Frequent Cohort contributor whitewall buick recently posted his ’58 namesake online. While I love this car–and especially the color combination–it drives home a little-known fact to our younger readers: just about everyone used to drive a rear-wheel drive car in the snow, well into the 1970s.
He had this to say:
My normal daily driver (76 Coupe DeVille) is in the shop this week so the Buick got to try it’s hand at something it hadn’t done for a few years: snow driving. It did fine.
I imagine he got plenty of double takes by timid people in $50K Essyoovees. Hopefully you’ve gotten all the salt hosed off this beauty by now. The question is, is it a Special or a Century? Thanks for sharing, and if you ever want to do a My CC on this beauty, do let us know!
Looks like a Special. And, I am sure the owner will meticulously spray this thing off bottom to top. You can bet this has a lot of wax on it; double up on the rockers, fender lips, bumpers and bottom trunk edge. That’s what a did when I was stationed in the rust belt (Cleveland), the ice/snow/rain salty air environment of seaside Alaska, and do to this day in Hawaii (although the reverse order for the Islands; top on down).
Even though I was a California kid, many a big old rear driver made it’s way up to (or was exclusively in) the Sierras. My relatives in Missouri (most are gone now) never even had an FWD (4×4’s then were for farmers who raised cattle and had to drive out into the hills/range, etc . . . drop off hay bales, salt blocks, etc, through mud and snow).
Said relatives and Sierra people would switch to snow tires and sand bags into the trunks for the winter duration. Got ’em around just fine . . . . as this ’58 Buick does, I’m sure!
Snow and mud – one reason why GM (and most other makers of early automatics) had the “P N D L R” sequence – for getting out of the slush n’ mud!
When better cars are built, Buick will build them!
Yes, this is a Special 4 door sedan, cost about $3,200 new, just about the cheapest Buick you could buy, It has almost no options – armstrong steering, manual windows, manual brakes. (less to break down, so that’s a plus) I’ve had it for 15 years now, It doesn’t go on long road trips, but I put a thousand miles a year on it or so. It’s always been my second car – so far it’s outlasted 2 daily drivers, and its a lot more fun than either of them were.
Well into the 70s? During my tenure in Cleveland from 1997-2002, one would see LOTS of ’80s-90’s RWD GM B bodies (Caprice/Parisiennes) and Panthers rolling along the icy/snowy streets and roads of Northern Ohio/Michigan/PA/NY/Ontario. Ditto in Alaska (except up there you can run studs – which I did on my ’92 Toyota 4×4 truck).
As a native of Cleveland, I’m qualified to say this: You don’t need four-wheel-drive or even FWD in the region unless you have a long driveway and you’re too cheap to have it plowed or shoveled. The weather is really relatively temperate compared to Minnesota or Wisconsin; extended freezing spells are rare. And even in cold snaps the temperature is warm enough that road salt does its job quickly. Except during an actual storm, you’re driving on tarmac….wet, sometimes slushy tarmac, awash with brine and particles of the cars ahead of you…but not on ice or packed snow.
Believe me – I KNOW. Lived outside Buffalo for some years also; as well as in the Rocky Mountains and along the Wisconsin-Minnesota border. Cleveland gets its share of snow; but it’s all quickly gone with changing weather.
Just the same…I couldn’t sleep nights if I’d done that to a beautiful CC like that one…
I recall the beginning of Winter Quarter at Iowa State in 1971 (or 1972?), when we had a big blizzard with the first thundersnow in memory. University closed down for a week, and we got pretty tired of recycled mystery meat in the dorm cafeteria. But our HR had the only thing moving, a ’55 Chevy with new snow tires. It took us to the best sledding sites, out for pizza runs, and made life much more fun, while all the new 240Z’s, Z-28’s and the like sat stranded in the parking lot. 4WD? We don’ need no stinkin’ 4WD. We got us a ’55 Chevy!
While out in a driving rainstorm this morning, I was passed on the highway by a silver 1970-72 Monte Carlo that was just beautiful, a white-bearded older gentleman behind the whee. A few minutes later, I saw a 1950s International pickup underway with what looked like a beer keg in the back. It is nice to see them out doing their thing in less-than-ideal circumstances.
