With winter this year hitting early and with a vengeance, I have already had to deal with winter driving conditions. In fact, this is the earliest I have ever had to put my winter tires on my vehicles for as long as I have owned them. All this winter weather has resulted in some pretty nasty road conditions.
Last week, we had a great QOTD, Sweet or Salty, discussing the dilemma that justaddoil was having on which vehicle to drive during winter. The comments that were posted lead to some great discussion on the prowess of each vehicle in the winter conditions. In this particular case, both the Jeep Wagoneer and the Saab are quite capable vehicles in the snow.
Of course, not all cars are as capable as the above two choices and it made me think of all the different vehicles I have owned and driven over the years. Some were excellent winter vehicles while others were remembered for being particularly bad.
After some thought, I came up with this list of my best and worst winter cars.
Best Overall
My current daily driver is a 2008 Toyota Tundra 4×4 pickup. Even though our other daily driver is a ‘16 Subaru Outback, this truck is significantly better in the snow than the Subaru. Tipping the scales at about 5300 lbs, it has lots of weight to make it sure-footed in the snow. In addition it has modern snow tires, Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2s, Toyota’s excellent A-Trac electronic traction control system and a decent ABS system. All these things combined make it the best overall winter vehicle I have owned. There has never been any road condition this truck can’t handle with confidence.
Best RWD
Without a question, the most capable RWD vehicle I’ve owned was my late great 1993 Chevrolet Suburban. I bought this beast as a cheap alternative to a 4×4 pickup, which is what I really wanted at the time. I knew that a 2WD truck was pretty well useless in the snow, but I figured the extra weight of the ‘burb on the rear end would make it tolerable in the snow, much like fullsize station wagons. My Suburban was heavy, about 5000 lbs, and heavy vehicles work well in winter. It also had the G80 option which was an Eaton automatic locking rear differential (gov-lock). It was the proverbial tank in the snow, good enough for me to get away driving it a few winters in a rural setting with just all-season truck tires. After a few years I decided to invest in studded winter tires, which made it extremely capable. The year we built our house, we rented a place on the lake that had a seldom maintained private road. The landlord said 4WD was required, but I knew I’d be fine. The conditions got pretty hairy at times, but the combination of lots of weight, decent traction and ground clearance, resulted in the ‘burb always pulling through.
Worst FWD
For the most part, FWD cars are pretty decent in the snow. The typical front weight bias gives them pretty decent traction, and the understeer they exhibit is easier for most to deal with compared to oversteer in a RWD car. That said, our former ’99 Honda Civic was the worst FWD vehicle we owned for winter use. The car was very light and even with winter tires didn’t have particularly good traction. I found it very light and skittish on winter roads, and not particularly sure-footed. It was not confidence inspiring to drive. The car also lacked ABS and traction control. It was a good car overall, but neither of us missed the car when it was gone.
Worst Overall
This is not our actual Skylark. Ours was similar to this, except it was black.
The worst car ever for winter driving was our old ’72 Buick Skylark Custom 4-door hardtop. While not actually my car, it was one of the family cars I learned to drive on and had a lot of seat time in it as a teenager. The Buick 350 had lots of low-end torque and it easily spun its right rear wheel at the slightest application of the throttle. It had poor enough traction to even get stuck on flat surfaces. We invested in old school blocky snow tires, which helped a bit. I have to admit though; it was a great car to learn skid control. I did my first power slides and donuts with that car, so even though was terrible in the snow, it was fun.
So that brings me to my QOTD, what was your best/worst winter vehicles?
Best in snow was my 1980 Audi 4000 saloon. Big snow of St, Louis in 82 dumped 1 to 2 ft of snow in the area. The Audi took it well, and thought there were times it was not actually in contact with the road surface, it soldiered on, never got stuck. Worst was a 73 Grand Prix… Lovely car. But like the Buick mentioned above. it took just the lightest pressure to spin the wheels in snow. Been in Phoenix for 30+ years. No cars since have been in snow.
Worst was my ’05 Bonneville GXP. Best, Hmm. my stick-shift Chevettes were not at all bad. I had studded snow tires for my S10 Blazer (2WD, locking differential) which worked well. Surprisingly not awful: my ’11 Camaro convertible (yes I drive it in winter *sigh*) once I put the four Blizzak snow tires on it.
I think my ’65 Fury III just plowed through everything.
With second gear starts and some careful clutch slipping, my Father was quite pleased with how his 361 V8 “Golden Commando” engine ’62 Plymouth handled the snow of his Parent’s area of southeast Oklahoma.
His son didn’t like the c-c-cold weather as much as his Father did; as this picture suggests.
My Oklahoma Aunt always said her ’65 Ford Country Sedan station wagon was her best snow car.
The 289 V8 engine, in this long, wide, heavy body was no tire spinning powerhouse; but always started on the first or second try. With a “winter” thermostat installed the heater would melt you shoes!
My Uncle would add 2 or 3 bags of cement into the luggage “well” where the third seats would had been other models.
With the “Green Dot” Cruise-A-Matic transmission locked into the second gear start off mode and the curb idle raised slightly from the “Summer Setting”, that Long Roof would pull itself thru just about any snow or ice event that she chose to go out in, without even breathing on the gas pedal.
She finally replaced it, many years later, with a front wheel drive Dodge Omni, when the rust gremlin made the car unsafe to drive. She said the Omni was “just ok” in the snow and that she wanted her station wagon back. My Uncle would just roll his eyes and rub his forehead when she said this.
Worst was a ’71 Satellite I had when I lived in NY in the early 1990s, which looking back probably wasn’t so bad but I had sold an ’88 Bronco just prior to putting the Satellite in service so my view was probably a bit biased. Its the only car I remember getting stuck in though. Now I live in coastal SE VA where we get maybe one good snowfall a year and I have a 4X4 Dodge truck so its no longer an issue. I also have never owned a FWD car and don’t plan to.
Best: A tie: 1979 Bronco and 2003 Town And Country. Worst: A tie: 1983 Chevette and 1982 Mustang.
Best In Snow is an easy one for me: a 1988 Mazda 323 GTX. This car was like a mountain goat, especially with the locking center differential. My favorite snow driving experience was in 2000, when I was living in Durham, North Carolina and we got an unprecedented 20” of snow. It’s hard to describe what happens when that amount of snow falls in the South, but needless to say everything was shut down for days.
