Which one is more snow worthy?

Hello,

I have a friend who wants to buy a 4WD or AWD Honda, and they are
considering the Pilot, CRV and Crosstour. Personally I don't like the
Crosstour for the way it looks and the Pilot is too big for me. So
lets say ugliness and being almost as big as a cement mixer weren't
factors. Can anyone say that there would be a difference between the
snow worthiness of any of them? I was told that none of them have
manual 4WD like a jeep has. I guess all of them are AWD?

Thanks so much!

Jill

 

attention whore.

 

As it is your friend who is considering a vehicle, your opinion of the
Crosstour, nor does the fact that you are not able to handle the size of
the Pilot has absolutely nothing to do with the purchase.

 

Thank you for that very useful feedback.

 

Hello,

I know, but I am just talking about snow worthiness and which one is
better. She is driving a Subaru Forester, but her lease is almost up
and thinking of giving Honda a chance.

Thanks so much,

Jill

 

Snow worthy is relevant to your geographical location.
For some, a bombardier snow cat is the only snow worthy vehicle to have.

For the suburban wife who wants an SUV to drive to the market in, any
vehicle with decent SNOW tires (or those nokian wr tires for all season)
should do the trick.

I would keep the subaru. They have an excellent track record for
reliability, but not the greatest fuel economy.
And put some snow tires on it from October to April.

 

I would place more emphasis on your friend's skill level and experience
in driving in snow and ice conditions, than snow tires or vehicle.

 

Jim, I can't recall if I've reminded you of this lately.

Shut the **** up.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

Well thank you all for the information. I heard Honda was the best in
reliability actually, and even better than Subaru. She's not just
going to the market and back. She works full time and needs to get
back home during storms as I do as well. We both live in New England
in the snow belt area, so we need to be able to handle driving in 6-8
inches or snow.

Jill

 

So had I.

Go to rec.autos.makers.honda and see my thread over the past couple days
on the legendary failing Honda transmissions.

 

If you and your "friend" can't handle driving in a little bit of snow
like the amount you mentioned, in any vehicle then you both should have
your licences suspended thus making the roads in your area safer for
real drivers. When you feel the need to drive in real snow and ice
conditions, you're welcome to come to Atlantic Canada during our winter
months (January and February).

 

I'm also in New England and do just fine in 6-8 of snow with my Accord and
my wife does fine in her Odyssey. You are making WAY more of this then it
warrants.

 

agreed.

Odyssey with decent all season tires goes through the white stuff
nicely, and over the tall white stuff just fine.

My 92 Civic Si, though, required that I shovel the driveway at least a
little bit once the snow got so high that I couldn't plow through it.

But a CRV? Even in western NY, it works great year round without hassle.

Some people have to overthink things in order to feel comfortable.

 

I'm also in New England and do just fine in 6-8 of snow with my Accord and

Well Seth, I want to know what kind of Accord you have that can do
that! My friend has a 2008 Accord with an Automatic transmission. He
has driven it and I have also, and as soon as there was 3+ inches of
snow on the ground watch out! It was horrible in the snow and ice
especially if there were small inclines. It would be fine up to 3
inches and the tires had only 22,000 miles on them at the time we
tried this.

One of the reasons I bought the CRV is I feel safe in it, plus it has
a lot of room for grocery shopping, carrying the kids and carrying
large items, and its practical and versatile. I also like it because
it is reported to be very good in deeper snow, up to 12" I heard.

Jill

 

Any of them.

I had zero problems with my 2000 Accord on all season tires. Snow was
no impediment, even many inches of it.

 

Exactly, it all boils down to the skill level of the person behind the
steering wheel. If he knows his stuff, he can go wherever he wants
whenever he wants, no matter what Mother Nature throws at him.

 

Okay so now my question is: why get 4WD or AWD? What would be the
point if the Accord is able to drive in 6-8" of snow?

Thanks,
Jill

 

bingo.

By and large, it's a marketing thing.

AWD was strictly an Audi thing until a series of events occurred in the
auto marketing world in the 90s, starting with people buying the
truck-based SUV that was originally designed for people doing weekend
rock crawling and going deep into the nasty parts of the woods and
whatnot for recreation.

People started buying these SUVs to haul their families around because
"station wagons and minivans just scream MOM! or FAMILY! way too much, I
need something DIFFERENT!". The auto mfrs responded by assuming the
customers wanted 4WD, then the whole thing transmogrified into people
buying car based tall wagons where all the wheels were driven--but the
mfrs made them AWD with no complicated buttons or levers or controls,
replacing the 4WD systems that made the driver think about what he was
doing and where the levers and gearshift had to be for any given
situation.

In essence, you bought a Civic station wagon. But the whole "we must
drive all wheels" carried over from the original days when the actual
form that people bought happened to be driving all the wheels in some
fashion or another.

You can get through the snow just fine with an Accord, and even better
if you equip that Accord with snow tires. The snow tire equipped
Accord, in fact, will do it BETTER than your all-season tire CRV.

AWD weighs more and causes you to spend more gas to drive it around. It
also requires more maintenance. Why get AWD? Because you got suckered
into it. The front wheel drive CRV would get you everywhere you need to
go in any weather you're going to encounter and choose to drive in,
regardless.

 

*Why?* is an excellent question. I believe the answer is that people
who don't know very much listen to the media hype and advertising copy
and make purchases based on what they are told in commercials, as to
what *they* need to own and drive. In reality when a person purchases an
AWD or 4WD vehicle they are making a purchase that is going to cost them
more money throughout the ownership period of that vehicle. More gas
needs to be bought (heavier vehicles use more fuel to move them), more
maintenance expenses (more moving parts require more care).

I like to think of it akin to the people that make that purchase of a
travel trailer or RV and use it once or twice a year for a long vacation
trip. They could have easily saved their money and used their small car
to travel and stayed in motels or hotels and had money left over every
year for a long time. Not to mention the fact that they wouldn't have to
make their meals and do the clean up and make their beds too. It's all
about being smart and spending you money to get the most bang out of
your buck.

Why buy something you don't need, Jill?

 

Unless one lives in an area that receives a lot of miserable weather
conditions pretty much year round, 4WD is an expense that is
unnecessary. AWD can be fun to drive, if you have places where you can
unleash the vehicle to run as it is able to do, unfettered by the worry
of making a purchase of a ticket to the Policeman's Ball. :^)