I hate to say this, but my wife's old Nissan Juke had the best AWD system for bad weather. I used to take it out on lakes in NE WI ice fishing. It was selectable. 2 wheel, AWD-S for slippery conditions and AWD for snow or mud. Little bastard was only limited by the tires we had on it. I put a set of Blizzaks on and it was amazing.

 

I'm certain that's pretty much everywhere, except maybe Georgia, where it seems a tenth of an inch and everyone just shuts down and hangs their heads in shame, creeping along at idle.

 

Doesn't matter how amazing it is... you're still driving a Nissan Juke.

 

But they can drive like it's sunny and 70, the problem is they just can't stop.

I found the best way to stop on ice is to shift into neutral, takes the drive off the wheels. I know it is illegal and still dangerous but it does help in stopping.

 

There are two types of idiots here.

Type 1: They think they're invincible in their AWD or 4WD and there's no need to change their driving style. In fact they even drive faster trying to show off they're vehicles process. They're often the first ones in the ditch not realizing it also takes good winter tires which they haven't thought of.

Type 2: They are so petrified they don't even maintain enough speed for momentum. And when it's time to get moving from a standing stop they start spinning and instead of backing off the gas they stomp it further to try and get moving.

 

/* hangs head in shame.

There is truth to this, and we'll never live it down, and we deserve it. The funny thing is in metro Atlanta where we make headlines every year with another "dumb southerner" story on the national news about our annual day of snow, almost everyone driving is not from Georgia. The people that are from up north are the ones thinking they can drive 80 on the freeway at night after the snow melted during the day and refroze into a solid sheet of ice. Spoiler: They can't. The people from Georgia take the day off and make muddy snowmen in the front yards and eat the 30 loaves of bread each of us bought when we heard the weatherman say snow.

 

I drove my '65 Ranchero for years and when it snowed or I found myself in same going skiing, it handled snow and icy conditions really well. I did do some 'modifications' to help such as studded mud and snows on the rear and the Ranchero had a unique bed that had the front half bolted down where the rear seats would be since they made the Ranchero from the station wagon. I unbolted this panel, put hinges and a handle on it and used it to carry my tools as there was a lot of space there plus, there was a space between the wheel wells where I put rock in for weight over the axle. With this, it never let me down in snow or ice.

My first 4x4 was a '90 Toyota SR5 extra cab and it did outstanding in those same conditions as well except the Ranchero was better at starting in sand that the Toy as I would have to put it in 4wd. I drove the Toy for years as well and sold it in '99 and didn't get another truck until late '06 when I bought an '07 Ranger supercab. It had true 4wd as I had the class III hitch which came with a limited slip rear. It was outstanding in snow a slippery conditions. Then, I bought a '15 Explorer XLT w/4wd/AWD (I include both styles because some say it's AWD, some say it's 4wd because that's what it says on the back and some say it's both). I say whatever drive you want to call it, the terrain management system it had was great in any conditions.

Now, I have the F150 and by most standards, its 4wd system is pretty much the same as what my Toyota was except for the eLock on the F150.

Anyway, I learned along time ago, even before the Ranchero, that you drive in dicey conditions with caution and take nothing for granted like a lot of the folks being mentioned here. I have had the same experiences with people relying solely on the assumption of there vehicle being 4wd/AWD as they fly off the road into a ditch or plow into a snowbank.

The bottom line is you can drive any vehicle in most any condition if you maintain respect for that condition and have a lot of experience doing so, of course. The experience has to start with common sense though which is lacking in people who think their AWD is invincible.

 

Agree on the juke my sone has one it is great in the snow here in canadas winter. Fun little car to drive

 

Every time it snows someone on the Tacoma facebook page goes on and on about how great their tacoma is in the snow..."nothing better".

 

Georgia still can't be as bad as this scene in North Carolina where they got like 5 inches. I complain about drivers around here, but I was in disbelief with this picture until my buddy who lived in Raleigh at the time told me he saw people actually leave their cars on the side of the road and walk home. 4WD didn't appear to matter in this scene.