Despite living in Colorado most of my life I had never bought snow tires until last year. My fwd Toyota Celica could not get up my driveway for nothing and I bought some slightly used snow tires for it. After that my driveway was no problem not even the uphill sections with 10 inches of snow. I even bombed a 1/2 mile down my neighbors road that was knee deep with no problem and he got stuck in his 4wd truck. I kept telling myself , why did I not buy these 20 yrs ago. Also the stopping and braking while turning became so much better, I didn’t skid through the turns anymore.I ended up parking my truck most of the winter and just driving the car to save gas. I recently traded the car in on a new Jetta and Im buying those same snow tires for it! Totally worth it!
Depends on the type of awd. Subaru and audi awd systems typically do not have issues with steering in unplowed areas. I have a subaru legacy sedan on Yokohama avid ascend gt tires and we just got 6-8in of snow like a week ago and I was actually having to drive in a v sloped median to get around people who were in cars getting stuck on the actual road. My issue was ground clearance. I got through it but was shoving snow everywhere
I completely agree with you dude! I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
There not though have driven cars with both 2WD and AWD. Having 4WD or AWD can make the difference tons of wheelspin and not even really being able to tell its slippery
@@rangerover06scYou know what makes even more of a difference than AWD or 4WD? Snow tires. My FWD Golf with 650 CAD snow tires - all four tires plus steel rims and installation - can start, stop in, climb, and descend over 30 degree incline hills in Canada with no issues whatsoever even with a foot of snow. Most people who buy AWD SUVs don't need them and would be better served by good winter tires.
@@Lotsofchai I've honestly never even heard of snow socks till now but no, I've never needed that where I live in Canada (Vancouver Island, BC). Chains and snow socks are necessary when the road is covered in mostly ice, and that's a whole other level from simply snow covered roads.
Precisely. I don't even understand this discussion of AWD vs winter tires. I can drive 80-120 km/h (depending on the road) safely with my FWD car with winter tires and make it stop as well. Safety first.
If that were true a RWD would be just as good as a FWD car in snow, but it's commonly known not be. Your most likely to lose traction while accelerating. Which is why AWD can make such a huge difference.
AWD is mostly designed for off-roading, it just so happens to be useful in winter as well. AWD checks which tire has the most traction on the ground and then focuses most of the engine power into it. This helps drivers get out of wet conditions like mud or snow from a stopped position and helps navigate rough terrain while driving along. Winter tires are only good for just that, winter. If your power train is off the ground, your screwed. Winter tires cant help you with that. If anything, having both AWD and winter tires is the best combination for the cold season.
This test is only partially useful. You need to use the same vehicle, either one that has the ability to switch between awd and fwd or two of the same vehicles, one with awd and the other with fwd. Otherwise, you introduce other variables like weight, weight distribution, different size brakes,throttle response, shift mapping, etc., which end up skewing the results.
The Pass at weighs 100 Lbs less than the Golf GTi. The VR6 Passat has 280hp and the 2.0L GTi has 200hp. So the Pass at had the largest advantage. Less wright and much more power. Still care to argue? So the tires would've increased performance by around 20% + on the same car with the same specs.
@@neilduncan8657 Not at all. An AWD vehicle is significantly more heavy and sluggish on acceleration due to parasitic loss of power from the front differential to the driveshaft then to the rear differential, to the rear axles. So many people do not understand mechanical physics. The only time AWD has the upper hand is in turning and if the pwr:wgt ratio is identical then acceleration as well.
I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
I have snow tires for one car that I swap to survive braking when going downhill in snow. Yes my brakes locked up in all seasons and I slid down a slope in an inch of snow which fanned my love for snow tires - sumitro - ice edge !!!
I have two older cars. 1984 datsun for summer and 1999 camry for winter the camry has snow tires. In the snow from a stop sign my camry routinely out accelerates four wheel drive trucks. My camry is slow but with snow tires it is a great winter car
I run all seasons, it doesn’t snow enough where I live to justify buying dedicated winter tires. I just gotta drive more carefully when going up to the mountain and let xDrive do it’s thing lol
What you need are all weather tires, basically seasons that actually perform in ALL seasons. You can run them year round and use them on the snow. Look at something like the Michelin Crossclimate2
I have front wheel drive and I have been using all season tires. I have gotten stuck, slipped and had to let myself literally roll down the road because I couldn't move. I'm planning on getting snow tires this year but not studded.
