hi everyone,

new to the forum and wanted some advice/opinion:

considering a '14 or '15 v60 wagon FWD as a family car in Chicago.

my question: can anyone share experience on the FWD handling in the snow?

Not planning any mountain trailing or anything severe...just want to make sure my wife has no worries driving through the light/moderate snow on normal/plowed roads during Chicago winters.

the used market for FWD is considerably cheaper, coupled with the added fuel economy i would love to justify a FWD purchase over AWD.

thanks in advance!

 

We're in Morris, about an hour outside the city. We only really had one snowstorm last winter and the car did well until I went around a blind corner that had a drift in it. All 4 wheels were off the ground so I had to do some shoveling. That was more of a ground clearance issue than the FWD part.
The limited slip differential really helps with traction and I'd have to say that overall, I'm glad I stuck with FWD considering the fuel economy penalty was 8 mpg with AWD.

 

awesome...what i was hoping to hear. i figured its easy enough to try the FWD and then get some proper snow tires if needed. even a RWD does well with snow tires in the winter.

 

Our subdivision is hilly and the Volvo puts our Camry Hybrid to shame on the hills.