Everyong I know is obsessing how in the snow or wet conditions any two wheel car is going to suck... now first of all is this true, whwt can i expect between getting a 4 wheel drivew car and a two wheel rear drive car?

 

Nope, not true. The drive wheels provide traction for moving forward - they have little impact on the grip for cornering or braking, aspects which are probably MORE important for driving in slippery conditions! When you get into snow that/s more than 5 or 6 inches deep or drifted, then the AWD (with proper winter tires would be an advantage in keeping the vehicle moving where FWD or RWD might not manage. Other than that... well, I drove my RX-8 (with winter tires) through our Canadian winter with zero problems all winter, and that included making several trips to the mountains skiing.

What is far, far more important is the tires - they control the grip and traction that any vehicle has for accelerating (whether through two wheels or four), cornering, and braking. A rear-wheel drive on real winter tires will be able to blow the doors off an AWD vehicle on high-performance summer tires, even one on all-season tires. It really is all about the tires - magazines like Car and Driver have done back-to-back comparison tests of FWD vs. AWD on different tires, and proved that the tires (winter vs. all-season) make more difference/improvement than AWD vs. FWD. Also, the ABS and stability control and traction control systems available on many FWD or RWD cars make them even easier to drive in winter conditions - of course (and again), they can only work with the level of traction available through the tires. Increasing the available traction by using winter tires is key!

Regards,
Gordon

 

Option, here are quick answers:

There are different kinds of 4 wheel drive, but all will be better in snow than 2 wheel drive. They'll also add weight, cost, friction, things that can go wrong, and clumsier handling all the time -- which is most of the time -- that you are not driving in snow.

There is another very important factor in snow traction -- tires. In the RX8, in particular, Mazda does not ship the cars with tires that are safe in snow and winter conditions. They say so, and so does the tire maker, Bridgestone. So you have to put on winter tires for snow and cold, with or without separate wheels. There are lots of threads with detailed discussion of what to choose.

There are front and rear wheel 2 wheel drives. In general, front drive is better in snow, and rear drive is sportier handling. Weight distribution plays a part, too. Rear wheel drive cars with little weight on the rear are skittish -- for example, many BMWs. The RX8 has balanced distribution.

There are electronic gadgets that help cars, especially rear wheel drives, from sliding out of control -- traction control and more sophisticated electronic controls that counteract sideways slides. Both are available on the RX8, though not on base models.

My bottom line: with good winter tires, my car is OK on snow -- not great. As I live in an area where there is very little snow, and tire makers are now putting out high performance all season tires in the RX8 size -- they weren't before this winter -- I plan to switch to all season next Fall.

 

I put pure snow tires on a set of 17s for this winter and I must say that with those on my 8 I found that it is the BEST car i've ever owned for snow driving. I hate driving FWD in the snow now.

 

fwd sucks.............