Is 4WD/AWD a neccesity on your ski vehicle?

[ALLSKIING]

My tires were worn out on my jeep this fall and I decided to go with a good set of all terrain tires instead of the snow tires since I did not want to deal with changing them every fall and spring. Much better in the snow then all season and not as good as snows but you can stud the ATT's if you wish but I don't think I need to. With 4wd and ATT's I would pretty much have to try to get stuck....

 

[MadMadWorld]

i almost didn't make it into magic mtn a couple years ago with the stock tires on my vw golf after a couple inches of snow were on the road, the same thing happened at sunday river going up a hill. got a set of blizzak tires and its much better now.

Hmm...Magics road is usually pretty manageable. It's leaving the parking lot that sucks. It's ridiculous that they don't have a plow truck.

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[Cheese]

it seems to kinda be a wash, at least around here. i've heard a couple tire dealers advertise they'll change over your snow tires every year(free) for you if you buy them at that dealer. i personally went on craigslist and just bought a used set of rims and tires because my stock rims are kinda nice alloys.

Usually the benefit comes from being able to buy smaller and narrow rims and therefore cheaper snow tires than those which would fit on stock rims. TireRack explains it pretty thoroughly below:

Tire Rack's Preferred Winter Packages* often feature alternate sizes that combine smaller diameter wheels (that fit over the vehicle's Original Equipment brakes and within its wheelwell) with narrower, higher profile tires (that have equivalent load capacities and overall diameters). This not only promotes better deep snow traction, but also results in less expensive Winter / Snow Tire & Wheel Packages. An additional advantage higher profile tire sizes offer is they feature taller sidewalls and smaller diameter wheels that more easily resist damage associated with winter road hazards and early spring potholes.

 

[goldsbar]

As someone who has driven a RWD Z3 M Coupe with summer tires in the snow (young and dumb), RWD Miata with Summer tires in the snow (missed the forecast)...you can do anything. But, AWD is a definite plus when you're trying to get up some steep dirt road covered with snow and cars are stopped in front of you. All seasons are great when they're new. Once you put around 10k miles on them, snow performance deteriorates significantly. So answer is FWD with decent tires is fine 95% of the time, while AWD gives you that extra can make it anywhere, anytime. Put snows on either and you won't get stuck.

Now, for normal driving, nothing beats RWD and RWD with snows is very workable...

 

[ALLSKIING]

Usually the benefit comes from being able to buy smaller and narrow rims and therefore cheaper snow tires than those which would fit on stock rims. TireRack explains it pretty thoroughly below:

Tire Rack's Preferred Winter Packages* often feature alternate sizes that combine smaller diameter wheels (that fit over the vehicle's Original Equipment brakes and within its wheelwell) with narrower, higher profile tires (that have equivalent load capacities and overall diameters). This not only promotes better deep snow traction, but also results in less expensive Winter / Snow Tire & Wheel Packages. An additional advantage higher profile tire sizes offer is they feature taller sidewalls and smaller diameter wheels that more easily resist damage associated with winter road hazards and early spring potholes.

Great point they made about the size of tires. Wider low profile tires snows or not usually are not good in the snow. My X5 has that type of setup with AWD and I hate it in the snow.

 

[KD7000]

I've had dedicated summer tires and a second set of snow tires/winter wheels on nearly all of my vehicles, ever. On RWD, FWD, and AWD cars. I consider it mandatory if you want to be able to drive anywhere, anytime regardless of road conditions.

 

[JDMRoma]

I've had dedicated summer tires and a second set of snow tires/winter wheels on nearly all of my vehicles, ever. On RWD, FWD, and AWD cars. I consider it mandatory if you want to be able to drive anywhere, anytime regardless of road conditions.

Same here, Im a TireRack customer……nice being able to do the change over when YOU want to do it ! Lotta mornings going through the Notch at 6:30 am that were pretty treacherous…..and no issues with my AWD Matrix with Michelin Xice's on it.

 

[KD7000]

I am awaiting a rebate from Tire Rack right now for the set of Dunlop Wintersports I just put on our Mazda.

