OT: FWD vs AWD
- Thread starter B1GEast
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If y want safety it’s a no brainer. Not just in snow but in heavy rain too. Wanted to buy our last suv when lease was over but opted for another lease of awd because prior suv was only available in fwd in Fla.
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Definitely safer in rain. The safety difference in snow is MASSIVELY overblown. AWD will help you get going in snow but it doesn’t help with steering or stopping and I see a lot of folks that get very overconfident because they have AWD.
FWD and winter tires will be far safer than AWD and all seasons if that’s all you’re worried about. AWD and winter tires will be a tank.
FWD and winter tires will be far safer than AWD and all seasons if that’s all you’re worried about. AWD and winter tires will be a tank.
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Just curious what you base this on.
25 years of driving in Buffalo tells me the opposite.
I used to have FWD Honda and I'd put Blizzaks on that thing, and I'd get around pretty well.
Once I bought AWDs, I never changed to a winter tire again because it handled so much better. Subaru WRX & Forester, VW Passat, and now Kias and Hyundais. Oddly, my Hyundai Kona handles best because it's so light, a little better than my Kia Telluride.
People have to just remember to check their tread before the season starts.
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There’s plenty of testing with data to support this. Tire rack has done a lot that’s easy to find. It’s a huge difference with modern winter tires. AWD has a minimal impact on turning in the snow and zero impact on breaking. Very unscientifically, before I had my AWD winter beater, I drove a RWD sports car with winter tires. The looks of SUV and pickup drivers as they were struggling and skidding on a hill while this tiny 2-door sports car drove by with no issue was chefs kiss
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Thanks for letting me kno.
I think Blizzaks were rated the best winter tires about even with a Michelin and some other brand. So they were modern.
I'd recommend them but they're pricey. The good thing is if you buy them direct from Firestone, they guarantee they'll put them on and off for you for free for their lifetime.
Still, I'd swear by All Wheel Drive in Buffalo. I suppose knowing HOW to drive in snow makes me avoid the situations when braking in snow causes problems.
jleves
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Just curious if you are asking about the difference between Front Wheel Drive or 4 Wheel Drive vs AWD?
If it's Front Wheel Drive vs AWD drive - AWD is going to be far superior in rain and snow at the expense of some fuel mileage and tire wear during regular use.
If it's 4WD vs AWD - the are generally going to be the same in regular rain and snow. But you have to change back and forth. You get better milage and tire wear during normal weather with 4WD in 2WD mode. You also can expect some low torque in 4WD mode for extreme off road of really heavy snow.
AWD is probably what you want. If you drive in a lot of snow, go with mud/snow tires in the winter season and all season tires in the non snowy months.
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Hey fun thread. I just bought a 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid (Limited). AWD, all the way, baby.
And we just had that once in a decade ice storm here in Maryland. Once I dug her out, she handled the streets and shoddy parking situations well.
And we just had that once in a decade ice storm here in Maryland. Once I dug her out, she handled the streets and shoddy parking situations well.
He is 100% correct. You are not. There is data on this. Crappy snow tires are not much better than great all-season tires in the snow and ice. But good snow tires like Blizzaks have a huge advantage, and especially on ice. But, of course, that only holds until they are worn about 70% and you hit the regular rubber. There is NO WAY you would stop faster on ice with all-season tires and AWD than you would with Blizzaks and FWD unless the FWD vehicle is a total POC and the AWD vehicle is one of the best out there. AWD helps you get going on slippery surfaces and helps when one wheel loses traction while accelerating or decelerating. It doesn't do much for stopping or cornering. And, as he said, it can give people a false sense of security that causes them to drive too fast in slick conditions. And, for the record, I also live in upstate NY. If you think you are cornering better on snow in a WRX on all-seasons than a FWD Camry on Blizzaks, you are deluding yourself.
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There are a lot of these types of videos but this is a good one.
This is more data (and AWD vs AWD) but really shows the difference.
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Just FWD or AWD, 4 WD is overkill.