As for the Buick, the salt is only one worry. The other is that some moron in a 4×4 will realize too late that his braking ability is no better than anybody else’s, and will slide through a stop sign and T-bone the old girl.
As I mentioned the other day in another discussion, the only people who gripe about rwd cars in the snow are those who spent time in and around 60s Mustangs and 1968+ GM A bodies (and there were lots and lots of those people). A good balanced (and usually large) rwd car will do quite well in snow, so long as it has appropriate rubber.
Looking at this picture reminds me of the loud “clack” sound I used to get when I sat down in my snow-covered 59 Fury as the frozen leaf springs flexed for the first time in the morning after being driven in wet conditions the day before.
Jim, stupidity is not restricted to people that drive 4x4s. 🙂 Most of the winter near-misses I’ve had have been from people pulling out in front of me without leaving enough room.
The “clack” sound wasn’t the coating of ice breaking off of the torsion bars?
I’ve driven numerous RWD vehicles in the snow (since my parents would never buy anything FWD) none of which had ABS or traction control, and they were all very predictable and never got stuck… except my pickup truck. Heavy Cummins diesel up front, usually not enough of a load in the back, the half-baked Kelsey-Hayes rear-wheel ABS system — not a good combination.
A couple people have said to me before, “I would buy a XXXX but it’s RWD so no good in the snow.” No convincing them otherwise.
I left out the most important part – that is one cool old Buick! I love the color.
I’ll agree that balance is key. My DD 95 Explorer (2wd with posi) is awesome on snow and ice. the ’77 … not so much.
the ’77 Chevelle is just awful, thanks to the pegleg rear and 2.56 axle ratio it’ll go everywhere but straight. The 76 I had with a peg-leg 3.08 did much better, but was still a handful.
The FWD Pontiac 6000 was awful, and the 00 Contour did ok as well, but the Explorer is the best I’ve owned for ice driving. Stick it in low or 2nd and leave it there and you’re not going fast enough to need to touch the brakes, just let off the gas and you’ll get down slow enough to just about let it coast to a stop.
When I had my Volvo 940 with snow tires, that car would go through anything. Having them on all four tires really seemed to help. When they wore out, I cheaped out and only put new ones on the back, and it wasn’t half as good.
Earlier this week Dad was driving his 911 around with no trouble (yes, it has snow tires) and he passed an SUV that was stuck on Highway 84. I imagine the driver, who thought he was invincible, did a double-take when he saw a little Porsche drive by with no trouble! Of course, it helps that the engine is in the back.
It pains me to see this beautiful Buick exposed to the winter road salt. I hope the owner cleans it very thoroughly, including the underbody.
Get some winter tires for a couple hundred bucks and wait an hour for the plow to go by. I’ve lived in MN all my life and never needed 4WD. I’m sure that old Buick can plow through the white stuff just fine. I’d worry more about it surviving the chemicals on the pavement.
The problem with actual snow tires (as opposed to M+S all-seasons) is that they’re not so hot on dry roads. If you have the money and the storage space, you can get a set of cheap steel rims and proper snow tires and swap them out when it starts snowing for real, but that’s a luxury a lot of people can’t afford. (If you live in an apartment, even if you have the scratch for a second set of wheels, you don’t necessarily have anywhere to put them…)
The problem with All-season tires is that they suck at everything and they are only marginally good in the snow for the first 4/32″ or so of tread wear and then they suck in the snow too. In many states all-seasons won’t get you past the check point when approved traction tires are required. The M+S designation doesn’t cut it you need the snowflake on the mountain symbol.
Back in the day your local service station or tire store would store your off season tires for you as it was a good way to ensure you would come back to have them swapped.
Confession. FWD or RWD I don’t know how to drive in the Snow. I only go to Tahoe every so often, so I haven’t driven in snow since I was 16.
Laurence, at least you are honest about it. The problem is that about 30% of people in the midwest (often transplants from warmer areas) are no better at it than you are, but are out on our snowy roads anyway. 🙂
Less than that for me. I’ve driven past snow on the side of the road (anything on the road was gone) on a trip part way into the mountains in winter, but that is all.