I astonished my neighbors by taking my Mazda out just after the snow stopped. I plowed through my apartment parking lot, with snow cascading over the hood, and drove about 5 mi. to downtown Chapel Hill. I was just about the only vehicle on the road.
As for Worst, I’ve never had a truly awful winter vehicle, but my 2006 Crown Vic wasn’t too great. One year over Christmas, we drove 1,000 miles to my in-laws’ in Missouri, and on the way back got caught in a snowstorm that followed us for 2 days. That trip WAS awful – hundreds of miles on poorly-treated Interstate highways in a car that would lose traction very quickly. My hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel tightly for hours on end. After that trip, my wife and I called that car the Death Sled.
My ’86 323 hatchback was not bad. However, the low ground clearance can be a problem. It can build up snow and lift up the front of the car. I got stuck once or twice that way.
Certainly true, though with the GTX, getting unstuck is much easier than in a FWD 323.
I can only remember one time when I got badly stuck in the GTX, and it was (of course) my fault. I was driving somewhere with my father during a snowstorm, and I was driving too fast on a downhill stretch of road. I realized I couldn’t possibly stop at the traffic light at the bottom of the hill, so I steered the car into a snow bank and off into a field.
Dad was not amused. I remember him saying: “You know that shovel in the trunk? Use it.” He sat in the car while I dug it out. Lesson learned.
I will agree that the Panthers are not the best, but they are far from the worst I have experienced. A full tank of gas (right over the rear axle) is a big help with those. The other problem with those (at least the ones I have driven) is that the throttle tip-in is fairly fast, making difficult the gradual acceleration necessary to avoid drive-wheel slippage.
I also have noticed the abrupt “tip-in” on all of my present and past Panthers.
I suspect that the smooth, gradual, lineal, easily controlled throttle tip-in in my above mentioned Aunt’s Country Sedan (combined with the Green Dot tranny’s 2nd gear starts) made it such an enjoyable foul weather car for her.
Yes, that 2nd gear start in the old FMX automatic (a holdover from the old Ford-O-Matic, I believe) was huge in slick weather. If there was a Mopar or GM automatic that did this I was not aware of it.
No 2nd gear starts from the old school GM and Mopar transmissions. Ford brought 2nd gear starts back with the AOD-E who’s OD switched freed up the spot in the quadrant. They even went so far as to allow 3rd gear starts on the 5r55 family. Alas when the 6sp transmissions started showing up that went away.
I agree that Panther’s aren’t the best, but aren’t the worst either. My ’88 Grand Marquis had 3:08 gears and a limited slip, and it was actually pretty good in the snow. I found the throttle tip in on these old 302’s was pretty decent compared to the 4.6L Panther’s that followed. The newer Crown Vic’s I have driven were not bad in the snow, but didn’t have the best off the line traction, which I suspect was partially from the tip-in. Once they got going, they were good and could plow through deep snow with ease. With a limited slip the directional stability can be a bit tricky for some, but I prefer it to an open differential.
Best, tie between 84 300zx Nissan, and a 78 Mustang II. Both handled deep snow like snowmobiles! Worst, again a tie between the 89 and a 98 Camaros I once owned..
Both absolutely worthless in snow..or wet roads…or leaf covered roads….or for that matter, morning dew covered roads!!
Worst: Rear wheel drive compact pickup. Driven by a 17 year-old. Yeah.
Best: The snow tires are now on the 4Runner. Sounds like an invitation to get hopelessly stuck through overconfidence.
My “Old School” Uncle often told me that “Four wheel drive just helps you get stuck in places that you had NO business exploring to begin with!”
🙂
Ain’t that the truth. I nearly experienced this myself a month ago, 15 miles from pavement, on a stretch of dirt road that was mud hidden under the thin dry surface.
Ain’t that the truth! (see my pic below LOL)
I’ve had many vehicles. Some better in snow than others. One of the worst was a 2wd Ford Ranger. It would get stuck on a wet fart. However with a pair of dedicated snow tires and 500lbs of concrete blocks over and behind the axle it was unstoppable.
Worst was my 79 Mustang, 302 /4spd and summer Michelin TRX tires. It got stuck going downhill. My Chevy S10 pick up with snow tires was poor until I shovelled 300 lbs of snow into the back. Most RWD cars I’ve owned weren’t much better although the GM B-bodies weren’t so bad.
FWD was better, I’ve had good results with old school econoboxes like a Dodge Omni and a Ford Escort with skinny tires.
My 97 DeVille was decent, too, although I found it’s traction control to be far too sensitive. Sometimes some wheelspin is necessary but the TC cut in frequently and interferred with throttle modulation unless it’s turned off. But doing so locks out 1st gear. Annoying.
Best is my 90 Jeep Cherokee with 4 snow tires.
The best when the going got tough, was our FZJ80 Land Cruiser. With a 2” lift above already good clearance, selectable locking diffs and of course AWD it could handle anything. Best in most conditions? Our Forester, with great traction as well as good defrosting, heated mirrors and seats and defrost wires at the base of the windshield to help the wipers, it felt safest. Worst? Either my ‘78 Fiesta or my ‘75 Alfetta. Bald tires were good on the racetrack but not in snow.
Best: ’50 Willys pickup. 2WD, but the way-back engine gave it excellent traction even with no load in the bed. Worst: ’65 Karmann Ghia. Low clearance and light weight, got high-centered on a few inches of snow.
Worst: 1971 BMW 2800 and 1975 BMW 2002 … slip n’ slide.
Best: current 2011 Nissan Xterra Pro 4X just amazing anywhere!
We actually found big old US V8 rwd tanks quite good in snow if they had proper tires and a bit of weight in the trunk, in the 80s we both drove full sized cars like that 40-50 mi each way on our commute into Baltimore from out in the country and never had a problem.
Nice X!
Best: 2016 BMW 228i xDrive. The combination of xDrive all-wheel drive and the 2’s maneuverable size make it a beast in the snow.
Worst: 2010 Acura TSX V6. It’s relatively long length, front-wheel drive, and 63-37 weight distribution caused it to slip-slide and fishtail even in the mildest snow.
Why would a long wheelbase make the Acura less stable and more prone to sliding/fishtailing?
Timely, as I’ll be digging us out from last night’s blizzard – 3′ drifts across the driveway…
My ’71 Vega always did good in the snow. More recently, my ’00 New Beetle TDI also did really good, once I learned how to mitigate diesel fuel gelling (had to be towed a couple times our first few winters here in the Middle West, as this was not a problem I experienced when we lived in Georgia). My old ’69 F-100 would get stuck on flat, wet grass, so I avoided taking it out in the snow.
