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brucepick · 05-10-2009, 06:42 PM

One thing we've not mentioned is power to weight ratio. With enough torque delivered to the wheels, they will break traction with snow covered pavement. Cars with a lower power/weight ratio or with auto tranny (may have taller gearing and slower power engagement) will have an advantage, all other things being equal.

That said, I'm with those who have said that four snow tires and driver behavior are the biggest factors. Without proper snow tires there's no excuse for complaints about a car's snow handling.

I drove my "new to me" Civic HX, 5-spd in some real snow this past winter. It had (and has) nearly new all season Kumho's. It was OK but not nearly as good as a heavy Volvo RWD car with four snows. For snowy roads I prefer the Volvo.

Previous experience: '75/'76 Corolla and Datsun B210, both RWD. '86 Caravan, 5-spd. '87 Mazda 323, 5-spd. Several '80's Volvo 240s, auto, always with 4 snow tires + weight added in the back. The Volvos never failed me even in the worst winter conditions. The Civic gets better FE and has a/c, that's all.

05-10-2009, 06:42 PM	#50 (permalink)
brucepick Hypermiler Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Eastern CT, USA Posts: 927 Lean Burn Civic - '97 Civic HX Team Honda 90 day: 47.09 mpg (US) Thanks: 65 Thanked 60 Times in 43 Posts	One thing we've not mentioned is power to weight ratio. With enough torque delivered to the wheels, they will break traction with snow covered pavement. Cars with a lower power/weight ratio or with auto tranny (may have taller gearing and slower power engagement) will have an advantage, all other things being equal. That said, I'm with those who have said that four snow tires and driver behavior are the biggest factors. Without proper snow tires there's no excuse for complaints about a car's snow handling. I drove my "new to me" Civic HX, 5-spd in some real snow this past winter. It had (and has) nearly new all season Kumho's. It was OK but not nearly as good as a heavy Volvo RWD car with four snows. For snowy roads I prefer the Volvo. Previous experience: '75/'76 Corolla and Datsun B210, both RWD. '86 Caravan, 5-spd. '87 Mazda 323, 5-spd. Several '80's Volvo 240s, auto, always with 4 snow tires + weight added in the back. The Volvos never failed me even in the worst winter conditions. The Civic gets better FE and has a/c, that's all. __________________ Check your tire pressure - keep it up !! We've learned that diet has a closer relationship to cancer than we ever thought. Please see this Wikipedia article on The China Study. Driving Lean Burn '97 Civic HX, lotsa mods by now! '89 Volvo 240 is semi-retired. I did love that car though! Last edited by brucepick; 05-10-2009 at 11:37 PM..