.

bagwell

so...

for FWD, snow tires are pretty much mandatory?
for AWD (like WRX), all season is fine?

actually the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 seems to be a great tire that I could leave on FWD or AWD year-round, its a LRR tire that gets great reviews from 400+ people ......
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=V&tab=Reviews

-J-P-L-

You do NOT want to run any winter tire year round. Below are some reasons why.

- winter rubber is very soft designed for temps below 40° F. In warmer weather they will be way to squirmy and offer lousy handling. And they will wear very quickly.

- winter tires don't last a whole lot of miles compared to all-seasons and therefore you want to maximize their life only in the 3-4 month winter period. Once they wear beyond a certain point, they become ineffective in snow.

Gotta keep two sets of wheels and tires. Remember you're only wearing out one set at a time so it really doesn't cost you more to own two sets.

bagwell

you mean for FWD right?....but would all-seasons on a WRX work decent year round?

CDNROCKIES

That is the worst advice or suggeston for winter driving that I have ever read on a forum.

Och

iTrader: (3)

If you're only concerned about not getting stuck, then yes, all seasons are ok on AWD vehicle all year round. But if you want improved braking, snow tires are mandatory regardless of drivetrain.

-J-P-L-

I was strictly talking about winter tires since you had the thought of running X ICE's year round.

All-seasons are good enough on AWD vehicles but there's another thing to remember when it comes to how winter tires handle vs how all-season tires handle in slippery conditions. AWD mainly helps advance the car forward. However, when it comes to stopping, AWD has no advantage to FWD. Stopping is all about tires and winter tires are designed to significantly shorten stopping distances on slippery surfaces. Also, winter tires help keep you on track when steering though snow. When you turn the wheel with all-seasons in snow you may continue going straight, while you are likely to make a clean turn with snow tires.

So if you decide to go with AWD, you can stick with all-seasons but just keep in mind all of these different actions, some of which AWD has no advantage. Many people seem to think AWD makes them invincible but then realize they can't stop any better than anyone else.

If you stay with FWD, outfit your stock wheels with snows and buy custom wheels and throw on all-seasons or summer tires.

gengar

Snow tires are what makes a car sufficient for driving in snow, not drivetrain. Even RWD is fine if you've got snow tires on, much less needing AWD. We get more snow where I live (approaching 100" already this season) than in Denver and I drive the IS F as my DD.

Personally, I would take snow tires + RWD over all-seasons + AWD any day.

Sulu

That was not meant as either advice or suggestion, but merely as an observation of what society here in Southern Ontario did 30+ years ago. Back then, few people drove FWD cars, most drove RWD cars and those people put snow tires on the driving wheels (in other words, the rear wheels) only. We had never heard of the advice to use snow tires on all 4 wheels.

CDNROCKIES

Fair enough....that's not how it read imo. My apologies.

bagwell

cool, so you put snows on your IS-F? pics please (just curious to see)

damn I bet that thing would throw a huge rooster tail of snow!