Out of our current vehicles, Beth’s ’12 Routan does pretty good, as have all our previous Chrsyler-platform minivans. Between my RAM 2500 4×4 and the Chev SS (née Holden Commodore), I’d actually pick the SS. The truck is a heavy beast, but even with a locking rear-end and traction control, it doesn’t feel as planted as the SS, on which I run Michelin X-ices. Just put those on this past Saturday, in fact, in anticipation of the storm.
I would’ve thought you get a winter beater rather than drive the SS in salt and grit Ed.
On the other hand you can do RWD donuts, which is good fun. Kind of sad my kids won’t be able to experience that.
“On the other hand you can do RWD donuts, which is good fun. Kind of sad my kids won’t be able to experience that.”
There are plenty of cheap Grand Marquis’ or F-150s out there . . . Just sayin’.
At the rate I’m putting miles on the car, it will wear out before it gets a chance to rust out! I bought it to drive, not put on a shelf… and by hitting the touchless/undercarriage wash frequently (temps permitting), we’ve had good luck with all our cars. My New Beetle had minimal undercarriage rust after 12 years here.
I never had my Vega in the snow, but of all the 2wd cars I owned, FWD or RWD, I think it was the best rain handling car, after switching from American to European radials.
Michelin XZX radials, FTW! Transformed that car!
My best snow/ice car was my 95 Ford Explorer 5 door, with positraction and RWD. It could get stuck in clay mud with the front tires on pavement, but it was a damn good snow.ice car for the N. Texas area. Lock that sucker into 2nd gear, and let the 4.0 do it’s job, and good compression braking so I hardly ever touched the brakes when I had to get out.
Worst is a tie, my 86 Pontiac 6000-STE, too light, too much torque from the 2.8 and too skinny of tires, made for a 2900 pound paperweight when it iced/snowed. The other problem child is my 77 Chevelle sedan. Unlike my 76 Chevelle sedan which was fairly competent on ice, the 77 is an elephant on ice skates. The 305 has a lot of torque off idle, and the 2.56 axle ratio makes it hard to build any momentum without spinning the tires on ice (total opposite problem on dry pavement) It’s a crab walking disaster on ice.
Time will tell if my FWD 04 Buick Rendezvous is ok on ice, but I have a feeling that it’s like the 6000, a large paperweight when it comes to slick stuff.
Worst was a 1985 Mazda Rx-7 with lousy tires. More of an issue with me choosing a not very suitable vehicle for the job than anything else.
Best? Hard to say but we have had good luck with any of the minivans we have owned. Iron block V6 over the front driven wheels is a nice combination.
Oddly the current Acura TSX is only a so-so winter car even with proper winter tires. Not sure why.
You’re right, I was going to say Ranger pickup but my RX-7 was the worst in the winter. At least the Ranger had a good heater.
Best was my 2001 Focus, unstoppable snowmobile when shod with winter tires. Somehow our 2013 Focus isn’t quite as good, despite literally using the same tires.
This is easy – the worst was literally any mid-size or larger rear wheel drive vehicle without a limited slip differential. All of them were, due of course to traction limitations, poor performers in any kind of winter driving conditions. Skinny non-snow tires made it the worst. Any vehicle, no matter how limited or made capable by mechanical design, could be made better or worse by tire choice. Throwing sand bags or conrete blocks in the trunk helped a bit, but not a great deal.
The absolute worst of my many vehicles have been V-8 powered sports cars with soft, gummy tires – thought these are obviously not intended to be driven in winter conditions; it would literally be impossible to do so. I got caught 3 days ago in a 500HP RWD car with big back tires and I was literally inches from being unable to scale my gently inclined driveway due to 1/4″ of snow. It has been clear and mild when I went out 3 hours earlier.
Traction control can be a help or a hindrance, but one has to be able to turn it off – I will not buy a car that does not let me do that.
The best winter cars have been any 4 or all-wheel drive vehicles, of which I have also had many. I live in a cold northern climate in a hilly area, and a 4 or all-wheel drive vehicle has been a necessity for us for over 20 years.
The problem was when RWD was the most common drive setup on the road, very few actually had limited slip differentials. They were low cost option, but even in snow country, very few were ordered. I also remember a lot of people not liking limited slip, and saying they were “dangerous.”. This was because of the tendency for a car with limited slip to be easier to induce an oversteer skid.
Of all the cars we grew up with, only one had a limited slip differential, my dad’s Torino, the car we didn’t drive in the winter! That said, there were definitely a lot of larger heavier RWD cars that got by just fine with open differentials. Smaller and lighter cars and 2WD pickups were significantly worse.
Interesting question. Despite (or perhaps because of) my youth in the upper midwest, I have never owned a 4/all wheel drive vehicle. I kind of agree with Mark Reimer’s Old School Uncle – if you can’t get around in a good 2 wheel drive vehicle, you have no business out in a 4 wheel drive vehicle.
Best: my 94 Club Wagon. 5000 pounds, balanced, good Michelin all season truck tires, ABS brakes and a Traction Lok diff, that van would go anywhere I had any business going.
The runner up would be the 63 Cadillac Fleetwood that had studded snow tires during the winter of 1978-79 (the year after the great blizzard). It weighed even more than the van and those studded tires would bite on any kind of slick surface. But no ABS of course, so you had to be careful not to let the great rear traction overwhelm your ability to brake.
Worst – I understand completely your problem with the 72 Skylark. My mother had a 72 Cutlass Supreme 2 door that was simply horrible. The colonnades were not much better, her 74 LeMans sedan (which I learned to drive on) could get stuck in very little snow even with snow tires. I maintain that everyone who gripes about RWD vehicles in snow formed their opinions from youth spent in a Mustang or a 1968+ GM A body.
I grew up with the same sentiment about RWD. Mind you 4WD and AWD vehicles were not very common then, especially if you lived in the city. I grew up in the city and we always had RWD cars and mostly ran all season tires. We got by just fine. It wasn’t until I moved out to the country that I saw the importance of winter tires and more capable vehicles. While you can get by in the city, driving on desolate roads is a little different.