Yep. I inadvertently did an experiment when I was in grad school in Rochester. We had a FWD compact and it was our first winter in Rochester. My wife was freaking out, even though we grew up in CT. Due to limited funds, I thought it would make sense to put Blizzaks on just the front and keep the Eagle GT+4s on the rear. After all, it was FWD and most of the breaking is also in the front, right? Well, the road was covered in packed snow and I was coming up to a left turn. I slowed down just fine and the front of the car went left just fine but the rear kept going straight. It was fun for me but, needless to say, we went back to Sears and put Blizzaks on the rears too.
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Way back in the early 70s, I switched to radial snow tires on my 71 Vega so I didn’t have to carry 50# of sand in the trunk. Left bias ply on the front until right after the first snow. It felt like skis on the front, and a bad skier at the wheel. Radials on the front made it much better.
One final note. For safety, tires are really the most important feature now that every car has ABS, traction control and stability control. If you run Blizzaks in the winter and a great all-season that specializes in not hydroplaning in the summer, FWD is fine. If you run high performance all-season tires, let alone summer tires, you WILL hydroplane in an AWD car if you hit a deep puddle at speed. When it comes time to buy the next set of "summer" tires, I look almost exclusively at how they perform in wet road conditions. That and noise. I HATE noisy tires!!! I pretty much never drive near the limit on dry roads in my road cars and I pay enough attention to know I will stop fast enough on the highways when the damn dead stopped traffic suddenly appears. I don't need tires that have super high dry road traction. The only car that doesn't get tires that emphasize wet traction is the Ferrari. I don't drive that in the rain and I have taken corners on dry roads that were fast enough to nearly give me a heart attack but the car never even twitched and that was NOT on track tires. They are nice, good quality, Continental road tires.
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Oh, that is even worse!!! Oversteer can get you in trouble really fast in a RWD car.
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(life driving on radial tires)
Passenger: Turn up the radio!
Driver: What?
Passenger: TURN UP THE RADIO!
Driver: WHAT?
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Not everyone drives the same. Buffalo is also different than the snow situation in much of upstate. People up here just know how to drive in it regardless of car. I don't get myself into situations where I'm hard braking where the Blizzaks would outperform my AWD. I also drove Subarus for a while and those cars could go straight up Killington in the packed snow where you'd be very worried about sliding backward like that Audi did down the hill, and Killington's hill has a bigger pitch than that hill in the video. So the superiority of the Blizzaks isn't so important for me. As for handling, I'm scratching my head on that one. As I remember, the Blizzaks took something away in the drive and gave me the feel of driving through gauze. I always found the Blizzaks to be worse handling. I do have Michelin CrossClimate's though. It may also be that the AWDs I drive are better than standard SUVs. I used to drive between Buffalo and Rochester R/T daily and I'd always see SUV's off the side of the road. As I wrote earlier, lighter is better.
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Anyone can be a bad driver in the snow regardless of type of car or tire. But the same driver in the same car will be safer and better with winter tires than all season. That’s not a driving style thing. It’s just physics and manual grip. The downsides (cost, storage, annoyance of swapping wheels twice a year) may not be worth it for some but they’re unequivocally better just in pure handling and safety in the snow.
Lighter is not necessarily better. Lower center of gravity is better. 50/50 weight distribution is better. But when needing to cut into snow, slush or even standing water, heavier is better. The more pressure your tire puts on the surface, the better.
I have owned many Subarus. I had a FWD Legacy, two Outbacks, an AWD SVX and a Tribeca. I have also had a limited slip FWD Acura TL, an AWD Acura RL, an AWD Toyota Venza, an AWD Toyota Rav4 and a FWD Camry. One winter we got hit with Ice Fog early in the season but I thought it was just regular fog. I was in my Subaru SVX on really good all-season tires. I was in one of those tight bends on RT17 and I hit a bridge in the middle of that bend. The car kept going straight and finally grabbed in the breakdown area. I put the Blizzaks on nice and early now.
I whole heartedly disagree. In slippery conditions awd will help with turning. Def not with braking but with turning yes. I’ve done competitive autocross in the snow and ice and to be able to power out of turns is much easier with awd.
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I don’t think what you’ve said is contrary to my point. You’re talking about accelerating out of a turn. Agreed, as I said AWD helps with grip when you’re trying to get moving. That’s different than actual grip during a turn (ie. Avoiding a skid). Thats pretty much purely a factor of manual tire grip