Which has better traction?

A 4WD car with all-season tires
or
a 2WD car with winter tires?




ps
I read that not all 4WD cars have the same traction. On some German magazine test, Audi A6 4WD had better traction on snow than Porsche 911 4WD or Toyota Corolla 4WD.


ps
Two years ago, I had about 3/10 inch tread legendary Blizzak's. Now I have about 6000 mile driven Michelin MXV4 plus all-season tires.
I do not have exact memory, do not have exact comparison test result. Roughly speaking, however, I do not feel that the all-season Michelin's have weaker traction than my previous Blizzak's on snow. My car is a rear wheel drive car (1992 300D. It does not seem to have the Limited Slip Differential option.).

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1992 300D 2.5 turbo diesel. 319 k miles.
124.128 chassis, 602.962 engine, 722.418 tranny.

Traction to Move: 4WD with all season tires
Traction to Stop: 2WD with winter tires

BEST: 4WD with winter tires

real life experience:

I was driving down a very snowy ( 4-6" deep 1 lane plowed) highway last winter in my lowered 300zx TT (out fitted with winter tires ) and there was an Expedition going very slow in front of me. I decided I would pass him so, I pulled into the unplowed lane and passed him and got back in the plowed lane after I was clear of his truck. I guess he decided if my little car could go that fast he could go faster so, he passed me back and proceded to pull away. About 10 miles later I see him stuck in the center median so, I pulled over to offer up my cell phone so, he could call a tow truck.

He proceded to tell me how stupid I was (using some choice explatives) since I pulled up right beside his stuck truck and now I was stuck also .... I looked at him and said "well atleast my vehicle choice was not based on the size of my penis and I have enough sense to purchase the correct type of tire" and drove away ....

by the way:
the truck was still there 8 hours later

I have also seen my next door neighbor shovelling his stuck Escalade out of the snow after offering help I easily drove away

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the 2WD car on winter tires will surely outperform the 4WD car on all-seasons in the areas of braking and steering (i.e., without application of power).

if the temperature is sufficiently low (i.e., low enough for the all-season compound to "plasticize"), the 2WD car on winter tires might outperform the 4WD car on all-seasons in accelerating as well.

additionally, the 4WD driver will have more (misplaced) confidence in bringing the vehicle up to a higher speed, which will further exacerbate its stopping performance (since the energy required to bring the vehicle to rest is proportional with the square of the speed).

The sad thing is there is a Mercedes commercial running in NY right now that all but says that 4wd with all season tires is better than anything out there complete with some actor in an E class 4matic pulling out of a snowed parking spot saying "I just step on the gas". Yeah right

Snow tires are the way to go regardless IMHO.

THE most important component in winter driving, is the gray matter between the ears.

__________________
Steve

1992 300CE Sportline Sophie
1990 300E Emma - in the family
1979 240D Josephine - sold, but not forgotten
2004 Pacifica AWD

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