AWD vs FWD

Started by crewmaster1
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crewmaster1

crewmaster1

Nattitwo
15+ Year Member
I may be moving to pittsburgh, how much snow is there? Can I survive with front wheel drive or do I need all wheel drive/4X4?
 
will you be driving off-road? i've been in WV/PA/OH in some bad snow, but i always found... gasp...snow trucks :wow: ! yep, they really do clear the snow. my VW never had a problem.
good luck
streetdoc
 
Doesnt matter.. I live in Chicago and have a FWD (Mits Galant 2001) and never had a problem. The snow trucks so what they do and the roads are ok, just remember to drive a little safer and slower...
 
I lived in NW Ohio for five years... they were pro's at salting down roads... I have more problems driving in DC with snow flurries than I ever did in blizzards in Ohio.
 
9 inches of snow just south of Buffalo last Wednesday - by Thursday morning, with temperature never getting over 28 degrees, roads clear, dry, and ice-free.

The deal with Pittsburgh is the hills - unplowed or icy are a problem. However, given that, front wheel drive is definitely superior to rear-wheel drive on the ice and snow.
 
It comes down to this. if you live in a part of the country that is used to snow, then no prob.. I was in Atlanta once and a little snow LITERALLY shut the city down, same for Memphis. In da burg they know how to handle it so get whatever you want. I would caution however against getting "sports" tires as they really really dont handle well on snow. All terrain is just fine though.
 
EctopicFetus said:
It comes down to this. if you live in a part of the country that is used to snow, then no prob.. I was in Atlanta once and a little snow LITERALLY shut the city down, same for Memphis.
Click to expand...

That, my friend, is a fact. It snows down here in Central Texas and we're toast. North Texas is a different matter, but down here, we're clueless. Granted, "snow" here typically means ice but, still, we're pretty dangerous.

Take care,
Jeff
 
Don't underestimate the ability of AWD to #1) Get OUT of your parking spot after it has snowed. My Subaru had no problem even with all the snow dumped in Philadelphia a few years ago (with better than 2 feet of snow behind me!). #2) Getting INTO parking spaces that haven't been dug out, or worse yet, into spots that have had snow shoved into them by the snow plows is made much easier by powering all four wheels.

You can certainly get by with FWD in cities that handle snow well (of which Pittsburgh is one), but you do even better with AWD.


Willamette
 
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