 

[twinplanx]

Do you guys think it's necessary to mount snowtires on all 4 wheels for a front wheel drive vehicle? I'm thinking for the few times that I am able to get to the mountains that I can get away with just snows on the front.

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[ALLSKIING]

Do you guys think it's necessary to mount snowtires on all 4 wheels for a front wheel drive vehicle? I'm thinking for the few times that I am able to get to the mountains that I can get away with just snows on the front.

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If your going to do it...Do it right! Go with all 4

 

[KD7000]

I'd recommend doing all 4 if you're going to bother at all. You're at a much higher risk of the back end spinning around if you're running mismatched tires.

Plus, if you have 4 tires you can rotate them and get longer life.

 

[Edd]

Do you guys think it's necessary to mount snowtires on all 4 wheels for a front wheel drive vehicle? I'm thinking for the few times that I am able to get to the mountains that I can get away with just snows on the front.

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As far as braking goes, I'd want them on the rear wheels, too.

 

[JDMRoma]

Yes All 4 IS a Must, your braking won't be right if you have snows up front and all season in the rear or vice versa !
Money well spent and you extend the life of your summer tires…less mileage on them !

 

[JDMRoma]

I am awaiting a rebate from Tire Rack right now for the set of Dunlop Wintersports I just put on our Mazda.

the only thing I didn't like about getting the extra set of rims and tires was the TPMS sensors…I didn't bother spending the extra $200 for them….screw it, I can check my own tire pressure !!

 

[octopus]

the only thing I didn't like about getting the extra set of rims and tires was the TPMS sensors…I didn't bother spending the extra $200 for them….screw it, I can check my own tire pressure !!

they make it sound like you have to buy them, like its against the law or something. my car has them and i didn't get them either for the snow tires.

 

[KD7000]

the only thing I didn't like about getting the extra set of rims and tires was the TPMS sensors…I didn't bother spending the extra $200 for them….screw it, I can check my own tire pressure !!

I am currently enjoying a glowing warning light of doom.

 

[mlctvt]

I've had dedicated summer tires and a second set of snow tires/winter wheels on nearly all of my vehicles, ever. On RWD, FWD, and AWD cars. I consider it mandatory if you want to be able to drive anywhere, anytime regardless of road conditions.

Me too. I've got 16 extra wheels tires on a rack in my garage. 3 sets of snow tires/rims for the cars we drive in winter, the other set is race tires for the Miata that gets garaged in winter. An extra set of wheels/snows is a small investment in the big scheme of things. It amazes me that people spend $35K-40K on a car but balk at spending an extra $800-$1000 on winter wheels /tires.

The added benefit is we can run summer Ultra performance tires Summer only tires in Summer so we get the best of both worlds. I always hated "all season" tires, they're compromise tires, they suck at everything and are good at nothing.

 

[andrec10]

Me too. I've got 16 extra wheels tires on a rack in my garage. 3 sets of snow tires/rims for the cars we drive in winter, the other set is race tires for the Miata that gets garaged in winter. An extra set of wheels/snows is a small investment in the big scheme of things. It amazes me that people spend $35K-40K on a car but balk at spending an extra $800-$1000 on winter wheels /tires.

The added benefit is we can run summer Ultra performance tires Summer only tires in Summer so we get the best of both worlds. I always hated "all season" tires, they're compromise tires, they suck at everything and are good at nothing.

Sound just like my setup!

 

[Savemeasammy]

Do you guys think it's necessary to mount snowtires on all 4 wheels for a front wheel drive vehicle? I'm thinking for the few times that I am able to get to the mountains that I can get away with just snows on the front.

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I will echo what has been said a few times already: FWD vehicles should have snows all around (if at all). The rear of the vehicle is much more prone to sliding if the tires don't grip as well! They will tell you this at the shop when you buy them if you try to buy front tires only!


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[catsup948]

Awd and 4wd are always nice to have in the winter. My favorite ski car was my 1996 Toyota Land Cruiser. Shift from 4 wheel high to low. Drove through the berkshire east parking lot with snow flying over the hood. My 2003 Outback was the best highway car for winter. Snow, ice, slop it drove through all with ease. I currently have a 2wd car with toyo snows it's not the same but it's pretty good in the snow none the less.

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