When we did regular ski trips before I was of driving age, we took a bus up the mountain anyway because it was easier than dealing with the chains, limited parking plus digging out after a week, etc on the mountain.
Studded all terrain tires did the trick for me up in Alaska . . . four wheel drive was a help, but not mandatory as there were 4×2’s up there (but with proper tires and a bunch of sandbags in back over the axle).
4WD/AWD are unnecessary in most climes, but I’m happy to have FWD when snow falls. I don’t miss snow tires, strap-on chains, bags of sand, spinning wheels and rocking cars to get going at stop signs.
They don’t salt in town here, only on the Highways, so that cuts down on exposure, but the Buick gets a good run through the car wash very frequently as insurance.
Be careful in the carwash. That old GM lacquer paint was soft stuff. Too many runs through the brushes will scratch the crap out of it and dull it. Ford and Chrysler switched to enamel finishes in the early 40s that were much harder and more durable. GM stuck with lacquers into the late 80s.
I love your ’58. “When better cars are built, Buick will build them!” B-58 “Air Born” Buick. Nailheads rock!
When I went to junior college in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1958, the mechanical drawing prof had a Buick exactly like that except for being blue. He was an interesting old dude (“old” meaning probably ten years younger than I am now), and I would often be studying in my dorm room when he left for the day. His invariable routine was to open the door, sit down, start the car, and only then lift his left foot into the car and close the door. It made me wonder if he’d previously had a car that had often required monkeying under the hood before it would start.
My father does the same think as your former prof, and he’s pretty old now (82) too….I don’t point it out to him, but I think he gets impatient and can’t get his other foot in the door quickly enough (not too limber at that age) but still wants to start the car quickly (in my Dad’s case, since we live in sunbelt, most of the time I think it is to get the air conditioning going as quickly as possible….I guess there are cars (hybrids?) with electric motor air conditioner rather than driven off gas engine now, so maybe he’d do better with that setup (not waste gas idling just to get cool air from AC. I kind of laugh because I think it is also that he’s old enough that he used to have carburated car where you had to pump the gas before you started it…if he had remote starter he wouldn’t even have to get in the car to get the AC going….but he probably would anyhow…
I have to put both feet in my car to start it…left foot needs to be there to push down the clutch (now they have starter interlock on clutch)…I’m a hard case myself, haven’t had a car with automatic since 32 years ago (but I’m running out of options, resigned to thinking my next car will have automatic just cause it is getting so hard to find newer car with standard transmission.). I’m the same age as this Buick, but I doubt I could even find many of these that had standard transmission back then.
Cool…that sums it up.
For all the fwd wimps….the best car for snow driving that I have ever owned was a 2000 Pontiac Trans Am with 4 Blizzak snow tires. Everyone laughed when I said I was putting snow tires on it..and I had a hard time getting them because no one wanted to sell them to me…but that damn thing was unstopable the one winter I drove it in the white stuff.
More people should realize that RWD isn’t that bad in the snow if you know what you’re doing. In my house, 3 of the 4 cars are RWD, and we live in off a rural mountainy road in CT. My ’90 brougham I leave home when it snows (usually my DD, but I want to preserve it), and take my dad’s RWD 06 300. That car handles the snow quite nicely!
…it drives home a little-known fact to our younger readers: just about everyone used to drive a rear-wheel drive car in the snow, well into the 1970s.
Still do!
Growing up in Georgia, we would often go out driving when we got a nice snow (maybe once every year or two, ice storms the rest of the time!). I did the same after getting my license, and learned how to get around just fine in my ’71 Vega.
I worked at a grocery store my HS senior year in South Carolina, and the owner always reminded us if we were scheduled to work, he expected us there, no matter the weather – so I had several opportunities that winter to get more practice.
While in college at Ga. Tech one year, I made the trip back home, normally a three hour drive. It had snowed about 5″ in Georgia with up to 7″ closer to home. I passed numerous semi trucks and other cars abandoned in the median, but just took it slow and carefully, and made it there in six hours.
