AWD vs. FWD w/ Snow Tires

I know this may have been covered in other topics, but looking to bounce some brief opinions.

Looking for a used car.  Have a challenging drive to work in winter

What do you think:
-fwd golf tsi w/ snow tires
-awd Impreza hatch

Worried that fwd will leave me hanging, used to driving awd.

a used Subie will be more reliable then a used VW..

I don't know about the specific vehicles.

IMO AWD is important for moving forward (vs stopping or staying on the road).  Especially moving uphill.  We have a steep driveway in the mountains. Without AWD, we would rarely get up it during winter, which would leave us carrying our stuff 600 feet, uphill and down. Ok for me when solo but when travel with the family we are talking many many trips.

We can sand the driveway and do, but it would have to be done a lot more, and it's expensive.

I'm running all season, a mostly workable compromise for my situation.

Oh no! Another snow tire thread?

99% of the time all season tires are fine. The 1% was the morning I drove a Honda Civic from Yonkers to the Catskills by Taconic Parkway to catch the first chair on a powder day.

mm

Milo Maltbie wrote

Oh no! Another snow tire thread?

99% of the time all season tires are fine. The 1% was the morning I drove a Honda Civic from Yonkers to the Catskills by Taconic Parkway to catch the first chair on a powder day.

mm

I don’t think that’s the fastest route

AWD + Winter Tires if you really want to know you'll make it.  

Regarding "Snow TIres", based on Consumer Reports I bought the Falcon Euro Winters as they were rated higher on dry pavement, but slightly worse in snow than something like the Blizzaks.  Unless you're on unplowed streets all the time, you still want tires that can stop on highway pavement.

I just bough a VW so I'm biased, but older Subies are known to blow head gaskets on those boxer engines.  

Milo Maltbie wrote

99% of the time all season tires are fine.

And for me I need snow tires about 5% of the time.  The vast majority of my driving is on dry interstates.

It all depends on who you are.  The snow tires people are locals or those who live in the North country.

I had a 1990 VW Passat that I bought new, I put 4 Gislaved(Swedish)  snow tires on it, and it never stranded me.  That was back in the days when I went north 3 weekends a month, and you could count snow on one of your travel days.

Currently on my 3d Subie, with Nokian snow tires.  FWIW, this is the first one where I've had to replace the head gasket.  Although it should be noted that I've had to replace the catalytic converters on every one that I've owned.  I tend to drive cars till the wheels fall off; this one has 201k miles.

Thinking about a used diesel Jetta while keeping the Subie.

Brownski wrote

Milo Maltbie wrote

Oh no! Another snow tire thread?

99% of the time all season tires are fine. The 1% was the morning I drove a Honda Civic from Yonkers to the Catskills by Taconic Parkway to catch the first chair on a powder day.

mm

I don’t think that’s the fastest route

This was definitely the first mistake of the day...probably more so than the lack of snow tires.

Harvey wrote

I don't know about the specific vehicles.

IMO AWD is important for moving forward (vs stopping or staying on the road).  

I think Harvey has it right here.  Although, AWD with Snows in the winter is noticeably the best IMO.

I have never had a problem getting to my ski destination with an AWD subi and All season tires. You just need to drive smart and not be in a hurry and anticipate what the other drivers might do.

PeeTex wrote

You just need to drive smart and not be in a hurry and anticipate what the other drivers might do.

But always remember that a car behind you is less likely to cause you problems then one in front of you

PeeTex wrote

I have never had a problem getting to my ski destination with an AWD subi and All season tires. You just need to drive smart and not be in a hurry and anticipate what the other drivers might do.

If "drive smart" means drive slow, then all season tires work. Ski areas are the easiest places to get to. I've been at the mountain when the lifts opened hundreds of times, but I've never been to a ski area before the access road and parking lots were plowed. For a lot of people their own driveway is the hardest part of the drive.  But if you want to make decent time on a 50 mile drive on an interstate, or pass the plows on the Thruway, or use county roads, or if you need to go over App Gap, snow tires beat AWD every time.

mm

Brownski wrote

But always remember that a car behind you is less likely to cause you problems then one in front of you

The car behind you and your crappy tires is me. Just get out of the way.

mm

Milo Maltbie wrote

Brownski wrote

But always remember that a car behind you is less likely to cause you problems then one in front of you

The car behind you and your crappy tires is me. Just get out of the way.

mm

You’re talkin my language

TheGreatAbyss wrote

Regarding "Snow TIres", based on Consumer Reports I bought the Falcon Euro Winters as they were rated higher on dry pavement, but slightly worse in snow than something like the Blizzaks.  Unless you're on unplowed streets all the time, you still want tires that can stop on highway pavement.

Road & Track ran a Focus RS around Michigan International Speedway a few years ago. Then they switched out the high performance summer tires for snow tires. The snow tires were 3% slower, which I'm thinking makes them 80% better than the tires on every crappy Subaru I have to avoid.

mm  

JasonWx wrote

a used Subie will be more reliable then a used VW..

Thats a bit of a crap shoot. Having owned an Outback GT and a number of friends who owned 2008-2014 impreza hatchbacks, I can definitely say Subaru's Subarus quality control left a lot to be desired. Two people in those impreza hatches had catalytic converter failures, one right around 60k and the other around 80k. One friend with the 2014 impreza had to have Subaru do a long block replacement due to what sendup being numerous issues with the engine from nearly day one.

Based on him saying a Golf TSI, he's referring to a VW from the last 3 years, if not brand new. Id take VW's 1.8 Turbo TSI engine with an Aisin 09G transmission any day over Subaru's terribly aged 2.0 mated with a CVT.

To the main topic, I went from years with a 4WD/AWD SUV and car to a FWD's with snows, and I was blown away how well the snows made an impact and completely changed my perception. That being said an AWD with Snows is the holy grail.

But, it's the most scenic.

Easy, Subaru. But, check the oil a lot. Seriously.

Brownski wrote

But always remember that a car behind you is less likely to cause you problems then one in front of you

I worry about the guy behind me too. If someone stops short or if there is danger in front, and I know someone is behind me, I try to use up as much space as I can to safely stop, giving the guy behind me the best chance of not running into me.

Not sure if that is correct, but it is what I do.

I own 2 subies and they do burn some oil...both have 90k + on them..maybe it's getting time for a change