Another car question: Snow tires or 4 wheel drive more important?

odyssey
Thu, 31 May 2007 11:02:31 +0000

We are thinking of sending son back to school (in Ithaca,NY) with a car. I am wondering how important it really is to have a 4 wheel drive car. We could send him with a sedan and have him get snow tires for the winter months. (I am assuming there is a place in Ithaca to store the regular tires when the snow tires go on the car – but not entirely sure about this.) Someone I know who lived upstate believes this is adequate for getting around. When her daughters started to drive, they got a Camry for them to use – not a 4 wheel drive car. When I went to school in upstate NY, I had a sedan and used snow tires to get all around, including to the nearby ski area. No kids had 4 wheel drive cars then.

I have read a bit about this on some auto forums. As I understand it, while 4-wheel drive is useful to get traction to get going, it doesn’t help in stopping situations (may even make it harder as these cars are heavier and may give a false sense of security) and that good snow tires are most important for stopping in bad weather.

There are other factors involved in this decision for us (cost, gas mileage, handling, etc.) but I did want some advice on the 4-wheel drive aspect. Any help, as always, is appreciated.