Today, living in the country with kids, having a job I can’t miss due to “bad weather” and often leaving for work before the plows are out, I can say having a 4WD is not absolutely necessary, but it sure makes life easier. In the past there were days we couldn’t get out of the driveway until I cleaned it (we live on a hill), but now that’s never an issue. I can get through pretty much any weather, as can my wife and kids. That security is also important should an emergency arise. FWIW, I do actually only use 4WD when I really need it, unlike many who drive in 4WD any time it snows. I still enjoy the challenge for trying to see how far I can push 2WD and with modern tires, it’s surprising how far you can go.
On the Skylark, I am sure some of it was my green driving experience, but even more seasoned drivers said that car was awful. The ’76 Malibu was also had was probably the car I drove the most as a teenager, and it was definitely better than the Buick. Not that it was good, but pretty comparable to my ’85 Olds Delta 88 I owned later on. It probably helped that it was a Chevy powered car with no A/C, meaning it was pretty light on the front end compared to many other Colonnades.
I’m shocked that you two are saying how bad the 68-72 A bodies are, I had good look with my 68 and 72 Skylarks with the obligatory 350 and the 4bbl. I typically ran 60 series radial tires and neither had the posi. Of course I wasn’t afraid to throw chains.
My Century (Colonnade) was pretty good too.
Like I said above, some of it was likely my greenhorn driving skills. But it definitely was not as good as our colonnade Malibu. Mind you, the Buick wasn’t as bad as my Dad’s old 2WD Ford truck. He sold that though when I turned 16, so I didn’t get to experience it in the snow.
I’ve owned a XJ Cherokee and two ZJ Grand Cherokees. All went though some pretty nasty snow storms in 4WD. The worst vehicles I’ve had in the snow were the Cherokee/Grand Cherokees in 2WD. Even though I’ve had Jeeps, the best vehicle I ever had in the snow was a 2007 Ford Edge with AWD – that thing never spun a wheel. I had a new 2007 Edge as a company car in 2007-2009. My son has a used 2007 Edge now and it is just as good in the snow.
We have numerous Ford AWD vehicles at work, including Edges Taurus, and Explorers and they are very good in the snow. Ford did a good job on the AWD systems, and I actually prefer it in operation to our Subaru’s, which I find has too much front bias. That said, we have also had numerous PTU failures with these Fords so I am not sure how robust the system is in comparison to the Subaru system.
The later Ford systems are a gas and go type of system so the clutch locks up when you accelerate, before it slips. At more or less cruise it switches to a slip then grip mode. So yeah the Escape Hybrid we had is near the top of my list of snow vehicles.
I have owned a variety of vehicles, all but one of which was RWD, two of those were domestic trucks (GMC T6500 and Ford E250) and the rest of them Mercedes-Benzes.
The worst in the winter was my 1979 300SD. It was tolerable in the snow (at least, I never had trouble getting from A to B assuming I wasn’t an idiot), but it had a busted heater core so it was a cold affair.
The best in the snow was an 2005 ML350. It could be drifted around at will in the snow, and managed to get itself through every situation but my friends 25+ degree driveway in unplowed snow covered ice (it only made it halfway up).
Everything else has been good in the snow, and required hard and deep snow to even require shoveling. I honestly have no idea why people are so terrified of the stuff. Proper gentle control seems to work on everything. Except powerful front drivers (like my dads 97 Maxima) which seem useless in the snow.
Oh, gosh – my ’76 Chevy Malibu Classic (15 years old at the time) combined the strengths of always starting without fail and a near-instantaneously operative heater and defroster with the weaknesses of RWD (in Michigan winter) and constant thirst, which meant getting out of the car to gas up with more frequency than would have been the case with the ’84 Ford Tempo GL I had traded for it.
Then my family said “Peace, out” to the Midwest, shortly after my HS graduation. Florida winters are quite a different story. 🙂
In terms of cars I personally owned, my ’67 Beetle was the best, and my ’97 Fiat Punto with worn out suspension bushes on the rear and worn out summer tires all round was useless – but probably a better winter car than the 2003 Nissan Primera I mentioned in another post recently.
YES! I forgot to mention above that my ’64 Beetle was *superb* in snow, but even more so on ice.
Fortunately we don’t get that much snow here in southwestern Indiana so the “good in snow” factor has never been a primary objective when I’ve purchased vehicles. The best overall was probably my 1978 VW Rabbit; it had front wheel drive, it had narrow tires to punch through the snow and it was relatively under-powered so wheel spin was never much of an issue. Because snow is seldom an issue here I’ve owned numerous cars that were virtually undriveable on snow; from the 1963 Plymouth that would spin the rear tires at any provocation, through numerous Mustangs (Goodyear “Gatorbacks” are not your friend in low traction situations) to the F150 that was ready to ground loop on anything other than dry pavement. Fortunately, now that I’m retired, my current Mustang stays in the garage anytime the word “snow” gets mentioned.
My Corvair was unstoppable, except when the snow was so deep that its low clearance became a bit of an issue. My VWs were just about as good too. I never got stuck, and the advantage of the VW was that it was easy to give it a bit of a push if it needed it.
Our Cherokee never really saw much winter snow in California, except for going skiing. Our Forester was terrific; very controllable.
Worst? I only Had the Corvair and VWs when I lived in the Eastern half of the country. But I used to feel sorry for folks with Mustangs, Camaros and other sporty V8 muscle/pony cars. They always seemed to have the worst time.
A corvette with worn out tires could get stuck in a water puddle. On pavement.
Best: my ’06 Mercedes-Benz SLK 350 with automatic, traction control and four snow tires. Worst: my ’74 Monte Carlo S with 350 small block, automatic and no snow tires. I was a true masochist with that car! It could get stuck after being shown a black-and-white photo of snow!
I’ll second that with saying my worst was an El Camino. Especially with those fat tires out back. Best was my ’67 Fury VIP. Big, fat sled with a 318 and skinny little 14 inch wheels.
Best overall: Our current truck, a 2006 Ford F350 Diesel 4 door long box 4wd. The sheer weight, with the long wheelbase, on studded snows. Amazing.
Best RWD: My old Ex-RCMP ’77 Fury, with limited slip, on studded snows, Also amazing.
Best FWD: Our first Prius, a 2001, on studded snows. With the power delivery of the traction motor, surprising capability, only limited by ground clearance.
Worst overall: My ’91 Prelude, also on winters. Not that that helped, the damn thing would just pick up and skitter all over the road. Scary.
