It’s starting to smell like winter outside, with cold winds that pierce their way through even an N95 mask. That means we’re counting down to snow season, to parking lot donuts and tail-sliding trips to the grocery store. But what will you make those trips in? Yesterday, we asked for your favorite winter weather hoonmobiles, and you gave us a surfeit of answers. Let’s take a look at a few.
Predictably, my “Mister Two” Spyder was an absolute hoot in the snow and ice. This, of course, is to be expected when the recipe calls for rear-wheel drive, small tires, and 2,100 lbs of lean mass (which was even lighter than a first-gen Miata NA). I might or might not have put it in a ditch once or twice, but it was all in good fun.
Driving a good MR-2 Spyder remains on my automotive bucket list. The idea of taking one around in the snow, with that mid-engine weight distribution, makes the proposition even more tempting.
Any unloaded pickup with manual 4wheel drive. That way, you can f*ck around all you want with RWD, but once it gets serious, you engage 4 and you can get yourself out of almost any trouble.
I include the manual 4WD caveat because the modern systems that need you to be rolling for it to engage are problematic for obvious issue of “If the car is already stuck, what good does this do me?” I used to park my ‘16 Tacoma outside in winter, and I either had to drive around the block to put it in 4WD and then park it again before it snowed, or dig out the rear wheels after the fact. Just give me a lever, jerks!
Even in summer rain, the light rear end of a pickup can make for some interesting handling characteristics. Plenty of people fill their beds with sand for the snowier months, but plenty of others just enjoy the ride.
[photo of a Fox Body]
Low. End. Torque. And a set of Blizzaks, of course. You don’t always want to rev the bejesus out of a car for some sly, under-the-radar, town square drifting. That just makes you look/sound like a hooning dick. But the revs are there when you want them. I drove this little jewel through many New Hampshire winters and it was always a blast. Just the tiniest toe prod into the loud pedal turns you into a rally star. Or give it the beans and you’re Luke Duke.
Horses and snow are a natural combo, is what I’m saying.
Since someone has to say it -
[photos of a snow-covered ND Miata]
Anything less then 5 inches of snow and its a great time, anymore and I’ll just work from home.
It’s good to know your limits. Five inches is a solid number, though I bet you could get to six if the snow is packed lightly enough. Just push some of it out of the way with the bumper.
Much like how the fastest car is a rental car, the funnest car to drive in the snow is your Friend’s Car.
Nothing will put a smile on your face like going sideways around an icy two-lane curve like turning the wheel on your Friend’s Car. Doesn’t matter what it is. It was always more fun doing donuts in a snowy parking lot with my buddy’s Pontiac Sunbird than it was in my Dodge. Because in my car, I had to worry about pesky things like insurance premiums and what my parents would think if I sideswiped a light pole. No such concerns in a Friend’s Car. Bonus points if they have something that’s actually fun. Come out of an evening class to a wide-open lot with a layer of snow? Dust the flakes off his S95 Mustang and let the fun begin.
You also have the option to just ride shotgun and laugh like an idiot while someone else puts the vehicle in a ditch. As long as you’ve got your seatbelt on, what’s the worse than can happen? A long, cold wait while the tow truck arrives, probably. Most likely.
Of course, this is all well-and-good until you suddenly become the Friend’s Car someday. You’ll realize this right about the time you say, “watch this”.
This all depends on how much you like your friend, really. Do you worry about their insurance premiums, or what their parents would think if you hit a light pole?
Where are all the “the answer is always Miata” folks? A friend used to blast through winter in his with the top down!
I’ve been partial to doing it in a Fiat 500 :)
Just put the two together, get yourself a 124 Spyder Abarth. I almost did, and to this day I occasionally regret not doing so.
Fiero 2M4.
1990. I’m a senior in college and have a 86 Fiero 2M4 that I got cheap because it had no A/C. I’m from Virginia, but have gone to college up north and driven in the snow for 4 years (and my dad learned to drive in Erie, PA).
A friend bummed a ride to campus He spotted the VA tags and finds out it is rear wheel drive and was concerned. He asked the questions like “Do they get snow in Virginia?” I decided to not answer and just drive.
For 10 minutes, the drive is uneventful. Roads were slick, but the 2M4 couldn’t spin bald tires covered in bacon grease on a hockey rink. So the drive is uneventful. Just as the passenger relaxed I pulled this stunt on him.
* About 20 mph on a slush covered road (4-6" of slush)
* I felt the front end getting light and rising up from a wedge of slush.
* I started to slow down, but decided to have fun instead.
* I gunned it and the car got up to around 30 mph and I was really packing a wedge under the front end.
* Passenger noticed we are accelerating while closing in on an intersection he thinks we should turn left at. He started voicing concern
* When his concern switched to panic, I spun the steering wheel hard left.
* Front tires aren’t on the pavement, so the wheel just spins like a top.
* I screamed “I have no steering what do I do?”
* As passenger starts to scream “Slow down!” I nailed the brakes.
* Wedge of snow shot out from under the car, front tires plant and the car spun almost exactly 90 degrees.
* I was still about 100 feet from my turn but going 90 degrees from my travel path.
* I used the gas to just take the turn. The more the passenger screamed, the more I intentionally let the car drift closer to the curb on his side.
And that is how I stopped having people bum rides off of me to campus.
This sounds like a great way to set up big drifts, and a great way to have all of your friends suddenly be busy whenever you want to hang out. Which one is more valuable than the other, is all up to you.
