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We always took special note of vehicles that did exceptionally well in snow, on the hills. My Pinto, with new tires did very well, used tires, not so much. I had a diesel Escort, that despite being front wheel drive did poorly in the snow.
I've owned almost nothing but 4wd or AWD vehicles for nearly two decades now, including 3 Jeeps (2 Grand Cherokees, and 1 Cherokee), 1 Geo Tracker (that started life as 2wd/rwd, but ended as 4wd), 3 Subarus, and 1 AWD Nissan Juke. About half of them I've run with all-seasons only, and half with all-seasons or dedicated winter tires (usually Blizzaks) seasonally.Though there is no denying that there are braking advantages to winter tires and that a rwd (especially one with locking or limited slip differentials) can do well with run them, I'll take the AWD EVERY TIME.Over the years I've found that AWD and DECENT all-seasons are sufficient for this latitude.Rk - I'm curious what 4wd systems you've experienced in the GC. My two were/are EXCEPTIONALLY good on the highway. The first was a 99 WJ 4.7 V8 with the first mechanical Quadra-Drive (variable auto locking transfer case and front and rear differentials). The current is a 2012 WK2 with Quadra Trac II and Select Trac (utilizes an electronically controlled locking transfer case with open diffs that approximate locking differentials through braking control).The later might be as good or better than the former both on and off road.
So many things go into safe winter driving. My front wheel drive Dodge Stratus and my wife's AWD Subaru Impreza have Hankook I Pikes on all four corners. Ground clearance is an issue with both, both do very well in city driving and on the highway but I wouldn't get very far offroad with either.
Un - are you sure front diff was completely open? Subaru is a little close to the vest about some details on their AWD systems and I've not bothered to study the service manuals enough (nor would I necessarily know what to look for in some cases) to confirm what is open or limited. Perhaps much of it is electronic, at least with late model stuff.
The most limiting factor with snow is height of the vehicle.
I'm saying later model stuff might be mechanically open, but effectively limited slip due electronics (like brake application via TC system or something like that). I don't have details on the videos I've seen, but like the one that was posted here a few months back with the test ramp and rollers. The Forester was able to walk up it even with the wheels disabled by rollers.
As for winter tires the breaking point for me was the government requirement for tire pressure monitoring systems.It wasn't even the cost (adding up to $200 more to a set of dedicated winter wheels/tires), so much as the HASSLE of getting the ECM to recognize them and needing a way to reset them twice a year.It was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back and made it just not worth the effort for the limited snow we get.I've instead concentrated on decent all seasons, watching pressures, and perhaps playing less in blizzards.I'm waiting to see how this winter pans out in a new state, but so far temperatures are warmer and snow less frequent and less heavy than southeastern PA where we were the last few decades, so I'm not motivated. But we still have too much winter left so we'll see.
I didn't even bother. Winters don't have TPM sensors installed. The light is on while the winters are on. It goes back off when I reinstall the summers. It does not affect the traction or stability control in any way. You just get used to the light being on for a while.John Henry
Yellow light on the dash, or 200 bucks more plus programing......... ..... Humm.Again, there is always a piece of black tape. ;DSeriously, it did bug me last year but only for a while. Light or no light is not going to change me checking the tires.John Henry
Never put a set of snow tires on my Isuzu Trooper always run all season tires. Never fails me.Dean
YOU might get used to it, not me! :oI forget what the Jeep does, it may do more than one light. It might flash the EVIC display too, which would be annoying.