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Still driving a '77 Jeep Wagneer with full time four wheel drive and off road tires and have never been stuck in 40 years, even through Colorado winters. Weighing in 4230 lbs. the gas mileage isn't that great but this baby will go anywhere. You need one.In the middle of nowhere, somewhere in Colorado.
I purposely drove through several feet of snow in a field instead of a driveway one time. I couldn't open the doors, but I couldn't be stopped!
My Subie Outback is great in the snow.NB
tires....tires...tires. If you take driving seriously and drive in serious snow then get the best........ Nokian.https://www.nokiantires.com/winter-tires/nokian-hakkapeliitta-r2/
40 years is a long time, how has the body held up and how many miles?
And WGH, your photo is awesome.
For the most part, it's about the tires. I always put 4 snows on my BMW's over the years with great results. My RWD E39 540i 6-speed was a beast in the snow and slick stuff, as long as it wasn't crazy deep.
All three are excellent on ice. The Miata has cheap Wall-Mart "Ice Radials" which are not very good on snow but pretty good on ice. The PT Cruiser (FWD) is excellent on both ice and snow (Continental ExtremeWinterContact) and the Truck is also excellent on snow (Cooper AT3) but a bit slippery on ice.The Conti's I have driven in snow where it was high enough where you could see that the plastic engine lower cover was clearing snow behind the car (flat ploughed snow between the tire tracks lower than the snow around the car). They are unusual for the "ice radial" category of winter tires, most are good on ice but useless in any reasonably high snow cover.The Truck's Coopers can go through any amount of gravel, mud or show, winter or summer, and are fine (not too noisy) on pavement.I've been running dedicated winter and summer tires for longer than most people. I've tried most of the highly touted brands and compounds; the worst were Nokkians which were great when new but wore very quickly. With most ice-type tires, the ice sticky layer is only on the outside of the full tread, so that they wear down to tires with tread depth left but have lost their grip on ice itself. If they weren't good on snow, then you are left with a fast wearing summer tire that takes longer to brake in warm dry pavement than an all-season in summer.So I chose the Conti's which are not quite as good as the very best ice radials on slick ice or packed snow, but still much better than all-season tires or winter tires that are mud and snow rated, and they are excellent on any other winter conditions. They will spin for a few rotations taking off from an ice covered intersection, then grip and go, plus they do stick when braking, just that you might travel ten feet or so longer than with something like the top grade Bilzzaks (about the same as the economy grade Bilizzaks). A good compromise in my experience. I am very happy with them and will buy them again in five or six years when they are due for replacement.I didn't like any of the Michelin ice radials, they last a long time but don't stick as well I as like. Nokians might be good if you live in a normally warm winter climate (more slush, rain and not very cold sub-zero temps) but where I live, not so great. Roads here are always packed snow covered unless a major street ... once snow falls, it stays till spring with few above zero melts ... and the quick wearing means replacement every four years, and you might want to go three. That makes them too expensive; I need tires to last more than 20,000 km (12,000 miles) before they stop sticking.
I remember my old 1976 Toyota Celica. A little beauty of a car that did surprisingly well in the snow. I used to drive it up in Cambridge when I was in college, and up and down from my parents' house in NY. I remember one year leaving the day after Thanksgiving to drive back up to school. The entire stretch up was covered in heavy snow. It was a great drive. Very few cars on the road. It was one of those supernaturally quiet days where it made me feel like I was driving alone during some post apocalyptic Ice Age. That car did great in the snow.The best was probably my '93 Ford Explorer Sport. The old 3 door model. Sorry to read about CVTs and snow. I just bought a 2017 CRV AWD. It was that or the Mazda CX-5. I knew about the CVT vs. real gearing between the two, but the Honda just felt better to me driving. I spent a bit of time behind the wheel of both and came away liking the CRV better. Is a CVT really that much worse in snow?
Tires make a huge difference. One of our cars is a Mercedes C300 AWD, and the OEM tires were not good in the snow. After replacing the tires with Nokian WR-G3's, the car handles the snow much better. I had read somewhere that Nokian is a top selling brand in Canada.
As said in my previous post Nokian is considered by most to be 'tops' no matter where you reside. Being born and raised in Buffalo, NY , a life long snowmobiler who has traveled through winter weather the likes that most will never know, I love 'em !
