winter driving trade-in question

[evansdad]

Well, long story short my wife and I own a 2001 escape and a 2002 explorer. She is wanting to purchase a car because the suv thing just isn't her. That's fine by me I just want her happy. This has led to a tough decision for me. I live in West Virginia and our winters while not horrible with deep snow we get these little dustings of ice to 5 inch snows. Our road crews are horrible and dont know the meaning of salting before it gets bad so roads stay icy and slick. I travel around 30 mins on the interstate to take my child to his grandmas. Which vehicle do you recomend as the best winter driver. The explorer with its rear wheel drive to 4wd or the escape with the front wheel drive but car like handiling and lockable 4wd switch on the dash. I would be purchasing winter tires for which ever one I kept. Thanks in advance.

[RigDriver]

Id go with what you are more comfortable with and what YOU think is the safest means of transport for your style driving

[theoldwizard]

Anything FWD should be good, just get those 4 "real" winter tires.


I watched a video out of Canada that showed that 4 "real" winter tire on a FWD are actually better than 4 all season tires on a 4wd. They put a Jeep in the snow bank on a corner that a minivan handled just fine.