The car has been great, but I hate to drive in the snow, and I’m wondering if I would do better in adverse winter driving conditions with a Subaru Impreza.
A quick internet search suggests that snow tires on a two wheel drive might be just as effective / more than effective than four wheel drive when it comes to driving in the snow. (I have never used snow tires.)
So – what do you recommend? The Subaru Impreza or a new Toyota and snow tires this winter?
Note that I do not want to spend more than $20K TOPS on this new car.
If you get seasons of heavy snow and ice conditions…
Seems like the lower cost option is to keep the current car, but get another set of wheels with winter tires on them and put them on during the snow and ice season.
The “deluxe” option is to buy an AWD car and also get another set of wheels with winter tires on them and put them on during the snow and ice season.
I drive a Honda Accord (front wheel drive). I had studded snow tires (which are allowed) and put them on their own rims, so I just switched them out seasonally. I moved to California and then Florida so didn’t need them, and now I’m back in Colorado with just all weather tires. Much prefer the snow tires.
My BIL always drives a Subaru. He does a lot of mountain driving. I think he just has all weather tires.
I have a Subaru Outback and my H has an Hyundai Elantra that has snow tires. The Elantra is better in the snow than the Outback. The snow tires are better in slippery weather than the 4WD. The snow tires stick better.
If we would be driving through deep snow, the Outback would probably do better but since our roads are usually plowed, IMO the FWD with snow tires is better than the 4WD.
I think that next year, I’m going to put snow tires on my Outback. I will say that to drive to my house our road has a small hill. I have no problem getting up the hill but the Elantra has a lot of trouble getting up the hill when the snow tires are off. We took off the snow tires at the end of March but then had a snowy April.
If your area is not very steep with deep snow on the road, 4 snow tires on a 2WD are probably better than AWD with all season tires. All cars have 4 wheel braking, so having good snow tires make a huge difference in stopping distance. Stopping fast is more important than accelerating fast. Good AWD and snow tires are awesome though.
I got my son a Subaru Impreza when he totaled his front wheel drive car in a snow/ice storm. He has had no problems with the car, but he’s probably also more careful about the weather
We have an Outback which is four wheel drive, a Golf and a Volvo which are front wheel drive. The Volvo handles fine in snow as long as we have snow tires. The Outback is great in snow. The Golf is a manual, and moves fine in the snow.
In ice…none of them handle well…all wheel SLIP.
Frankly, I think this is more about the skill of driving in snow than the actual car.
I drive the Volvo…and I’ve never been worried in the snow.
I gave my son my 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser with 88,000 miles on it when he received his first acceptance for the fall. It’s unstoppable in the snow…or mud…or up to 2.5’ of water. It has fairly aggressive tires. It runs like a new truck and it will serve him well when he drives the 500 miles back and forth to school.
I took back my 2004 Honda Accord with 140,000 miles on it in exchange. Driving it in the snow after having a 4WD truck was completely painful.
I just found another used 2007 FJ Cruiser locally with 92,000 miles on it. I’m taking it my Toyota dealership on Wednesday for a pre-purchase inspection. Pending the results, I could be back in an FJ by the end of the week. With proper maintenance those trucks will go well beyond 200,000 miles.
All that being said, my wife had a little Subaru Impreza when we were first married. I tried to get that thing stuck in the snow. I really did. Even when clearance was an issue in deep snow I could motor around in that little car. I secretly loved it.
Stopping on slick, snow covered roads is hard for any vehicle. You need to keep yourself out of situations that call for abrupt stops when it’s snowing. Not being able to get started is a killer though. I’ll take AWD any day of the week rather than FWD. Hills + FWD can be a disaster in stop and go traffic when it’s snowing. I’ve seen 2 wheel drive cars have to back down hills and turn around.
I’ve lived the majority of my life in a snowy, icy place that is also hilly.
Never used snow tires, pretty much always have had AWD and good all season tires and it works just fine for us. Granted, I am experienced in driving on snowy, icy roads.
I’m sure snow tires work great. I guess I’m too lazy to deal with the extra hassle of changing them and storing them during the off season.
I’m the exact opposite of doschicos: I drive to the mountains almost every weekend, but I’ve never had a AWD car – instead always had snow tires in the winter. Two wheel drive with snow tires get us up 5,000 feet over 10,000±foot passes. I drive smallish sedans – the biggest car we’ve ever had was a Nissan Altima.
One issue about four wheel drive: All cars have four wheel brakes. A four wheel drive car might be less likely to get stuck or to slide, but you don’t have any more brakes than the next guy. I have slid sideways downhill with four wheel drive and pretty good all season tires. It was a bit scary, and my passengers didn’t like it (we didn’t hit anything).
Snow tires really do have better traction in snow, even compared to very good all weather tires. You will however want to swap out the snow tires for regular tires once spring comes around. The snow tires wear out significantly quicker and also get worse gas mileage. This means that you need to decide whether to purchase an extra set of rims (pay more once) or swap which tires are on the rims twice a year.
If you need to drive a lot in bad snow, I agree with @momofsenior1 and @Sybylla: You will get best traction with four wheel drive and snow tires. One daughter insists on having both in the winter. She is probably right in terms of this being safer.
H has a Subaru AWD and I have a Hyundai Elantra. We both have Tire Socks–now legal in many states as
traction devices. $100 on Amazon–they link you to a site to figure out the size.
We put on studded tires for years but these have worked just as well. We live on an incredibly steep hill and
H takes the Subaru to the mountain. The Tire socks are super easy to put on and take off. Much easier than
chains. For the occasional snow or as in our case black ice these have been great.
Given your choices I would get the Suburu. Our 22 yrs old Impreza died just a month ago–RIP.
I’m with @doschicos — lived in a snowy climate for 30’yrars and never needed snow tires. Drove across snowy mountain passes multiple times this winter in the snow in my Subaru with the tires that came on it, and no trouble. The Impreza is fine — don’t mess with the cost & hassle of special snow tires.
With AWD you lose significant gas mileage all year round, so factor that into the equation. I was very surprised and disappointed to learn that the hard way.
I only kept my Forester 4 years (I usually keep a car over a decade) and went back to a small 2WD (FWD) sedan. I put studded snow tires on all four wheels during the winter. I had more winter driving problems with the Forester, maybe it was due to my lack of experience with AWD, but I feel more confident in the 2WD with studs. I also like my manual transmission for more precise control.
I commuted 30 miles roundtrip for 10 years and there were times I made it to work when others who lived closer did not. There were only 2 days I didn’t make it and AWD would not have helped: total whiteout conditions and absolute glare ice.
42 years in the Rockies, 38 of them 2WD with studs.
I live in the “snow belt” of the Great Lakes and bought a VW Alltrack last year. It’s got full time all wheel drive and has gone thru snow and ice like a champ. My old Subaru ended up in a ditch and didn’t feel nearly as secure (oh, and the ditch was with snow tires on!).
I have a Subaru Outback with 4WD, but after this past icy winter, have decided to get snow tires next winter. 4WD can handle snow (And I am an experienced New England driver), but they aren’t as safe in icy conditions.
