+1

Snow tire wins, it makes a huge difference, much more than AWD. Winter tires also stop much faster than all seasons.

I personally have a 2006 AWD Outback on all seasons and a 2022 FWD Sonata on brand new Blizzacks and the Outback will still out accelerate the dedicated snow tires in snow and ice. The snow tires of course stop the Hyundai faster which is probably more important but no question AWD is better for traction even with bad tires. Of course you can also put snow tires on the Subaru and have the best of both worlds. Where the FWD Hyundai pays off is with 50 miles per gallon compared to maybe 1/2 that on the Subaru.

@@bryanhersman4037 Of course AWD with snow tires is the best option for safety.

Awd + all seasons always crushes fwd with winter tires in acceleration but the winter tire stops and turns better.

With blizzak snow tires on my 4 x 4 RAM…..you are correct….no more white knuckle driving

Why I love fwd with nice winters during the winter. I feel alive and all my worries go away. Awd feels like god mode, no rush. Whatever makes us happy I guess.

Always drove '80's and '90's FWD manual cars during the winter between Montreal and Gatineau, never had problems in heavy snow or freezing rain. My '07 Civic and '13 Fiesta on the other hand, are absolutely worthless on even a hint of rain. In my region, trucks and SUV's are just a threat to everybody on the road during the winter; they can't grip, they flip and tumble way too easily.

The older cars were also much lighter, which makes a big difference in snow/winter

I've got a set of Toyo "Celsius" on FWD 2009 Sienna. Absolutely unbelievable what I could do & where I could go in the snow. Got a good laugh last winter at the local farmers market. We had a fairly good snowfall & they only plowed a portion of the lot. On a crowded morning numerous people wound up using an unplowed area. Some parts if it already had tracks & were partly packed down but still not easily travelled. I'm pretty good dealing with the snow & I don't do stupid stuff. I think about what I'm doing, but I drove in, parked, & drove out again with virtually no difficulty while watching about a dozen people pushing, shoveling & rocking a hopelessly stuck AWD Lincoln Navigator. You just gotta have tires that are made for the job! I could just dig in & go. Never even activated the traction control...

@@DejaView I had celcius on a few cars and loved them but just got Michelins cross climate.. an even better tire all around (a bit $$ but it is what it is)

@@DejaViewyou got lucky. And it was flat. Add some hills and god save you lol 😅

my 255/45/19 all season W rated nitto’s were worth every penny , they were about 1200$ . got caught in a few snow storms in my 14’ taurus with front wheel drive. Did really well. Had to climb some steep gravel hills in the deep snow that i didn’t think it would make it up and it climbed right up never broke traction all the way to the top in second gear . never left me stranded at 180k miles now. pulled a chrysler 300 out of the snow once. my buddy buried his 15’ silverado in the drive way and it wouldn’t move in 4 wheel drive, we tried to use it to pull the taurus out . were in deep mud and snow and i took my traction control off on the taurus and gave her he** and it started moving, it rained mud that day. Got out just fine and he was barely able to get his 1980 350 small block out but it did cause it has 35’s and able to pull the newer truck out taurus didn’t budge it.

That is actually what I thought they were comparing. Recently drove my YJ 2x4 high in snow. Amazed how good 3 peak rated tires were. Especially compared to how poor traction is in my long bed 2x4 pickup, also triple peak. Both vehicles have General grabber at2.

4 WD wins easily

​@BBBYpsi absolutely incorrect... ON ROADS with snow and ice anyway. ON road AWD is king, off road 4x4 us king.

Depends on the model. My fwd Suzuki once stuck in snow and the TC off did the opposite. Turning off TC will shut down your break assist, and the break based torque vectoring will also be disabled. From my personal experience TC is vital to FWD open diff, cause you will need the TC to distribute the torque.

@@oceanzu6585 works the exact opposite on a Hybrid transmission

Yes all you can do is let the air out on the Hybread and put it in Eco mode. The low profile tires just no good for snow, no way to turn off traction control on hybread

Unless you ease into it but yes.

@@ArtStamos maybe the Camry but not all hybrids.

So Subaru with studded snow tires.

@@jeffk464 snows a lot where I’m from and I see wrxs with snow tires going 50+ through snowy backroads often.

@@dakota5571 at 50+ how can you tell what type tires they have?🤔

Camry Front Bumper Crunch, pieces all over. Do not drive over DPW Snow Plow that gets pushed into your driveway entrance. Could be heavy and ice mixed in. Do not damage your vehicle by taking an unnecessary chances. The Camry is not a snow plow.