VW’s 4WD systems don’t allow you to turn 4WD on and off, so that isn’t something I was able to test. If it was possible that is how I would have done it. The main point that I wanted to demonstrate was that 4WD makes up for the lack of snow tires while accelerating, but absolutely does not under braking, which I think this does a good job of showing
@@CashedOutCars Correct! Thank you for the testing the data is still useful. It will be cool to test this in a track with the same car to see which performs better in cornering with snow. Needless to say I think at the end of the day the best would be having an AWD with winter tires.
Its worth noting studded snow tires aren't legal in some places as they really chew up the road surface. In my experience over the years even the cheapest snow tires will be better than any all seasons in the snow pretty much in all cases. I ran last winter on all seasons and multiple times I found myself skidding or engaging the ABS even while being careful. Got some cheap snow tires this year and had to drive in about 4 inches of wet sloppy snow earlier this week I struggled to even force it to lose traction.
No need to chose one or the other; snow tyres with 4WD, diff-lock, LSD and plenty of ground clearance. Then if you do get stuck you can console yourself with the thought that "I did everything I could." But you will get further up the hill than anyone else. Jack, the Japan Alps Brit
Just watched your video. Great information. What are your thoughts on snow tires, two versus four. I’ve been driving front wheel drive cars for 20+ years and saw some videos on UA-cam that claim you should always put snow tires on all four wheels not just the drive wheels. Recently bought an all Wheel Dr., Hyundai Santa Fe and wondering if it’s worth putting snow tires on it at all as it has a special snow traction control, setting that is selectable besides being all-wheel-drive.
I'm living overseas in Sweden at the moment - snow tyres are a legal requirement here from Dec 1st to Mar 31st. Studs aren't allowed in most cities though, and Sweden has ... an interesting definition of cities. with populations as low as 3000
Snow tires plus 4WD. No way to skip any of it. Really needed only on about 2 weeks. But when you need them, it is great to have them. We have a steep incline of 250 m. Several times neighbors with snow tires but only FWD could not get home, I could. I would not drive all season tires in winter at all. Snow tires are the ones to go for me.
I was in a situation with a steep driveway in Vermont and FWD/snow tires and couldn't get up. Solved it by backing it up the hill...it was a beast with so much weight over those drive tires.
Here's the pro choice: A good AWD system with a good set of snow tires. This AWD with all-season tires vs 2WD with snows, is a silly comparison. (Subaru with a set of Blizzaks = snowmobile)
up in nh you need snow tires ...move up here and you will make a comparison videos on what snow tire is better.. snow tires do make a huge improvement. when i had my all seasons on my 14 passat and my 07 escape i was sliding all over the place i poped snows on them i don't slide . i run snows on my awd as well.
Comparing my FWD (Honda Accord) all-season setup to my RWD (Mazda Miata) winter tire setup: winter tires are more confidence inspiring during acceleration and especially braking! Great video and testing!
They make a big difference! I’ve always wanted a Miata to blast around in during winter, I can’t bring myself to expose mine to that kinda salt at the moment
I completely agree with you dude! I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
There’s no reason to rush to the dealership and buy an AWD. Get the winter tires and you’ll be fine. Down the road, when you’re ready to buy a new car, get an AWD with some All-weather or winter tires. All Weather are better than all season in the snow but not as good as winter. But you can run the all-weather tires all year long
AWD gives you the ability of not getting stuck, and being reliable in snowy weather, snow tires are obviously going to be better at breaking, but that's about the extent. Also using studded tires in this test feels a little like a cheat, they are quite the step above normal snow tires; theres a reason "snowmobile" have a studded track. When it comes down to it you have to weigh the better breaking with changing out tires every year and replacing the winter tires when they get worn if theres a dry spell, etc. Overall, if you're a safe/"good" driver I think AWD is preferred, but in an ideal world you would have AWD and snow tires.
We both know someone with a 1000whp GTR that’s on some R888’s, I think you should test that in the snow too, you know, purely for studying summer tire performance in snow
Yah. Normally have always done snow tires. I know how they work - the softer rubber and whatnot. Snow tires are what you need in snow ! Traction AND braking are so much better!!! Hopefully we don’t get much snow this year ?? My 2024 KIA Sportage awd has all season tires and I know they’re not good for snow …..😏😏😏
I will never rely on anything else than winter tires below 3C/37F, other tires will become just like ice hockey pucks, very bad grip. In the snow regular winter tires are OK but studded tires are even better in icy conditions. I just have to stay out of roads that don't allow studs.