I got stuck twice, both times within 5 miles of the house. The first when a Jeep spun out in front of me on a hill and I had to stop quickly. A different truck pulled me back in the ruts and I was fine until literally six houses away from our home, when I rode up on a deep drift and slewed into the ditch. A neighbor pulled me out with his truck.
I kept a small manhole cover in the trunk of the Vega which gave me good traction – I absolutely loved driving in the snow!
I have a 1964 Galaxie 500 XL that I store in the winter. This past October it snowed heavily the night before I was set to drive it out to my storage location (about 80 miles from where I live). The next morning it was still snowing and blowing quite hard. I hadn’t driven a rear wheel car in snow in years so I was a little nervous about the trip, but it turned out to be a fantastic drive. The car handled beautifully and didn’t feel unstable at all. I was happy and cozy cruising along the rural highways listening to country music on the AM radio and watching the snow drift along the highway. I was sad when I reached my destination – I didn’t want the drive to end. The only hassle was washing and drying off the car after I arrived. It was cold enough outside that it stayed quite clean, and the roads weren’t salted, but it still needed a bit of a rinse off and a good drying before it went under the car cover.
Cool story. I am amazed that you could find an AM radio station with music playing. 🙂
They are getting few and far between. There are still stations that play country music throughout the day where we are, but no more oldies stations on the AM dial. One of the things I enjoy is driving around on a summer Saturday evening listening to a baseball game on the radio.
I have a 1940 Zenith console radio in my den that I had electronically restored (new cord, tubes, and capacitors). I had an RCA plug input added into the chassis so I could listen to old time radio off of an MP3 player – otherwise I’d be stuck sitting in my easy chair listening to news, with traffic and weather on the ones. 🙂
I have a Bendix radio/phono from that same era. The radio has AM and short wave bands. I should have thought to have the jack put on before the radio guy who worked on it died. Oh well, at least I have some of the 78 rpm records to play on it. 🙂
“it drives home a little-known fact to our younger readers: just about everyone used to drive a rear-wheel drive car in the snow, well into the 1970s.”
I drove an ElCamino between 78-84. Never had a problem with snow. And I did it on big fat 60 series tires. Think Dune Buggy racing through the loose sand on a beach. No weight in the back. I never liked anything in the bed as it would scratch the finish. Snow would melt and than freeze again overnight making chunks of ice that would slide around. I hated that so I would always make sure nothing was in the bed after a snowfall. I always took my time and drove with a little common sense. I always hated it, when I was driving a big rig, whenever I was west of the Rockies and had to stop and chain up because you NambyPambies passed some dumb ass law that was meant to protect myself from myself or some effect to that. AWD wasn’t invented just because you’re stupid and have a credit score. People today don’t appreciate the true art of driving.
“People today don’t appreciate the true art of driving.”
+1
Road chemicals! aaarrrgggh. Mag Chloride is eating my drive way, literally! It’s really great having a over-sized 3 car garage and not wanting to park a car that’s been out in the snow in it. Ah, progress.
Dave
I don’t mean to be confrontational here, but what the heck is your driveway surfaced with? I’ve spent many, many hours spec’ing and building equipment to apply road chemicals and many more evaluating the results. I’ve never seen Mag or any other de-icing chemical eat a properly constructed road surface.
Is it the chemical per se, or the fact that treating a surface with a melting chemical can lead to more melt-and-refreeze cycles? Melting and refreezing might be what is causing the surface to crack, crumble and/or otherwise deteriorate.
Growing up I remember my Grandfather’s G20 and my Dad’s Ranger not being able to get up hills several times in the winter.
Although I don’t know if FWD would have fared any better.
The Infiniti G20 was always FWD.
(Unless you’re talking about the Chevy/GMC van before the Express.)
Nice old Buick. Most of the old RWD cars were OK in snow if you had some weight in the back and a decent set of snow tires. Back in my hot rod days I always had a “winter beater” that was usually a big old GM barge of some sort with 4 studded snows and half a dozen sandbags in the trunk. I always got where I was going in the mountains of BC, as long as the road was open. Having driven my wife’s Subaru Forester, and now a new Honda CR-V, I must say that I wouldn’t want to go back to those days though.
Driver experience and attitude have a lot more impact on safe winter driving, regardless of which wheels are doing the work.