I'll take my ancient 02 Subaru Forrester 5 spd w/ asymmetric AWD any day over Toyota's AWD.

@@robertsims9201 06' Legacy GT here, snow = fun in a Subaru

@@robertsims9201I’d like to see how that does against a new awd Camry in a race in the snow

2022 subaru crosstrek limited owner here .crosstreks are the best !

Agreed. But going up hill, I think awd has an advantage. It’s too bad there’s a winter tire shortage this yr. It seems like most are already out of stock.

I agree with you

Would now like to see a real SUV (i.e. Toyota 4Runner, Chevy Tahoe, etc.) go against an AWD compact SUV (i.e. Toyota Rav4, Honda CRV, etc.) in powder like that. My current Ford Escape cannot compete with my old truck based and selectable 4wd SUVs like the 1997 GMC Jimmy, 2000 Jeep Cherokee and 2003 Jeep Liberty. Big difference in the snow. PS Do not ever buy a Ford Escape or maybe any Ford for that matter.

Your sarcasm is hilarious 🤪

Especially when the fwd started in fresh unpacked snow.

Also disabling traction control helps a lot in situation like these in fwd cars

What are you talking about? So the 1985 BMW 325ix wasn't an AWD sedan? The Subaru Leone was sold in 1972 and it had AWD, wagon, but it still had 4 normal doors. So how was GM ahead?

My 2011 Camry with General Altimax Arctic studded was one of the most planted secure cars I have driven in the snow. Sold it to a friend who was more of a 4x4 believer over good tires. He now has a dedicated set of winters for his highlander after driving his equipped Camry.

same!!!

my taurus is heavier enough to always start moving at least an inch when you gun it with traction control off being fwd with the exception of being in lose sand and moving up hill. i’ve honestly had better experiences with it than i have the awd g35 i owned as far as that goes…don’t like the rear coming out on vehicles but an awd does keep the rear end moving so that helps. It’s long and wide and has wheel spacers and that helped some with keeping it straight in the snow and ice. Running 255/45/19 all season nitto’s, can’t complain about them. I’m near Springfield Missouri. Had a rwd 335i sedan that was the absolute worst to drive in bad weather..my altima coupe did very well. my civic si did terrible. My next car will be a q50 with awd.

I have the best of both worlds -- AWD with winter tires. Just yesterday I was on a 4-lane highway that hadn't been cleared off yet. Everyone was puttering along in the semi-cleared right lane while I'm bolting past them at 50-some MPH in the unplowed left lane. A few people honked at me like I was an idiot, but I was still on more sure footing than 95% of them since nobody uses winter tires around here. When I did the same a few years ago, a cop swung out of the right lane and started to chase me down (even though I was still under the speed limit so I'm not sure what his issue was). He gave up after about 5 seconds because he knew he was never going to catch me.

Yup! I’d take my wife’s Subaru equipped with studded snow tires over my Jeep Wrangler with all-season tires any day, unless the snow is over a foot deep. Her car accelerates, turns, and stops better with the snow tires on. With truly deep snow, the Jeep does better getting through, though. That said, if I had snow tires on the Jeep, it’d be just as good.

@@Guy_de_Loimbard Don't let all the gizmos make you overconfident.

@@jeffk464 For the last 18 years I've spent many of my winter weekends racing on frozen lakes. I know perfectly well what my cars are capable of in limited traction conditions and what they're not.

@@Guy_de_Loimbard driving to fast for conditions is actually a ticket able offense and is up to the police and judge to determine.😉

There's nothing more fun to do in a car then fish tailing fresh powdered streets. Don't let one bad experience get you down, it's pretty on a winter day!

When you get one of those surprised snow storms, now that's a nightmare to drive on. On i-95 with my BMW e90 xDrive, it took my 2.5 hours to get home, compared to 55 minutes when it's not snowing. Without snow tires, the car was swerving side to side when it would it drifted out onto fresh snow, it was dark and there was so many cars on the road that night which made it terrifying when everyone was breaking traction. There was an ahole with a Subaru who drove like an arrogant d*ck. Makes me hate Subaru drivers. It's not about how fast you can go, it's about stopping, that's what Subaru driver don't understand. I never got stuck in my 3 series AWD or my Mazda3 hatch awd. So moving forward isn't my concern, it's the braking and black ice that scares me. Black ice is terrifying. You get on what looks to be clean pavement but it's actually ice. I turned off a ramp and on the curve, going nice and slow, front wheel slide on black ice mid corner. I was so close to smacking the guardrails.