In my older beater cars I just ran all seasons and didn’t care but we got my mom a new Passat this year and I definitely want to get snow tires on it to see how much better it can be
I have yet to own a FWD car with snow tires outperform my AWD's with good all seasons when the snow is 12" deep. I usually run General Altimax RT43's or Mastercraft Courser HSX tires for all (3) season in the snow sometimes and they do very well, and I use Firestone Winterforce or Mastercraft Glacier Trex for snow tires. Are they different? Most definitely. Would a FWD RAV4 with snow tires outperform my AWD RAV4 with the previous all seasons i mentioned? No way. Not in anything 8" or more. I have owned several FWD cars and they will not hang with the abilities of my 2 AWD cars around here. I assure you of that. I grew up in this when old man winter was consistently a lot grumpier for longer ewch winter so I know. When we went to AWD or 4WD around here, everyone made that switch and now not 1 driveway is a virgin to AWD or 4WD. 2, 3, 4, 5" a FWD is fine, but you aren't busting drifts and going around stuck vehicles on a curvy, banked road like we live on in these mountains in 6" of snow in your FWD and that's just that. When the interstate shuts down (it did last weekend into Monday) our side roads get backed up too. Well, the last chance we have to get home or to a store if need be, are forest roads that go higher in elevation and you are not taking either of these cars in this video across those mountains pushing snow with the front bumper and getting off of that forestry road without a tow, guaranteed. You may think I am crazy because i have a RAV4, well, think all you want. Driver skill makes a roller test on youtube look so dumb that they should take those videos off. Nothing about a roller test comes remotely close to real world and if you don't live in these conditions much and aren't subjected to real life scenarios I mentioned above, then take my word for it. Snow tires absolutely outperform all seasons but on an AWD or 4WD, you have a mini tank and people truly are silly for not using snow tires on their vehicles in the snow. Thanks for the upload. You did a phenomenal job and it is appreciated . however, I still believe in 7" of snow, the AWD in this video will still do better, especially up a hill. A FWD starts going side to side too much when spinning up a hill, but tye AWD tends to stay a little straighter
Dude I had studded snow tires on my mk5 Rabbit and I now have the same ones on my mk7 GTI and I won’t ever drive without them in the snow again. It makes me feel like Ken block.
to do the test right they should be exactly the same cars Passat FWD/AWD or Golf FWD/AWD, they got different weight and others and you use studded snow tyres vs no studd all season, if you have bottered to install so accuracy GPS system you should think little bit more about cars, but it give us jsut little bit imagine!
@@CashedOutCars of course, i fully understand but passat weight propobably over 200-250 kg more thank GOLF, thats why there is so huge braking distance difference, i am quite sure that with the same cars the difference would be smaller but still winter tyres with studds would perform better! thanks for video anyway!
I'd like to see the AWD with 4 studded tires. Here in the states, you cant put studded tires just on the front, has to be all 4 unless the car is a rear wheel drive
It's because putting studded tires only on front would be incredibly dangerous. And would make your car far more likely to oversteer while turning or braking.
AWD is for rally or offroad. Not for city driving. It is a feature that sells vehicles better. I run a RWD Buick Roadmaster in northern Canada and in all the ice and snow, no issues with rugged tires. (Not even winter tires). LoL
Acceleration wise the awd will beat a fwd and rwd, but the fwd is better than rwd. Difference will noticed after the vehicle is in motion, especially at higher speeds and conditions. I think rwd with winter tires handled the best though.
You are comparing studded winter tires to all-season tires. In these conditions, studded tires will also provide more braking than winter tires without studs. In summary, you should not generalize that winter tires brake much better. In many countries, studded tires are illegal, and good all-season tires can brake better than some budget winter tires without studs.
I drove an awd sedan with snow tires on last year, it performed like a fwd car in heavy snow still couldn’t corner directly but not drifting. I plan to buy a fwd manual let’s see how it does in the winter. Therefore, awd with winter tires can still make trouble when steering, and winter tires are actually help cars braking especially.
The risk is to get too confident with the grip in an AWD and not realize that braking and steering is the same as FWD with the same tires. I like to have the margins on my side so I use an AWD with studded tires in the winter but still respectful to road conditions.
Studless winter tires do a lot better on ice than they did just 5 or 10 years ago. They've made studded tires basically irrelevant for anything but hockey rink driving.
@@thomasdavis8117 I can attest to that. I have ran both on my mustang over the years and the studs are a waste unless your stopping on ice or glazed over packed snow on a really steep hill. I'm sticking to studless.