I guess it depends on the definition of snow (as well as whether or not you’re using real snow tires). When we owned a house in the Sierras we started with FWD and moved to 4WD after getting stuck (ie high-centered) too many times. But sometimes it snowed 3 feet overnight and the plow might or might not come by that day. Our neighbor had a 2WD 1 ton Toyota pickup which did fine with chains. Chains on FWD can be a problem for fender clearance on steered front wheels, on modern cars, so in that regard RWD is better. My Fiesta (see other post) was terrible in snow and not great in heavy rain; its predecessor, my Vega GT, was one of the best handling rain cars I’ve owned.
A memory that has stuck with me is seeing an F150-based ambulance go out on an emergency call about 25 years ago. It had chains on the front wheels and lets just say the back was a bit wayward, the driver did not let up though & had very impressive car control.
FWD has no real advantage in the mountains. My 325i did better than the Fit under the same conditions. What people dont realize is that narrow tires are better in winter (see Tirerrack article). Those old cars had tall and skinny tires. Also, snow tires back then looked like all-terrain tires you see on 4×4’s. They werent as good as modern winter tires, but usually got the job done.
Great car. I regularly see a ’58 in the same color in my neighborhood in Chicago.
Love that color! A 57 Pontiac Chieftain wagon that my dad owned in the late 60’s was fantastic in the snow. Suspect it was the weight of the car , in combination with its Firestone snow tires.
heres another vintage ride in the snow
nice ’60- is that yours?
nope- I wish it was- whats cool about this one is that although its not a “continental” it has the ultra rare cruise control that was first offered in 1960
I agree, RWD was never much of a problem when you were used to them. My choice of snow tire was Firestone Town and Country tread. The only time I had any problem was with an ’85 Mercury — the engine would not drop rpms fast enough and it would tend to “push” the car forward.
That’s when you throw it into neutral and coast to a stop. One of the winter driving tricks I learned when I lived in Alaska. Now that I live in central Texas we seldom see snow. We are more likely to see ice. Either way it is interesting to watch people with little winter driving experience attempt to drive (or even walk).
One problem with many of today’s cars is lack of ground clearance. When you have a foot or better of fresh snow a little clearance goes a long way. I remember when I worked at a used car lot back in the early seventies we would move all the cars so the snow plow could come clear the lot. The large cars would do fine, the small cars we would have to push to get them through the deep snow.
I’ve been away from the winter country for 35 years now. I miss the beauty of it but not the hassle.
Good point on ground clearance. Also, some older automatic transmissions started in 2nd when you selected 2, reducing wheel spinning torque from a dead stop.
Well, I lived in Sweden in the 1990s, and we had a 1966 Volvo 122 as a year-round daily driver. Good winter tires and a few sandbags in the back will go a long way. That old girl never let us down. Still have it, although I never use it in the winter any more (yeah I know, you get more careful with age…). It’s cool to see a great old Buick like this one out in the snow. I’m sure the owner sprays it really, really well soon as he gets home. At least I hope so. A neighbour of mine once let an nice old early-S series Mercedes outside all winter, and neglected it totally. I cringed every time I walked past it, I thought I could almost hear the rust eating its way up.
My mom insists that the 4WD in her Lexus GX 470 is just the ticket for Kentucky’s infrequent snowfalls. I contend that the only thing 4WD is good for is getting stuck someplace you shouldn’t be in 2WD. I’ve frequently been amused by the sight of Jeep drivers pirouetting off the road after making the belated discovery that 4WD doesn’t repeal the laws of physics,
Rear-drive Detroit iron never left me stranded, and my 1976 Datsun pickup, which failed to negotiate an ice-covered hill despite snow tires.
I had a 1972 Plymouth Valiant in grad school in Boston in the mid-80’s. With a pair of retread snow tires on the back (hey, I was a poor student) and its limited-slip differential, the old Valiant was pretty much unstoppable in snow (in more ways than one, with drum brakes and regular bias-ply tires in front…).
My daily driver remains my 77 Olds 98 and it’s incredibly good in snow as long as I have the snow tires on.
