Northern Illinois got blasted with the first snow of the season over the weekend. I am a bit irked by this. It was only a few weeks ago when I last went swimming in Lake Michigan! I currently have one of my summer cars stored outside because I’m repairing something on it. I could have sworn I had more time! Ugh, well, winter is here, whether I want it to be or not. Which has me wondering: What’s the most fun car to drive in the snow?
For the purposes of this question, I’m not asking you about the best car for snow. No, I want you to give me the most entertaining car to drive in the snow, no matter how impractical it may be. Maybe you like drifting in a Ferrari? Or maybe you want to roll around in a Honda S2000 with the top down in the blizzard? You tell me.
While I am not a fan of winter, I do like using the time to do silly things with vehicles that are normally pretty tame.
My old 2005 Volkswagen Touareg VR6 didn’t have enough power for any shenanigans on pavement, and the permanent four-wheel-drive system killed fun when you weren’t off-road. But in the snow? Then it was a ton of fun. I used to wait until a fresh snow, go to an abandoned parking lot, crank the steering wheel over, and then let the throttle rip.
The result was usually that the Treg spun like a top. It was silly, it was stupid, and it was often nauseating, but it made me feel like a dollar store version of the late Ken Block. Sometimes, I’d chain spins together and dance all over the parking lot. But the beauty of it was that my Touareg had decent tires and didn’t have a ton of power, so it was easy to keep in control and easy to stop and regain traction. Once I got done, I just hit the brakes, steered straight, and left the lot.
My second favorite pick for snow fun would be a small, low-power car. Think something like a Dodge Caliber, Chrysler PT Cruiser, or Chevrolet Aveo. Honestly, the crappier the car, the more fun it is.
Back when I was a teenager, it was a total trip going into a snowy parking lot, ripping the parking brake, and then drifting. I was big into Top Gear when I was a teen, and I thought of myself as a bargain Jeremy Clarkson or Sabine Schmitz. The really glorious part is that these cars are so weak that all of these drifts would happen at 20 mph and were, most of the time, within the abilities of an unskilled teenage driver.
It also just felt awesome because these cars couldn’t even spin their drive tires on dry ground. But in the snow? They were epic! I think this is part of the reason why I have an appreciation for the crappy cars of my youth. If you tried hard enough, you could have fun with them! Sadly, I fear that future generations might miss out on this fun. I haven’t yet found out how to replicate the same experience with an electronic parking brake.
So, that’s my story. What about you? If given the chance to drive any car in the winter, ignoring road salt and other nightmares, what would be your winter fun car?
Top graphic image: Dodge
Recall crawling up the hill we lived on completely sideways in my high school ’78 LTDII coupe. Just add enough throttle to keep ’em spinning.
Those Torino-based Fords never wanted to go straight in the snow. Any direction but straight was what they wanted to do. Great for doing donuts. Miserable for trying to actually drive anywhere.
My first serious winter when I moved to the US was in Wisconsin, and at the time I was selling Subarus. This meant that my first time driving in the snow was not a realistic simulation: I was driving cars that were on brand new tires, with AWD, and the most up-to-date safety/stability tech available. I learned very quickly though, two things:
1). AWD helps you to start moving. It doesn’t do shit about your braking.
2). AWD means you’re going much faster when you lose control.
Old adage – 4 wheel drive, not 4 wheel stop.
C5 Chevrolet Corvette.
Big, relaxed V8. Smooth, progressive limited-slip diff. GM heater that could keep you toasty with the windows down and the targa top in the trunk.
All it added up to was being able to drive at any slip angle and ratio desired.
That was my ’96 Tbird with a V8, summer tires and a posi… I could spin the tires to one’s heart’s content. Competant winter driving relied on an egg under one’s throttle foot.
My bugeye WRX (2003) was a very fun snow vehicle. Super predictable limits on snow, so if you wanted to hang the back out, you easily could. When driving normally, it was sure-footed and confidence-inspiring. I passed Jeeps stuck in the snow while my WRX scampered around them.
The Mitsu. I submit: https://www.etotheipiplusone.net/stuff/vansonvans.gif
My Samurai could also spin like a top, a very small one. Drop the transfer case into 4Hi, crank the steering wheel to full lock, drop it into second and floor it. Used to work the night shift and had a guy with a 2WD S10 challenge me to a donut contest in the unplowed lot after work. IT was comical how much better the little Sami was.
The MOST fun? My v6 extended cab RWD Dakota, every turn and stop was always a planned event, but it was beefy enough to not fret about ramming into a curb, and was full sideways at any twitch of the wheel. Least fun, was my 83 caprice with an open dif. Moving up hills in that particular barge was slow, painful and the rear-end would step out JUST before it got enough traction to go again.
I’ll have to try my tracker in 4Hi! So far my winter slides have been limited to 2WD and unintentional, so that could be fun
Audi Quattro.
Up a ski-slope.
Or a 1969 Mercury Cougar XR7 Ram-Air CobraJet convertible in the Swiss Alps being chased by villainous henchmen in a Fintail Mercedes-Benz into an ice-race – if you’re Diana Rigg.
Duh-duh–dun-ah-dun-da-dat-dun..
Felix – Is that you?
Not the best Bond film, but a good and under rated Bond film.
An air-cooled Beetle. It’s absolutely unstoppable in the snow, but if you want to have fun, you can do donuts and drift. The rear engine/rear drive gives you traction when you need it, and some weight to throw around when you want to go sideways.
My dad taught me how to drive in the snow in my Beetle when I was 16 (I’ve had the car since I was 11), so I could learn car control without ABS or traction/stability control kicking in. After some fun lessons, he said it didn’t have enough power to do donuts and I proved him wrong. The idea of parental-sanctioned donuts and drifting made me the envy of many guys I knew in high school.