Summary: Give me weight, and I prefer all or rear wheel drive (limited slip is a must) and dedicated studded snows. Generally safe, especially if the car has a good long wheelbase for directional stability. The electronic nannies I can live without, but ABS is mandatory.
The Prius is a conundrum. With studded snows, would be okay. But without them, the added torque of the electric motor creates a problem with slippage. I had a short, slight incline to get into my garage, and with just a light dusting of snow, I couldn’t get into it without a running start, then slam on the brakes once inside.
My wife replaced her Civic with a 2010 Prius. It was pretty good in the snow. I found in Eco mode, the tip in was so gentle, you really had to work to spin a tire. It was also pretty heavy for a small car, which help. The biggest downfall was the low ground clearance. There were a few times were my wife pulled out of the garage and the car sunk into the deep snow and got hung up in the driveway. At least with her Subaru, that’s never an issue anymore.
Best: ’98 mazda MPV Allsport on snow tires
Very well balanced weight distribution by the feel of it, full-time 4WD mode with the center diff unlocked was a good setting for mixed traction surfaces. Suspension and steering closer to the 929 it was based on than a traditional bouncy BOF SUV With the snow tires it felt entirely comfortable cruising through fresh powder on I86 at 4am at 60mph…in RWD mode.
I’m anticipating my A4 Quattro on winter rubber will be even better, but haven’t had any really slick conditions to test it on this year
Worst: 4Runner 4WD, yes even with decent snow tires. At low speeds it’s a tank, don’t get me wrong. Locking rear diff, oodles of ground clearance and articulation, chromed steel bumpers and comprehensive factory skid plates that aren’t afraid of some ice. It’s at higher speeds where things fall apart. Short wheelbase and tall, long travel suspension that rock offroad become liabilities: expansion joints upset it, it catches every crosswind in a big way, it only has part-time 4wd. I love this truck, but this winter we’re taking the Audi (pending some coolant leakage that I am monitoring closely).
Best back then when winter tires distinguished themselves from all seasons only by the tread design: VW 1302. Mine had all season tires with very good tread.
Best nowadays: ’05 Pontiac Vibe with General Tire Altimax Arcitic. Modern winter tires like these are incredibly good.
Worst: ’81 Mercury Capri with all seasons.
I’ve been quite pleased with the Altimax Arctic on my 4Runner, and my brother has installed them on his Mystique, his wife’s Rogue, and a number of customer cars (Forester, Prizm, etc). They are a good mix of snow and wet traction performance, at a good price.
A few more thoughts: we’ve had a few lightweight Hondas (’90 Civic wagon, ’07 Fit, ’12 Civic) and they are simply so light that slush built up between lanes seriously upsets them if you don’t “slice” through correctly. I had a nice and heavy ’96 ES300 on gnarly Firestone Winterforce snow tires and that thing was an absolute winter tank. For winter motoring on the cheap, a nice heavy generic FWD sedan (on snow tires if funds allow it) is hard to beat.
I own a 1993 Camry stick shift and I suspect that the extra weight it has over a Corolla makes it better in the snow. When the weather outside is gnarly I try to downshift to slow down instead of using brakes. This year though, I do not have studded snow tires on it just General Altimax RT43s. Course, Portland Oregon does not have that bad a winter season however, the roads are not maintained well and thus, the snow and ice sticks around for days
#1 1997 Chevy Suburban
#2 2001 Subaru Outback
#3 1998 Audi A4 Quatro
#4 2001 BMW 330XI (current daily driver)
We currently own the best and the worst I’ve ever had. The best is the 2017 Subaru Forester: AWD, heated seats, etc. The worst is my 2WD 1995 Dakota truck. Even with 300 lbs of sand in the back it’s pretty worthless in the snow.
Good: Plymouth Champ [Colt], even if car was not meant to last past 75k.
Ford Escorts, Contours and Focus, did well too.
Had a ’87 Marquis Colony Park, with locking rear [Trac-Loc] that loved snow.
2015 Camry is fine in today’s mess.
Parents ’72 DeVille had locking rear, too, and survived the Blizzard of ’79. My folks knew how to drive RWD cars in Chicago winters, btw. Only got ’68 Plymouth wagon stuck in a Wisconsin driveway.
Bad: ’94 Mustang with open rear end, needed bags of cat litter to go OK.
So-so: Loved my ’05 Sentra, except for some blizzards, where the ‘sporty’ tires wanted to spin. Not an SE-R, but had the same rims.
I’ve never had a car I considered to be anything better than mediocre in the snow. The one that stands out as least frightening is the ’06 Ford Focus I sold to my son a couple months ago.
Worst by a mile was my ’89 Chevy Beretta. Just execrable.
Best (possibly Rose Colored Glasses in my assessment here): my first car, the ’73 LTD. All that road hugging weight could not be stopped.
Taking the rose colored glasses off, and considering the current fleet, my wife’s 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer is awesome in the snow. We were even getting around during Snowmageddon in 2010 in that car.
Worst (jury is still out – new tires are being mounted today): my newest car, a 2016 Civic Coupe. It’s really light, and did not do so well on powdery snow the first and second winters because of this. The Continental ProContacts it came with may’ve had a summer bias, although supposedly “all season” tires. I did drive it last week during an early season snow. That was a much wetter snow, about 6” of slushy snow, and it did just fine, although it felt more like I was piloting a boat than driving a car. Thus the new tires going on today before winter sets in. It IS my commuter car after all. ;o)
The rest? – The Foxes were ok… keep in mind they were all coupes, but not a Mustang in the bunch. The ’79 Futura (my second car) was decent, but not as good as the LTD; And of the T-Birds: The ’83 Essex powered ‘Bird was the best; the ’88 5.0 LX was next best, with the ex’s Turbo Coupe being the worst of the T-Birds, and probably worst of all the Foxes.
My ex’s 4.6 L ’94 T-Bird was better than all the Foxes except the ’83 with the 3.8; and my own MN12, a ’97 3.8L was probably the best of all of my ‘Birds.
Despite being front wheel drive, my ’97 Grand Prix GTP was not as good as my ’97 T-Bird. This surprised me, but with the front overhang and supercharged engine throwing too much torque to the wheels, any snow deeper than 3” made it self-limiting for snow driving.
Finally my namesake here, my 2007 RetroStang: In a word, surprising! I always heard that Mustangs sucked in the snow, so much so, I was afraid to drive mine in snow when I first got it. Maybe that reputation came from the first 3 generations, because my Mustang goes great in the snow, although it’s now retired from such foolishness. Perhaps it has a little “road-hugging-weight” of its own. Many complained these cars were too big when they came out.