One of the jobs in my teen years had a big, open parking lot. During winter when a big snowstorm came through, we’d be dead inside, so the 2-3 of us there could sit and watch people drifting around the parking lot. My favorite to watch was the old Express style RWD vans. It was always an old guy with what we guessed were 2-3 grandkids in the back. He’d drift all over, slide sideways into a parking spot, then the kids and grandpa all come out in a great mood.
What, this Craigslist tab of vans? Oh, I already had that open. Definitely. I didn’t start thinking about snow-drifting a van, and immediately start shopping for them. That’s not something I would do.
Weird take here, but i once owned a 1982 Mercury Capri that was surprisingly good in snow.
Note that this car had the 2.3L 4-cylinder engine and 4-speed manual. This is important because the weight distribution with on the Fox-bodies is much better with the 4 cylinder vs. the V-8. Also the manual transmission allows for much better control.
Add 2-50lb bags of sand over the rear wheel wells and my crappy little Capri was nearly unstoppable in the snow.
True story - Winter 1992. I am working by Phila International Airport and commuting from Wilmington DE every day. Snow started falling around 2pm and by 4pm TPTB closed the office and let everyone go home.
I-95 south was slick but passable, until I got to the PA-DE state line. I guess DELDOT hadn’t yet salted the roads unlike PENNDOT, so the going got a little tough.
About 3-4 miles past the state line, I-95 South starts to go up hill. Normally this is not an issue but with the snow and ice most cars couldn’t get up the hill.
Enter my crappy Capri. Worked my way to the front of the line of cars trying to make it up the hill. I moved all the junk I had in the car into the rear hatch, put the shifter in first and slowly crested the hill.
I made it home by 6pm, just in time to watch the evening news that featured a story of I-95 being shut down at the Delaware state line?
So, dear Reader, I hear you say “How that make the Capri a fun car in the snow?”
Well, IMO sitting on I-95 for hours on end in 20 degree weather waiting for the snow plows to clear the road is the exact OPPOSITE of fun, so while hundreds of my fellow commuters were stranded on the highway, I was home in my bathrobe and slippers, sipping on some Jim Beam.
A four-cylinder Capri may not be your idea of a perfect fun car. but if it gets you home, on the days when nothing else can, it’s the perfect car for your situation.
The most fun I had in the snow was in two different cars. First was my first car, a 1985 Ford Crown Victoria. There was a 72-lane bowling alley near my house that had a wide open rear parking lot (no curbs, no light poles) that you could drift sideways the entire length of in that car.
Second was my 2017 VW Golf Alltrack 6MT. After turning off the traction controls, you could do some seriously tight snownuts in that car with the AWD. It was like spinning around an IKEA shopping cart.
Someday, I want to do one of those perfect AWD drifting pirouettes. Car moving in an exact circle around its center, all wheels spinning equally. That seems like an absolute joy.
My Xterra was always a blast. With 285/75/16's it had enough sidewall to just bump over any curbs you may not notice in the parking lot. Could pull nice, long drifts in RWD, or put it in 4 hi and spin like a top. The TC was amazingly good in normal driving, allowing just enough drift and wheel spin to make it fun in normal driving situations.
We’ll see how the new ZR2 works. I’m expecting good things, as it lets you engage the rear locker in 2wd.
The first thing you should do with any vehicle once it snows is get into an empty parking lot and get a feel for how it handles in the snow. Don’t just try to drift, but experiment with different driving situations. Find out how the ABS reacts in a straight line, or middle of a turn. Act like you’re trying to dodge a car, how it handles avoidance maneuvers. Best thing you can do for winter driving is be comfortable with how your vehicle reacts in less than ideal conditions.
This is the third or fourth time, in just the past couple of days, that someone has mentioned the Xterra to me. Am I being stalked by this long-discontinued Nissan?
I absolutely love my 335i in the snow. It’s rear-biased with enough drive to the front to keep you from spinning when you want to kick the backend out turning right from a stoplight/sign. I also put narrower tires than stock on the rear (came with staggered wheels and the front size fits on the rear) so even when there’s no snow I can get it loose no problem with cold ground.
I can’t help but compare it to a WRX in terms of street driving since it’s really the only higher performance AWD/manual sedan available on the cheaper side, and the BMW sounds better and has more power, looks better (subjective I know) and I believe handles better overall. Plus when I want to just get home with my wife and infant in the car it’s safe, more comfortable, higher quality, and has never left me stranded or even worried of a breakdown with 130k on the clock.
BMW vs Subaru, for reliability, is an interesting one. On the one hand, you’ve got a highly traditional and highly honed engine design going up against a boxer, but, on the other, you have Japanese quality against German electrics. I’m not sure which dog I’d take in that race, to be honest.
The most fun I have ever had in the snow was in my ‘91 VW fox and my ‘81 VW caddy.
The Fox was 2200lbs and had a 65/35 weight distribution. when the roads were snow and ice covered. I would put chains on the front and pull the emergency break on the rears and I had almost full control and didnt spin out. I could drift down a straight road flinging my back end from side to side with minimal effort.
My Caddy was even more fun because I would remove the tailgate and bumper take a 2100lb car so almost a 2000lbs car and the weight distribution was like 80/20 and I just couldnt spin out unless I made it spin out. I could almost turn in a perfect circle with the ebrake on and do a donut in a parking lot until I ran out of gas steering with a finger.
It’s very funny to hear “Caddy” and “Fox” here, but have both mean Volkswagens rather than Cadillacs or Mustangs. Old VWs really seem to own the “deeply adored beater car” niche, and I respect how tight the company has held that grip.
The best car to have in the snow is whatever makes you smile, giggle, or gets you extremely happy.
It’s always different for everyone.
In any situation, the best car is the one that puts a big, dumb smile on your face.
Anything else is secondary.