So, um, nice uncontroversial question

[bidibidi]

... said with all irony.

Are 4WD vehicles actually that much better in the snow than regular FWD cars? I'm thinking that having proper snow tyres or anything but RWD might be a lot more important.

But I'm happy to be talked round.

In snowy countries you can use 4wd without chains where a regular car (with winter tyres) would need chains. Chains are no good on icy roads though and I lost control of my 4wd on black ice with snow covering and hit car in front.

Sorry, that doesn't sound right to me, because where I grew up, if there was snow on the road, you had to (to legally drive) have chains or snow tyres, and I don't think a 4WD without either chains/snow tyres would have been considered legal.

So I've driven a fair bit with chains and they were pretty good on ice or snow up to speeds of max. 20mph.

4WD is much better at going, but no better at stopping (other things being equal). If you haven't handled a 4WD in extreme situations, you just wouldn't believe what they are capable of.

Driven properly, RWD is better at going than FWD, but again neither is better at stopping in most real world situations.

ABS is much better at stopping than no ABS.

Most traction control systems are much better at going than no TCS.

Snow tyres will improve stopping and going for anything, but a 4WD with regular tyres is still better than 2WD with snow tyres at going (but not at stopping).

As LIZS says, black ice = total loss of control whatever you are driving/riding unless you have tyres like these.

What makes you think that FWD is better?

Swiss police used to allow dh to take 4wd w/o chains on all weather tyres up the mountain to ski but not 2wd on winter tyres, even sometimes with chains. They had to be parked at bottom of the mountain road and shuttled by bus.

There's a heated discussion at boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=11794937&sort=whole

Clicking on post instead of preview twice is really not very bright at all.

WAKE UP!!

boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=11794937&sort=whole

About 3 weeks ago I was on the A41 in deep snow where dozens of normal cars had been abandoned, while I romped past everything with no problems whatsoever in my 4WD Mitsubishi. I thought of it as a bit of gimmick until then, but I'm a total convert now.

Mind you, 4WD without a diff lock is relatively useless- don't attempt slippery hills in a BMW X5 unless you want to sleep in it...

my experience of winter tyres is very good, including on ice. Remember that they're better than ordinary tyres for all driving up to 7oC, not just in the snow. They give better stopping times and traction when the weather is cold. I used to live in Switzerland and remember there were steep, ice-covered roads in mountain resorts where everyone had to put chains on, and they alternated up and down traffic. I was never stopped from driving somewhere because of having 2wd. It was very clear seeing people drive on icy roads in Geneva that the people with rwd had the least control - I resolved then never to get one.