Oh, and speaking of my ex’s cars: My first wife had a 1972 LeMans coupe with a 350. I agree wholeheartedly with the posters above regarding this generation of A-Body. It SUCKED to get caught out in the snow with that car. We realized very quickly that the Fairmont was a much better choice on snowy days.
Sorry this post turned into a SNOW-COAL. I tried to be brief, but it was really difficult.
I completely believe that your 73 LTD was a great snow car. My 67 Galaxie 500 was quite good in snow. When I was in high school an we needed to go somewhere in bad weather, we would pile into my convertible and leave Mom’s 74 LeMans in the garage. I always believed that the key was balance and the full sizers of all of the Big 3 were quite good in slick conditions. Most of my rwd experience was in big FoMoCo and Mopar stuff and there was not a bad one in the bunch. It was the smaller cars that sucked, some worse than others.
I agree with JPC, most of those big ol’ tanks were pretty decent in the snow. I always found that heavier vehicles worked great in the snow. The post may have turned into a snow-COAL, but it was a good read! 🙂
1989 Jeep Cherokee with part-time 4WD was the best ever.
My current drive, 2007 Mini Cooper hardtop with Blizzaks, also is amazing in the snow.
Best overall: our current 2013 4Runner, which sports Blizzak snow tires. So far unstoppable in the CO Rockies where it lives. I’ve never needed to lock the diff, but the default is full time all wheel.
Worst: 2007 G35S 6MT… an RWD company car. If but one or two individual snowflakes were in our slighted inclined driveway, forget it. Did not have snows, just performance all-seasons.
Best RWD: My Mom’s 1968 Country Squire, the car in which I learned to drive. With a limited slip diff and studded snows, it took us on many snowy New England ski trips with aplomb. (Otherwise, not a very good car.)
Best overall: current 2000 Chevy K2500 with General Grabber Arctic LT tires.
Best RWD: 1992 BMW 325i with stock Pirelli P600’s, believe it or not. LSD and 50/50 weight distribution helped, as did the tire tread pattern. Heated cloth seats added comfort.
RWD runner up: 1972 VW bus with snows on the rear. Caltrans/CHP did not require me to chain up. Worthless cabin heat and balky automatic chokes on the twin carbs were the downside.
Worst: 1966 Dodge A100 van. No rear wheel traction at all. V8 and automatic (without second gear start option) delivered too much torque right off of idle.
Best – current daily driver 2017 Subaru Forester, 6MT and heated seats.
Worst – 1984 Dodge Omni GLH, though I did learn A LOT about using whatever traction I had the best I could.
Surprisingly Good If You Weren’t In A Hurry – 1995 Ford Aerostar, Vulcan V6, AT, single leg axle. With some weight over the axle it could, slowly, get you anywhere you wanted to go in the snow – as long as you remembered to park nose-down on just about any slope.
Most Fun – 1969 VW Type 1 Bug. The “real” IRS was a big improvement over swing axles and the higher torque of the larger engine was a plus. And no, it didn’t have much heat but I did have a wool Army blanket. Lots of fantasy rallying on my way to/from work.
Renault 4
– FWD
– no power
– light weight
– great heating system
– narrow tyres
Despite owning a series of four wheel drive trucks, which have all been capable in their own right I have to give the honour to my wife’s Ford Flex
2010 AWD model, very well balanced with a relatively large, heavy-ish car it is amazing in the snow. Four years on the same winter tires and I actually could not make it spin the wheels. It’s amazing.
I love the car for a number of reason, but it is awesome in the snow and ice.
Best overall: 1997 Mazda MPV 4WD Allsport. Very well balanced and configurable four wheel drive system. It was even fun enough to leave in four wheel drive and cut wide sweeping drifts on snow or slush. Honorable mention goes to a 1994 Mazda MPV 4WD that I owned previously which felt more or less the same. I’m actually looking into buying another one, which would be my forth MPV.
Best 2WD: 1982 Honda Accord Sedan. Absolute beast for a smaller car, with decent front ground clearance. Very chuckable and was even used to tow out the occasional Tahoe, Explorer, or lifted Titan on bald mud terrains.
Worst: 1993 Mazda MX-3. Even with good snow tires, it’s overly skittish, likely due to the short wheelbase and Mazda rear suspension that adds a little bit of passive rear wheel steering. The only way it had any sort of rear end grip was when I had all seats filled (clown car style) and a trunk full of stuff.
Heck yeah Mike, the MPVs are definitely a unique “goldilocks” combination. I just wish they made them more rust resistant and with something a bit more powerful than the 3.0L 155hp V6!
I agree with your sentiment of lack of power. I have been pondering possible engine swaps and apparently Nissan VG engines are a near drop in as far as physical arrangements go. My dream MPV would be a 1998 4WD Allsport with the supercharged VG33ER from an early Frontier (or a German market diesel with the 5-speed). Allegedly, the mounts line up and the transmission bolts up with a simple bellhousing swap.
I’m assuming you’re referring to that one guy that swapped in a tiwn turbo VG30DETT out of a 300ZX into his MPV? That was something else.
I wish I could have my 4Runner’s 3.4L 5VZ-FE in the MPV, a wholly superior motor by any metric, but particularly in terms of low end torque. the yota 3.4L makes 217ft-lb down lower than the MPV made its 169, and it is a world of difference. It can keep lower RPMs on the highway and doesn’t have to downshift or unlock the torque converter on hills as much, which allows it to get better highway MPG. Overseas you could get the “efini” MPV with a 2.5L (?) Turbodiesel engine, I wonder if that was any peppier, especially if you threw in a bit of tuning.
Yes. That VG30DETT swapped 2WD is definitely it’s own type of monstrosity. Same bellhousing pattern and very similar engine mount location. I like the idea of a 5VZ-FE. It’s a great truck/SUV engine, which is why I mentioned the VG33ER since it’s single cam and should be a bit easier to service once installed. I’ve been wondering about the Efini 2.5’s as well. I have a feeling they’re slow, but maybe with head studs and 20-22 pounds of boost, it might just become a bite sized Cummins.
Also, I’m really digging that picture of your MPV exploring. I sold my last 1997 to a friend that converted it to an adventure rig and does just that, which is why I’m buying another…or two.