@@DroneStrike1776 Yeah, no thanks. I'll stay with my comfortable 65 degrees.

Subaru's symmetrical all wheel drive will work the best. The other systems all take a beat to detect wheel slip and then engage the rear axle.

I've never used snow tires and I live in Northeast Wisconsin. All season radials have worked well for me.

Have a 2009 Sienna FWD, with Toyo "Celsius" tires (Canadian approved winter tire) Amazing traction with a real winter tire & yes steering & stopping are much improved whereas AWD, in itself, isn't much help with those aspects.

What do you think of a fwd 2015 crv. I really want this car but I live in New England. I feel like I might regret this purchase.

@@Livewild779 I can tell you for certain when I was shopping for a used SUV (RAV4 v6) about 4yrs ago I would have had zero issue buying a FWD if I found a deal. If it was low miles, well kept at a great price I would have bought a fwd without hesitation. I knew I would have a dedicated set of winter wheels anyway for it. I ended up with an AWD version which does give me faster acceleration from a wet road stop and some added climbing ability in light mud, dirt and snow conditions. But I do gain some added expenses like rear differential oil change service and any failure of a tire when they are partially worn down will likely result in 4 new tires vs replacing just one due to the recommendation to keep tires within 2/32 tread difference because of the awd powertrain. I would focus on winter tires and rims for snow capability first and awd focus after the tires. Don’t buy awd as a replacement to proper tires. Or you will simply be less equipped for winter with more maintenance with a all season equipped awd. I went from a Subaru Outback to a family van ( Sienna fwd ) and moved my blizzaks over to the van and wondered if I would regret dropping the awd. First trip to the mountains in snow with good blizzaks confirmed to me that as long as I’m not trying to do deep snow or heavy off road good tires on fwd does great. Last if you have a need to climb dirt, mud or snowy driveways then AWD will be even more worthwhile WITH winter tires.

@@45eno thanks, I’ve always drove AWD but couldn’t remember how FWD in the snow. The last time I drove FWD was like 15 years ago. I really love the AWD never worry about getting stuck. This car is very low mileage from the south, the right trim level, color. Only thing turned me off was FWD. Seems all you need is really good snow tires.

I’ve got Michelin X Ice snow winter tires on my Jaguar XJ and it loves the snow. Have a set of All season tires for spring through fall.

I agree. I outdrive awd subarus with all season tires in my accord with snow tires.

@@Mike-lt6sj Yes, I have FWD Toyota Sienna currently with Toyo "Celsius" tires (Canadian approved winter tire) & can out do the 4 wheelers with poor choice of tires in most situations. Unless you're dealing with more ice than actual snow, these tires really grab & go! You wouldn't think anything could hold in snow like that...

@@DejaView I bought those for my girlfriends Honda accord, they are really pretty decent for tires you can drive in the summer, too. The best tires I have found are Nokian Hakkapellita. They have some grit molded into the tire that feel as though you're driving dry pavement on ice. I drove on black ice to work one day, took a couple steps out of my car and busted my head on the ice. Then everyone who came to work was complaining of how slippery it was. It was at that point I realized that I drove normally on this same ice without realizing it. Those tires aren't good with deep slush though. My viking contacts are decent all around winter tires.

I'm glad my 2021 4Runner Limited came with 245 width tires. That is kinda narrow for the 4800+ pound weight of the vehicle, which is great for snow covered roads. Put some snow rated tires on it and you are ready to go and stop!

@@DigitalHaze65536 2000 Limited came with 265s and with 265 Blizzaks its almost unstoppable unless I want to stop.😉

Well the cx-30 is lifted, but the Mazda3 comes in a sedan and AWD like the similarly sized Corolla for a direct comparison (also with AWD soon)

Actually they have that comparison already

Why did you leave Subaru? We’re debating between getting a Crosstrek or a Mazda CX-30 or 3. I’m biased in favor of the Mazda but the Crosstrek is stupidly popular where I’m from.

@@bizmonkey007 I own two Subarus currently, a 17 Outback and a 16 Forester. Both of them had their head gaskets go at 90k miles. The other issue was ride quality. I wanted an AWD sedan with more than 225hp. That's the Legacy Turbo or the 3 Turbo and the ride between the two is night and day. That said, if I REALLY had to contend with snowy winters, the Subaru is an obvious choice. The two I own are like mountain goats in bad weather.