Few years back the wife and I made a trip from Ma to NY through Vermont during a blizzard. Aside from a little sidways action from the rear going up an incredibly steep section on Rte 9, no problems at all.
I feel your pain Hank, I work on route 9. ugg, even in the dry it is a crappy road.
Always wondered why limited slip rears weren’t much more common in Nothern areas.
Maybe dealers or factorys didn’t push them because the tail end is more likely to kick out and the average driver couldn’t control it very well. (???)
But you haven’t lived until you’ve put chains on your tires in a blizzard…at night…10 below…! Make for fun go-anywhere driving though!
Then later they came out with tire cables. I put them on my many ’60s SAABs and made them unstoppable. Like a little tractor.
I’d havta respectfully dissagree nikita’s notion that fwd has no advantage. Why do people put weight in the trunk of a rwd car? You’re dead-on about skinny tires, that is if there’s anything under the snow to dig into. On glare ice only thing to save you is wieght over the drive wheels (hopefully in the form of a heavy engine) and studs/chains.
Great Buick. Any old car like that is more susceptible to rust of course than most modern cars. Just don’t do it very often would be my advice!
Love old Nailhead Buicks. Had a ’60 Invicta Flat-Top, a ’65 Riviera, a ’69 Duece-And-a-Quarter w/posi, and a ’71 Riviera. The ’69 Electra was one of the best floats I’ve owned, but they were ALL un-stoppable!!!
Ah. LSD (not the stuff the nuts take) didn’t hold up well. I had several castoff mail jeeps that were allegedly equipped with AMC’s Traction-Lok. Put a jack under a rear wheel and there’s no way you would even suspect it.
I’m told it’s that the clutch pack wears with time and replacing it is too costly for fleets, and too much a “hidden” item for private owners.
My current Toyota has “simulated” limited-slip. If one drive wheel starts to spin, an electronic solenoid applies brake pressure to it, to give resistance and put some torque to the other wheel.
You’re right about chains, though. Back in the day, I lived in New York’s ski country…with a Chevette. And had to get to work…and in a snowstorm, speed wasn’t happening anyway. A set of bar-lugged chains on the rear tires…I’d had to drive a Ford pickup with a snowplow and 4WD at work, and I had that Chevette chained up. The Chevette had MUCH better traction.
“Hidden item”…I guess that makes some sence. I bet people didn’t even know enough about it to special order it, dealers themselves probably didn’t care or bother what-so-ever, and people that bought a used car with limited slip probably didn’t even know the car was so equipped, let alone actually know what the option even did.
The ignorance is unfortunate, really. A great feature imo, and maybe the ones that you had by AMC perhaps werent designed that well??? The three or four ancient cars I had with it never gave me a lick of trouble.
I know you’re suposed to put an additive in along with the rear end oil, I forget what it’s called at the moment. Surely that was neglected always.
LSD? Lead Singers Disorder??? 😉
Limited-Slip Differential.
I believe the Traction-Lok offered by AMC was a Dana product.
…I believe.
Just lookt it up. It apears you are correct. Nice!
8 3/4 MoPar Sure-Grip rear ends were plenty stout as I’m sure a Dana would be…one would think.
Trac-Lok is the Dana name for their lower cost limited slip diff and there were versions for most Dana Axles. Their Powr Lok was the higher cost torque biased limited slip. The old (pre 90’s) Trac-Lok is known as the Trash-Lok or Crack-Lok as they aren’t too hard to shatter, at least the version installed in Dana 44’s. The standard carrier is much stronger as is the later version of the Dana 44 Trac-Lok
Traction-Lok is Ford’s name for their limited slip though they called it that even when they were using a Dana axle with a Trac-Lok diff.
Interesting point on the limited slip being a hidden feature on a used car. In contrast, when Studebaker offered it in the late 50s and early 60s (inherited from Packard, which invented it in the US), they put a chrome “Twin Traction” emblem on the car so everyone knew. I wonder why nobody else ever did this. Would the feature have sold better with a little marketing and visibility?
Didn’t ’70s Wagoneers have an emblem as well? Quadratrack, right? I think that was a both front & rear limited slip option.(?)
Love the idea of an emblem, I’ll have to look for it on Studes.