Bad:
1999 Smart FourTwo: It would start spinning when you were thinking about a corner. And the non-defeatsable stability control would brake it all the way to a stop when you were trying to accelerate in a straight line.
1994 Mercedes 190D 2.0: no matter how much steering input, It would just keep going straight – heavy diesel over the front axle. I guess you could say at least it has the directional stability that the smart lacked – just too much of it.
Fun:
1992 Audi 80 1.6 with summer tires and snow chains. It drove like a rally car, never managed to stick out the tail as much in an FWD vehicle as in the Audi.
Surprisingly good: BMW E36 316i compact with snow tires. Superb steering and a tight suspension made for some very precise control in the snow. Well, I did rip out the rear suspension after doing donuts for hours…….
Best – 1960 Renault Dauphine (Michelin X tires) also had a spring in the steering that returned the wheels to center. Worst – 1960 Ford Falcon (until I put the chains on)
If you want a car that’s good in snow, shop from a region where it snows a lot. I never felt the need for 4WD in my 20 Michigan winters, because a Volvo 245 with a set of Hakkas on it is virtually unstoppable.
Swedish car + Finnish tires. What more does a person need?
Previous best: Any of the GM A body FWD wagons I have owned. With 185 or 195-75-14 skinnies from the factory, they were pretty unstoppable.
Currently owned best: Either of my 2007 or 2008 Pontiyota Vibes.
Worst by far: 1984 Camaro Z/28 with an open rear diff.
I will second the comment above about Aerostars being surprisingly good. Had two of them and in 16 years I don’t think I ever got stuck without doing something stupid.
My 1974 Dart is probably both best and worst. Weight and decent ground clearance meant it would plow through 6-7 inches of snow no problem. On the other hand, V8, rear drive, and slightly worn front end made it absolutely terrifying on ice.
My best was a 2005 Ford Escape with 4WD. Never, ever got stuck in the snow, lost control, or failed to go up a steep road with ice or sleet.
Drove it for 8 years in upstate NY with 220K miles on the clock. Only gave it up due to the tin worm biting hard late in life.
Eventually sold to a man who took it to Mexico!!!🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
The best would be the 2 AWD cars we have owned, a 2005 Freestyle and my 2018 Stinger GT. We had an 86 Charger with the skinniest wheels you could imagine, it was like a pizza cutter going through snow. I’ve really never got stuck in any car I’ve driven in the winter except a company Versa that just couldn’t make it to the driveway, not enough ground clearance and the snow was deep.
I know what a Ford Freestyle is, but I had to Google Stinger GT. The only vehicle mentioned in 72 comments I’d never heard of. Thanks for updating my automotive knowledge.
My favorite. South Florida rocks.
Wow, that’s a gorgeous car! Your post made me laugh.
This is easy for me. Best: ’95 short bed 2 wheel drive Ranger pickup with the bed full of snow.
Worst: Every Mustang I have ever owned.
This is a tough call as I’ve had many vehicles that do quite well in snow.
The Bests Overall
Scout II with the Travel Top, 4sp, limited slip, stockish size AT tires and of course 4wd. It goes great and since I upgraded to discs in the front stops good too. Being small does make it good for dodging the left for dead or struggling vehicles littering the road when it is one of those storms that hits right before or during the evening commute. On the other hand the short wheel base is not as controllable.
F250 Crew Cab 8′ 4×4 with limited slip, 35″ AT tires. It too goes and stops great thanks to its ground pressure. While the length and width make it a bitch to get around the idiots and abanoded vehicles all that time between the axles makes it soo easy to control while drifting.
Escape Hybrid “AWD” AT tires Ford’s Gas and Go style electronic 4wd is the best I’ve ever driven. Took a bit to get my wife to understand how it worked and that if it is slipping, feeling like it might slip to mash the loud pedal and spread the torque around. If you know how to drive it was excellent. The big plus is the hybrid system When you get stuck in the pass, with not a lot of fuel, because two semis tangled and are blocking the road for a long time the fact that the engine kicks on just enough to keep it warm is the greatest thing ever.
Tempo 4wd with not much in the way of power, push button to engage the rear axle that had limited slip diff it just went and with a decent set of winter tires you couldn’t turn a wheel no matter how hard you tried.
RWD
My first Panther a 92 CV with the traction assist did great. Yes I’d often hit the store and buy a 60lb bag of dog food and leave it in the trunk until the snow event is over but it wasn’t necessary.
My Mk2 Jetta does well in the snow, got a set of Saturn steel wheels with 195 60 15 studded snows, lifts the car a bit and gives it the ability to plow through some pretty deep snow, just take off in second gear and it does really well. The ’77 Rabbit did great in the snow and ice with studded tires as well. My ’66 Beetle was good as well, had snow tires on back only and it did well playing on snowy fire roads at Angeles Crest Highway back in the day. Never have owned a 4wd.
Best for me was the gen-1 Sequoia. First winter I had it, I sought out an empty shopping centre parking lot after a dump of 4 inches of snow. It had been a loooong time since I’d had a RWD vehicle, and I thought I’d have some fun.
No dice. At the first HINT of slip, lights flashed, buzzers buzzed, the engine went limp, and I could hear the brake controller clicking away from in front of the glove box, modulating the brakes to regain stability. No matter how hard I tried (trust me), I could NOT do more than a half-spin. And there was NO off-switch. Mighty impressive…if disappointing for that night.
I’ve thought of turning off the TCS in the LWB Expedition to see what it might do…but the idea of getting sideways in 6200 lbs and 19 feet of SUV is just a wee bit too much for me.
Worst, by far, 74 impala. It wasn’t that it couldn’t get through snow, but, once stopped it would not get going again. Literally impossible to push with less than three strong men. Also it funneled snow into the engine bay. It would fill the up and plug the air intake!
Best 2wd, 81 diplomat. 255’s on the back. Went where 4wds got stuck. Nice easy tourqe from the “super six”. Best 300 bucks I ever spent.
Best overall, Ram charger. Could not get stuck, even when trying. Hak 10 tires. In 2wd I could drift as far as I wanted to, with easy control. And the heat…
Most fun, 05 cobalt with winters on the front and all seasons on the rear. STUNT CAR! Otherwise mediocre.
Our 02 V70 is an enigma on snow or ice. It was designed for it.
My 99 Silverado is great in 4wd. In 2wd it is an accident waiting to happen. If you have no load you are skating. Throttle steering is a nessecity.
