[FusionPowered06]

Hey all. I live in way north Wisconsin and got dumped on today. I have a 4 cyl SE and am way less than impressed with the snow prowess of this car. My thinking was to buy a low powered car with front wheel drive and it will be great in the snow. Wow was I wrong...!

My question is, does anyone have the new AWD and have had any snow experience with it? I am wondering how good it is in the snow. Will it keep up with a 4wd truck in terms of snow performance?

 

[Fusionguy]

I haven't gone through  a winter yet but your post is making me nervous  :shock:.  Are you using snow tires??  The AWD version will work very well in snow especially with 4 snow tires on it but of course you don't have the ground clearance of a truck so in deep snow the 4x4 truck will do better.

 

[douglas307]

wow, now you got me thinking. I live in Chicago. If thats the case than I will have to buy winter tires. :x

 

[iowaguy]

I've read the opposite about the Fusion in the snow. Perhaps you got too much snow for any car to be good in. Anything over 6 inches and any vehicle sans a full-size 4x4 truck with good tires is hard to drive in. Plus, the little 4-banger is underpowered and that doesn't help when you're trying to blast through the snow. If you want a good vehicle to drive through the snow at any level, buy a Jeep Liberty 4x4. Put some BFG all-terrains on and I guarantee you'll never get stuck in any snow. These little Jeeps go through anything- I've had 2 of them.

 

[chris06fusion]

I would imagine that the fusion would be a tad better with the AWD but it doesn't have the ground clearance of an suv/truck so heavy snows would probably be a pain.

 

[02HD677]

What makes you think ANY small/light sedan would perform in the snow as well as a big heavy-arse 4x4?

 

[cos]

FusionPowered06,

It's not the car, it's the tires.

For really good winter traction you might want to try the Dunlop Winter Sport M3:

For more info:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...dth=205/&ratio=60&diameter=16&tireSearch=true

 

[FusionPowered06]

Yeah, we officially got 12.5 inches of snow and not a single bit of it was plowed. Driving through it was a nightmare...! I guess I can look into some snow tires seeing as how we do get alot of snow up here. But even in just a few inches of snow this thing like to wander. Be careful everyone!

 

[springer03]

I also live in northen Wisconsin. Drove my 06 Milan Premier 150 miles to work last Friday in the snow and slop.
I bought some 16" Milan rims off e-Bay and put a set of these tires on them.

Went through the snow better than any I auto I have owned in years.
Now I have my 17" premium wheels and tires all cleaned up and stored in the basement.

 

[Fusionguy]

Living up here in the great white north I install winter tires on steel wheels on all my vehicules.  You can't really judge a cars performance in snow with the stock 4 season tires.  Snow tires are a great investment. 

Worst part is the white stuff has only just begun  .

 

[waldo]

The Fusion is very good in the snow, just not on the stock Contis. Even the 17in Michelins are a big improvement, but winter tires on any car will be a bigger help than anything else.

For the price of an AWD system, you can get two sets of snow tires, surely enough to last the life of the vehicle. Then not only can you get going easier, but you can stop and turn better as well. AWD won't help you with that.

 

[cos]

I have a set of Hankook W300 (high performance snows) mounted on OEM steelies ready to go:

 

[otaku]

The AWD is awesome. Just bought mine today (snowed all day) and driving home in snowy/icy conditions was no different than a normal drive. I felt very safe and in control. Keep in mind though to get this you have to get V6 SEL (so worth it)

 

[camsdad]

With 12.5 inches, the only thing that would not suck in the snow would be a ski doo. The police cruisers (Crown Vic) I drive have Goodyear Ultra Grips, and they stick like glue. Even with RWD, the most stable thing on the road. I have found that with AWD, you have 4 wheels spinnig out of control instead of 2. I pull more Explorers and Subarus out of the ditch than anything. What it ALWAYS comes down to is the driver. Slow down in crappy weather. I got my 4 banger last november and shopped all over town for rims/winters. As I was one of the first in the city to own one, (most shops never even heard of the car) no one could find a listing as to what rims would fit. So I trudged through the winter on the stocks, and found them "ok"(meaning I did not end up in the ditch), but I found my drive much slower over the season than previous years. I find that not all tires come in 205/60/16, so choice is limited.

 

[cos]

camsdad,

I find that not all tires come in 205/60/16, so choice is limited.

There are plenty of choices when it comes to 205/60-16 snows, at least 9 different models from:
Michelin, Dunlop, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Hankook, Yokohama and Firestone.

See my post:
http://www.fordfusionclub.com/index.php?topic=63924.0

 

[Showtime]

Here's my take on AWD/4x4. It's only good for traction. Once you're up to speed, it doesn't matter how many wheels are turning. I've had an Explorer, Sport Trac, and a Ranger and rarely ever used 4x4. In my Ranger I used 4x4 less than 10 times. When I did use it, I turned it off above 40mph. Honestly, the best car I've ever driven in winter overall was my Focus with skinny 14in snow tires on it. As weird as this sounds, I'd rather have RWD than FWD in snow.

 

[tnoah]

The whole thing with snow no matter how much, it will all be plowed off the roads in 24 hours. Bingo!.....back to driving on concrete or asphalt.

 

[cos]

tnoah,

Sure, on the main roads but some cities simply don't plow the side streets or if they do it can take days. One place I lived yrs ago had a private driveway (with two hills and a sharp turn) shared by about 40 people but no one wanted to pay $ to have it plowed - I, living at the end of this nightmare usually did it all by hand.

 

[tnoah]

COS,

 

[tnoah]

COS,
Point taken but ever since the blizzard of '94 here lin Louisville, there on it like white on rice. Back then they only had like two snowplows and it took them over a week to clear the 23 inches we got blasted. The city took tons of criticism for not being "prepared". These boneheads are out throwing salt if they "think" it might snow.[quote author=tnoah link=topic=61996.msg1098844#msg1098844 date=1165293457]
COS,

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