And yes, a little marketing would have helped I would think. If automakers didn’t want to devote an area on the trunk with a metal emblem, then at the very least maybe have a small decal on a window like MoPar did with thier little “Airtemp” decal they had to let you know the car was aquipped with A/C.
I think QuadraTrac was the name of a 4 wheel drive system, and I do remember the emblems. I also remember the Airtemp emblem. Here is the Stude Twin Traction identifier.
I looked it up, the Quadra-Trac is the name for the 4WD system and the name designates a limited slip clutch type dif. And thanks for the pic, I never knew about that Twin Trac emblem!
I have spent a lot of time in Minnesota in rear wheel drives, including a Panther wagon, a 60 Bel-Air, two Mustangs, and a Ranger.
Did I get where I needed to go? Usually.
Do I prefer my 4×4 F-150 to any of those? Absolutely. I have no desire to ever own another RWD vehicle. At least not as a daily driver.
I’ve driven poor winter FWD vehicles to, like our last Civic, like some have mentioned a lot has to do with tires and ground clearance. A lot of new CUVs are not good winter vehicles for these reasons despite having AWD. They are worthless poser-mobiles.
Old guys and foot out the door at starting.
Now officially an old guy, (70). My brothers, I, and all our friends were schooled on cars in our early teens by fathers and uncles who had to keep their cars in the 1920s, 30s, and 40’s running as long as possible, fixing things as quickly as possible and as cheaply as possible (not many two car families in South Chicago even in the 1950s) .
Keeping the door open and your head tilted allows you to hear the engine at start up: valve noise?: has the distributor slipped out of time? ; does the water pump now sound like marbles in a can?; can you smell coolant or odd odors from the generator?; do you smell gas (lines, float bowl). Like boot camp it stays with you for life.
Often leave the door open while starting…one to hear the engine. Two, as a former valet parking attendant…you just NEVER shut the door till you are sure you are ready to stay in a car… don’t want to lock keys in a running car.
Also, my rwd ’87 mb 560 sel drove through 16 inches of snow to work yesterday near Milwaukee. No real problems so long as you don’t act crazy.
Another misconception people have is to add wieght to a pick-up over the rear axle.
Instead, add the wieght as far rearward as possable in any vehicle.
This way it takes advantage of the leverage of the rear over-hang.
Think of it this way, it’s easier to bounce a vehicle by pushing down on the rear bumper than it is to bounce it pushing above the rear wheel area.
I also hope someone rinses that ’58. I’ve had to use my ’65 through the winter and bought some salt-away that boaters use to get behind the moldings and crevices.
I’ve driven rwd since I’ve started driving back in ’99, mostly because it pains me too much to drive anything other than my old cars. Unfortunately they all lacked limited slip but as long as the tires are good I never had much of a problem. I can see why it would be an inconvenience to most people when it comes to having to rock a car or climb a hill. Personally I can’t quite get used to how unpredictable fwd can be when it does slip. I bought a Celebrity as a beater car for the winter a couple years back and the front of the car would slide from side to side and kick all the muck up the side of the car, I hated it and sold it. Rear wheel always feels more stable and secure to me going down a snowy road, whereas fwd I feel like any sudden blip of the gas and the car veers off.
Sean, like others have mentioned, if one is serious about winter driving, you need actual snow tires. It’s all in the tires. I’m assuming you had half worn all seasons maybe?
Plus like anything, to take full advantage of fwd it can take a little getting used to.
At least with RWD in the snow if you start to skid it’s fairly easy to get it back in line. Not so much with FWD.
Absolutely right…in some instances.
In other situations, fwd is awesome for pulling yourself out of a skid.
Obviously with the engine over the drive wheels you’re gonna get more traction. Simple, just a plain fact.
But with rwd you get better weight distribution and with that, more predictable handling.
If I was stuck in snow yer dalm straight I’d want fwd with the right tires of course. And I’m used to fwd in snow so I know how to throw a car around with the e-brake, then use the fwd to pull myself out. I grew up in ’60s SAAB 96s which won just about every snow covered & off road race.
Rwd with traction control or limited slip diff AND correct tires can be a very good too. Not to mention fun!
1969-ish SAAB 96