Is there a HUGE difference when driving in snow between the Pontiac Vibe AWD and the FWD?

I bought a 2009 Vibe in December (FWD). I had it out in 2 heavy snow storms. For safety reasons I consider it undriveable with the original all season radials it comes with in snow or ice. I will buy snows for it this fall for sure. As a further note I have been driving my 2003 Saturn Ion with the original same size all season tires for 6 seasons now with no problem. So I feel it must be the centre of gravity or weight over the tires or perhaps the tire itself is not a good match. In any case you do not want to have to brake the Vibe on snow with the original tires, or try to go up a moderately steep hill either as you need first gear to get reasonable traction. Very happy with vehicle other than that fact.

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RE:

Is there a HUGE difference when driving in snow between the Pontiac Vibe AWD and the FWD?

Plan on buying a Vibe soon cause my Focus is really bad when it comes to winter driving, and I'm not sure which to get, either an AWD or a FWD Vibe. I know AWD would be better, but from someone who has had one, or both, is there a huge difference in the handling if the cars?

2003 Pontiac Vibe Awd

Always remember that handling in the snow is one thing... but 9 times out of 10 it's BRAKING in snow that is most important. And AWD does not improving braking!

AWD will help you get moving if you're stuck or at a stop light. But for the most part a good set of winter tires will do that. My advice would be get the FWD - you'll save money - you'll get better gas mileage. With the extra money go get 4 brand new Blizzak Snow Tires and throw them on in the winter.

Winter tires cost - next to nothing - WHY? Because if tires last 5 years and cost $500. If you get Snow tires that cost $600 and last 5 years, you go 10 years for $1100. Where as if you only had summer tires you'd go 10 years for $1000 (cost of two sets of summer tires). Therefore your investment in snow tires is only $100!

I hope this helped.

Depending on WHICH kind of AWD system is in the pontiacs makes a big difference.

Some AWD systems power ALL FOUR wheels at once constantly (like explorers and mountaineers), those are the good kinds of AWD systems.

And there are other kinds of AWD systems which simply SWITCH power from the front wheels to the back, or can completely change the power/traction ratio from 2 wheels to 1 wheel, or 3,etc....

Sometimes this can be bad, because if you get 1 wheel stuck, the car tends to throw all the traction and power to that ONE wheel which is stuck!

(not sure if your pontiac does that, but some cars DO!)

But generally YES, AWD is ALOT better than 2wd...

I know, because ive owned RWD, FWD and AWD and 4x4.

My AWD mountaineer is the BEST truck ive ever owned....the traction is unreal.....of course I have BFG Mud Terrains on there.

Tires make a HUUUUGE difference.

I definitely think there is.Firstly,AWD has all your wheels working in the snow...while FWD is only two of your tires working.Get it?Less tires working,less safety while driving in certain weather conditions.But that's just my opinion.

You are only going to need the AWD when you are in Deep Snow otherwise there is no advantage.

If your streets are plowed then FWD will be fine.

If you look at your VIN, the fourth and fifth letters will be “SM” if it is an AWD vehicle and “SL” if it is a FWD vehicle. Please keep in mind AWD vehicles were not produced in the 2007 and 2008 model years. Thanks, Laura GM Customer Service

heres the best plan.. ditch the vibe all together..never buy a ford again.. and then go and buy a subaru wrx wagon or a forester... because those are very compotent vehicles in the snow.. the vibe is going to be phased out over at gm so parts might become hard to come by in the very near future.. the subarus are proven cars in dry conditions and the snow.. they also have excellent power, very reliable and dont get bad gas mileage