[brucepick]

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.