It should be part of driver training to go drift around an empty parking lot. You don’t want to “learn” how as a surprise. In the Yukon we drive on snow or ice more than dry road. Which can be a lot of fun! Just keep it safe.
Best RWD. 88 Jeep Comanche 4.0/5 speed. It just never seemed to get stuck. I exlven used it to yank a few cars out of the ditch after a particularly heavy snow.
Worst RWD. 90 Camaro RS. The 245 width tires would just float up on top of any snow and it’d just go wherever it wanted.
Best FWD. 2003 Cavalier 5 speed. Nothing exceptional about it, second gear starts just let it pull.
Worst FWD. 86 Omni GLH Turbo clone. Wide tires and peaky turbo didn’t make for a fun time in anything over a dusting.
Best 4WD. Tie.. 1986 Suburban. Chunky 33×12.50 “all purpose” tires made it ridiculous fun in the snow and mud.
1989 S-10 “Baja”. I think I just had the most fun in this one.
Worst 4WD. 2001 Xterra 5 speed. Mostly my fault though. After lifting it we could never get the front end aligned quite right. It made things really dicey on slick surfaces in 4WD.
After reading all the above replies and viewing the c-c-cold pictures; I am reminded why my parents fled the mid-west for New Orleans so many years ago!
Required air conditioning (home, work and vehicle) is much easier to deal with than snow, ice and getting stuck.
I read this today before leaving for work. I had thought about responding with something about how it is easier to warm up from being cold than it is to cool down from being hot. And then on a side errand at the grocery I slipped and fell on a patch of ice in the parking lot. Friggin’ owww. Maybe you have a point after all.
My brother slipped on the ice and broke his ankle during one of the extremely rare snow/ice events that we have experienced in New Orleans.
So sorry for your injury; hope you recover quickly.
I’ve often said that I would rather deal with sunburn that frostbite, Ha Ha.
A case of choices, to be sure!
Easy!
No FWD car beats a properly tuned Saab 96 V4 on Nordic winter roads!
Interesting QOTD that I can contribute.
I lived 14 years in the northern latitudes before returning to the South. The drivers are much worse down here when it snows.
Almost all my graduate and post-grad years were in a ’82 Toyota SR-5 longbed truck, 4×2 5sp and a campertop. I always had to be at the hospital, and it always got me there on time. Upstate PA, MA, upstate NY and Wisconsin. Even though I had my grandmother’s tire chains, I never used them. Always had all-season radials. What did my first truck in was rust after 14 years. Interestingly, I also had a ’97 Honda Accord with FWD, 5 sp manual, and I thought it was adequate in the snow. Once the battery died near work in Albany NY (left the headlights on), so had to walk home (about 2 miles) in the snow and brought my truck back to jump it.
My first car was a ’73 VW Type III squareback with 4sp manual. I was one of the very few to arrive to work during SnowJam 1982-83 in Atlanta. Even on balding tires it was unstoppable on hills–there was only one with maybe an 8% grade it couldn’t climb. It was my first car in SE PA and I wasn’t afraid to venture in the snow. (By then I had better tires.)
Oddly, my dad’s 1978 Datsun 810 sedan (I6, 4sp manual) did surprisingly well in snow, despite being pretty worn down including the tires. I was in Raleigh during the big snow referenced by Eric703 in January 2000 (although I think it was more like 7-9″, but easily the worst snow in the South since I returned in 1999), and so I dutifully went into work only to discover the Health Dept was closed and only one other (out of about 150) ventured there. The power was out for 4 days so we went back home. Eventually we were charged ‘vacation’ time even though I was fighting with the State HR director that “… marooned at home with daytime TV was not my idea of a vacation!” For the two years I had that car, this was the only time I was caught in snow. It is still my favorite highway driving car.
Worst car with experience in the snow is my 2001 Nissan Frontier, regular cab. Despite the years of driving in snow, it is easily the most skittish (skiddish?) of any vehicle I’ve had. Even with good tires it’ll lose traction unexpectedly and once I did a 360 spin into the opposing lane of traffic in 2003. (Fortunately, traffic was really light since it was actively snowing and I wasn’t yet on a main artery.) Years later, I was still able to get to work despite the snow in early 2011 and the two Snow-maggedons of 2014. The latter was simply walking to work since I lived about a mile from work, and could easily predict that Atlanta would gridlock for hours on end, which it did. My DD now is an AWD Toyota Venza with Michelins, but had not had any real snow in 4 years now.
Worst car in the snow is any car my wife is driving. She’s not a good driver in good weather, and before I met her she managed to put her car in a ditch 4 times during the winter season in Connecticut, including her AWD Subaru Impreza which I found to be a good winter car when I drove it.
Worst: 1987 Chevy C3500 dually cab&chassis
Best: 1971 VW super beetle (if you ignore comfort and 4wd is disqualified)
The winters in Portland Oregon are not too bad thankfully though the roads are not always cleared promptly resulting in the snow and ice sticking around for days as it freezes and thaws.
I own a 1993 Camry stick shift that for this year, does not have studded snow tires on it just General Altimax RT43s. I try to downshift to slow down instead of braking and avoid stopping on inclines. This year I got a good set of winter tires for my 04 Sienna and I will have to see how that does in the winter.
My best was my 2003 Ram 1500 4×4. It was pretty much unstoppable. Every winter, I miss it, but after I got hurt in 2007, it was more dangerous to get in and out of than it was to drive something less in bad weather. I still see it once in a while, getting rusty, and I still wish I could have kept it:
The worst was my ’71 Cutlass that I only drove the first winter I had my license before it was totalled by a flying VW bug. It had an open rear end and would spin the tire with almost any touch of the throttle. I put snow tires on it and got through the winter without getting stuck somehow. My mom’s ’72 Cutlass that got passed down to me had a posi and was much less dramatic the next winter.
Best: 2001 Suzuki xl7. My wife drove it for years here in Calgary and always said it seemed to drive itself in the snow (in a good way). It handled great in any weather and was reliable.
We sold it a few years ago.
We recently bought another old XL7 for the winter; a 2002 with low kms from an estate sale. Funny how the handling that seemed so tight and sharp in our 2001 seems relatively numb and indifferent now after having driven newer cars in the meantime. We still like it though in spite of Suzuki’s 2002 cost – cutting spree (cheaper materials and no 3rd row).
Worst: my 2007 Focus. Even with snow tires it spins and goes nowhere. TC doesn’t help and I usually turn it off.