Rented a RWD Magnum in wintery Montana - Yuk!

Where do you live? Where do you drive? Tell the truth now....

 

Where to you live? Where do you drive? Tell the truth now....

 

Sorry Ted, wrong again. We have had ice/snow races up here for decades and
the RWD cars are always hopeless. They have to go into a separate class, or
are banned altogether.

BTW I have been driving almost 5 decades now (only 4 in Ontario) and I
frequently want to wring the necks of dawdling grandmas of both sexes and
all ages.

 

Because to do anything like this you need to power all 4 wheels, not just
two. I'm tempted to say your address is appropriate for your logic, but
don't want to get nasty :<)

The thing that to me is obvious in this thread is that those who say that
RWD is better in the snow obviously have little or no experience in
real-world winter driving.

 

Before got smart and moved to South Florida I lived and drove in NJ snow
for over 20 years.

Can't wait for the comments now... lol!

 

A glittering generality at best.

 

As we've just seen, anybody can misinterpret anything to mean whatever
they want it to.

 

Funny....

My Mom used to drive a Volkswagen Square Back. 1500cc "Pancake 4",
RWD, Engine over the rear wheels.

That car could - and DID - go ANYWHERE.

Volkswagen's Adverts used to say something like...

"How do you think the man who drives the Snow Plow GETS to the Snow
Plow??? --------------- Volkswagen"

And the car ran on FUMES. It was getting 20+ MPG back in the late
60's!

Solid transaxle with Manual 4 Speed Tranmission. NO "CV" joints. NO
"BOOTS" that fail and chew your axles up! And NO Complicated CRAP in
the steering mechanism!

Dead simple to work on (for most things).

Her first was 1965. Drove it for 130,000 MILES on the Factory Clutch.
Then sold it and drove a used 1971 with Electronic Fuel Injection!

When properly designed - RWD is FULLY superior to FWD - period.

Problem is, no one seems interested in doing a proper design on RWD!

My wife had to drive the "company" van a couple of weeks back. It was
an "Astro" van. Unfortunately, there was a HUGE snow storm that day!

What a piece of SHIT! It is rear wheel drive, and not even
positraction! It got stuck 3 times in places where I had been driving
my Grand Caravan for over a week without getting stuck.

But the problem is that it was DESIGNED to be a piece of crap in the
snow! RWD does not have to be bad in the snow - IF the automakers
would stop cheapening out!

But after YEARS of brainwashing the public that FWD is "better" there
is no way they are going to loose face by admitting that FWD was
merely a gimmic to justify price needless increases!

It would be akin to Ford's gaff ad campaign a few years back...

"We have increased Ford quality over 200% in the last 3 years!!!" they
proclaimed. What a buch of idiots. Every Ford owner I know that had
purchased a Ford in the previous 3 years vowed right then and there
never to buy a Ford again! They felt "taken", and rightly so!

And I would love to buy what I like.... If only someone actually
manufactured it! So I am stuck with second best.

 

I had a Corvair I drove through the NJ winters many years ago - same
concept as the VW. I used to pass all the FWDs that ran off the road
because they couldn't steer when they lost traction.

Regards,
Joe

 

New Jersey snow. There's an oxymoron for ya.

 

Brother, you are hopeless.

 

So tell us, what makes _your_ snow so special?

 

Wow, only took two posts for you to prove yourself an idiot.

 

Oh, I don't know. I have a place in Big Sky Montana. Average snowfall is 400
inches a year. Last year was a bit heavier than usual - 500 inches. Hmmm...
Maybe you're right. Not so special...

 

Hey, you're the one who says RWD is better than FWD in snow and ice. I'm sure
for a lot of people think that speaks for itself. I'll give you the benefit
of the doubt though. You just don't have much experience comparing RWD and FWD
in serious winter weather.

 

Sorry to disappoint, but I simply said that you lose steering with FWD
whereas you don't with RWD. Go back and read.

'Serious' is subjective. To a guy in Atlanta who's not used to it, 1
inch is pretty serious. Believe me, I've had plenty of experience
driving through snow with both RWD and FWD. Because you get more of it
than a lot of folks doesn't discount anyone else's experience.

I'm still waiting to hear why 2WD plows aren't FWD...

 

It's not. There's just a lot of it. It only takes one snowfall to
slide off the road. Your point is what?

 

If all rear wheel drives were "positraction" then it would be a more
fair comparison. "regular" RWD is absolutely hopeless.

 

Winter driving in Montana, and Minnesota (where I was raised and learned to
drive, in RWD cars) consists of driving on roads that are covered, non-stop,
with ice and snow for weeks, sometimes months. It doesn't melt immediately.
It doesn't magically disappear after a few minutes... and then more snow and
ice are dumped....

New Jersey snow. Phhhhttt... A little dusting, occurring rarely, that rarely
accumulates. You're hardly an expert on winter driving.

 

Think about it genius. Several tons of gravel in the rear box over rear
wheels covered in chains might have something to do with it. Apparently that
works just fine.... Feel free to try that on your RWD car. Get some chains
for your rear wheels and fill up your back seat and trunk with sand.