My dad had a Baja Bug in college and has always said the same thing about old Beetles in snow. He never needed chains and said it would just carve over snow like it wasn’t there.
I remember driving through 17″ of snow/ice and hearing it scraping under the car, but it never got stuck. I was even more surprised by the fact I could easily parallel park it in as much snow.
Mine has too much rust on it to brave salted roads these days, but once I get that fixed I’ll be out having fun in parking lots again!
This. Our Beetle had a JC Whitney kit that provided individual sticks for each side of the parking brake – left lever for left rear, etc. One wheel spinning? Just feed in a little brake to kick the diff over to the other side!
Reminds me of another scene in “OHMSS” in which the CIA guy drives his white Beetle with skis on the back up a snowy street from the Swiss train station with the tail swinging wide around the corners, sending rooster tails of snow all over the place….
It literally started snowing as this was posted. The most interesting car to drive in the snow was a 1999 Malibu with a non-existent rear end and bad tires. Ended up jumping it (not purposely) over a snow bank. Very fun, would recommend doing again (with a helmet)
…something small, cheap, with reasonable (5-6″ min) ground clearance and predating traction control.
For an ill-advised year or so, I daily drove a 1965 Corvair convertible. I thought it would be great in the snow because… even though it was rear wheel drive, the engine was over the back wheels. So better traction, yeah?
We got a rare snow that year and I took it for a spin and what happened kind of defies description. Whenever I hit the brakes, it would just begin to slide at a 90 degree angle to the direction I was driving. I mean it would just move sideways. Perfectly. I have no rational explanation for this, but it was neat.
My first thought when it happened (besides “please don’t hit anything”) was “This would be awesome for parallel parking!”
…and let me tell something.
It was. It totally was. I could park in any parallel spot with absolute precision.
I know you were all hoping I’d learn a lesson here but I did not.
Suzuki SX4 with a manual transmission. Optional part time AWD or full time 4×4 from the same transfer case? Donut tires, light weight, and full ability to control revs? Yes, please.
It sounds weird but our Honda Fit is a blast in the snow! The narrow tires, stick shift, and handbrake all make for a laugh-out-loud experience hooning through the neighborhood!
Your parents car when you are 16.
I delivered pizza for a place that had a fleet of barely maintained, 20-year old Chevettes. Nearly bald tires across the board coupled with RWD takes your basic idea to the next level. Between being able to do u-turns with the throttle finally, and being able to hold walking speed drifts, and in a car absolutely no one cared for, was a nice little job perk.
Although, a few years later, I did delivery with a fleet of late-model Expresses, and was on the road before the snow plow was out. Less playful, but still capable of gently kicking the rear out if no one was looking, and the LS-derivative is a gift to every working person who needs a van for their job.
These days, i rarely drive in the snow for fun really. but as a kid it was a toss up between a snow tire equipped 80’s camaro with a 305, and a 78 K5 with full time four wheel drive(when the hubs were locked) the K5 was kind of fun because you could go about anywhere including through many a snow drift without much trouble. the Old Gutless 305 did still make v8 sounds and it was pretty fun to do do donuts in when it snowed. the snow tires also allowed it tot get to the mall to do that. I recall the next gen F-Bodies and even the Chrysler 300 setups were useless in the snow. hell they felt loose on dry pavement if the motors overcame the tires in any way. I know, that is kind of the deal, but there was a distinct difference between controlled burnout between the generations of suspensions….just my $.02
NA Miata with snow tires. Going around stuck trucks on Pittsburgh hills is INCREDIBLY satisfying!
Came here to post this. NA Miata with a hard top and snow tires has been my most fun can in the snow. As long as it wasn’t too deep to cause the front end to plow. Even the heater was pretty good.
The cabin is so small it heats right up, and the heat coming off the transmission helps too. I think “cozy” would most accurately describe it.
Delorean, if no FBI in the area
I see what you did there. Lol.
A Suzuki SX4 in AWD lock mode. With snow tires. I had a lot of fun in that car on snowy mornings.
Any 2wd truck from the pre-stability control era.
Correction, any 4wd truck from the pre-stability control era. The key is to leave it in 2wd when hooning around. 4wd is then available for when you inevitably put it in a bank/ditch.
A rental car, of course.
Pittsburgh got flurries this morning.
My ’89 4.0 XJ Cherokee was an absolute beast. Hoon it in RWD till you got stuck, then just pull the lever.
The WJ was much the same, just more top heavy and less tossable.
2nd this, selectable RWD/4WD with no traction control, abs, or anything else is the most fun, with the caveat of at lower speeds around town, on the highway it’s downright scary.
I learned to just run in 4wd on a slippery highway, not trying to be a hero.
I have always had more fun with RWD than FWD in the snow. I do not know about most fun but I have has some fun with my Wrangler in 2wd in the snow.
I actually hated a lot of the older FWD setups as they tended to be Passenger wheel biased and you had no control around a corner. you could steer with the gas pedal in a lot of older rwd cars and use neutral to disconnect wheels when trying to stop without ABS.
I drove my 05 CTS-V through three winters on snow tires before retiring it to garage queen status. It was legendary. WRX on snow tires can be driven sideways for miles and miles if you want.
My Outback on all-seasons was an absolute tank during a midwinter storm trip from Detroit to Chicago, driving into the snow the whole way. It wasn’t a fast trip, but I never felt worried about our ability to get there.
4×4 Pickup in 2Hi for shenanigans, and enough weight to throw in the bed to keep it stable in 4Hi/Lo makes a killer combo, especially if the snow is high enough to need the clearance.
Pittsburgh got a 22″ snow late Feb 2010. My WJ Grand Cherokee was one of only 2 vehicles in our neighborhood navigating the unplowed roads that weekend.