Originally posted by APT:
To those AWD and 4WD haters, just try driving one such vehicle for once. Same with dedicated snow tires. Many all terrain tires used on trucks and SUV's perform very well in the snow compared to typical passenger all-season tires. Just because you are driving white knuckled doesn't mean everyone is. So, get out of the way; I'm coming.


I don't hate 4wd and/or vehicles, when they are used with intelligence... Most SUV drivers around here are of the "let-me-buy-myself-an-SUV-so-I-can-speed-in-the-snow"-type of people. Stock tires even after 3 full years ("Hey! those are TRUCK tires!"), and no friggin' knowledge whatsoever about how to drive such a vehicle. On the other hand, as with other types of vehicles, there are excellent 4wd drivers, who take great care in preparing their truck/car/SUV for the winter. One of my neighbors had studded, skinny tires on his 4Runner. *Nothing* could stop that Toyota!

I drove 4x4s, I drove FWD and RWD cars, and none of these drive the same - you have to learn, and tailor your driving to the road conditions.

There are excellent drivers with all these configurations, but with the recent popularity of SUVs and other AWD cars, there are many, many bad drivers, with very little or no experience at all. Same phenomenon as with FWD in the early 70's, where many drivers raised in RWD cars went directly offroad because of the reaction of that new FWD car they just bought. I can't recall how many Renault 5s and Civics we took out of the ditch near our house - every song the same: "I did as always! Downshifted to slow down to the stop sign!" Yeah, downshifting to slow down instead of braking, downhill, in the snow, in a FWD car...

Kyo 1997 Mystique GS Duratec ATX -- sold 2005 Focus ST - Quicker! - Still a Duratec!