I would have liked to see the comparison between the tires on the same car. Different cars Different weight different drivetrain isn't going to be exact. If you can do this again with one car or both cars using the same setup and you have the opportunity to present the best of both opinions. FWD with all season vs winter tires. AWD with all season vs winter tires. And there for see who would be the champ of best traction in the winter. Good luck
The idea behind this video was to compare AWD with all seasons vs 2WD snow tires, not necessarily compare tires between the same car! While I understand the concern about differences in weight, unfortunately with cars like these VWs you can't change between 4WD and 2WD, so I had to use different cars. The snow tires / wheel don't fit on the Passat because the brakes don't clear the wheels, but if I get the opportunity in the future I'd make a video on it!
@@CashedOutCars you're comparing both AWD/ FWD and a different tires. Its not a very good test to see which is better. This is all irrelevant when you doing a comparison as the data is skewed, sorry but the response you made doesn't make this an idea testing situation.
Again, the point of this video is to show that just because you have AWD doesn’t mean you don’t need snow tires. All seasons don’t brake like snow tires in snow. That is why I made this video
@@CashedOutCars No, it’s not. The Passat is heavier, longer and wider than your GTI, it’s a completely invalid test, you need TWO gtis or TWO Passats and then I would be interested in your results. I still think you guys are from Canada or Minneapolis or somewhere close by up North. Not trying to hate, but we poke fun at the great white north.
@@thomasfx3190 Just read the title to get the intent. It's a question of if you have awd on your car and needing needing winter tires. Plenty of other tests comparing just tires on the same car.
good video but to all of you americans that do goot tests of this kind please use metric to so THE REST OF THE WORLD can benefits from your test. It is kinda a increase in audiens you get with the rest of the world.
Illogical test. Awd system are not meant to brake you faster. They are meant to provide you traction during launch in case of slippery conditions. In this video they did their job as they meant to be. For braking, not slipping at speeds winter tires are way to go. Ideally awd with winter tires will provide you most grip on road. People don't understand the mechanics of a AWD system and spread wrong information unfortunately.
This is NOT spreading wrong info, it's showing exactly what you described. AWD doesn't help you brake faster, that's the whole point of the breaking comparison in the video
@CashedOutCars Did help that you compared a larger heavier car to a performance hatchback. But that being said true 4WD will actually make your braking distance shorter in snow as demonstrated by the Team O'Neilds rally school
m.ua-cam.com/video/D5dCbFjvSdM/v-deo.html Here in this video, all these cars with all season tires for sure cuz if they tried go faster they would loose control, i had studded tires, and the reason i had to do that, was still legal, is because i didn’t wanna any of these people loose their control and cause accidents and close the pass again, i had to wait hours one day before because accident and heavy snow , pass was closed, so after late night i had to get going
Yes they are, but volkswagen’s 4-Motion system is a bit of a mix of both. It’s technically an AWD system, but it isn’t effectively always sending power to all 4 wheels except for when it needs to. Look into it, it’s a pretty neat system!
@@CashedOutCars Really? You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what is wrong with this "test": 1. You are comparing apples with pears.....if you want to compare tyres they need to be tested on similar cars (i.e. the same car with or without 4wd). Different cars=different characteristics, i.e. weights, braking competences, etc. Also these 2 cars are from a different era (2006 vs 2014). Furthermore 99% of all people who drive on winter tyres, drive on "normal" standard winter tyres and certainly not on "studded" winter tyres. These types of tyres are very specialised and are illegal in many countries, and if allowed then ONLY on snow covered roads, so NOT for normal road use. Anything else?
The point of this video is to show the differences in braking and acceleration performance between the two cars. It does that well. Here in the USA, studded tires are legal in almost all states in the winter and are quite common. These aren’t racing studs, they’re made for street tires. Also, as you can tell, this video isn’t filmed on ice or hard pack snow, so they’re actually not making as much of a difference as you think. The Passat is the first car of the B6, the GTI is the last year of the MK6. These cars actually overlap and were produced at the same time. Thank you for your comments!
it was a useful video. which is better in the snow, an AWD with all season tires or a FWD with studded snow tires? Just what i searched for and wanted to see
Get snow tires at great prices from Priority Tire: (Affiliate links for which I may be compensated) bit.ly/39dT1RV
Despite living in Colorado most of my life I had never bought snow tires until last year. My fwd Toyota Celica could not get up my driveway for nothing and I bought some slightly used snow tires for it. After that my driveway was no problem not even the uphill sections with 10 inches of snow. I even bombed a 1/2 mile down my neighbors road that was knee deep with no problem and he got stuck in his 4wd truck. I kept telling myself , why did I not buy these 20 yrs ago. Also the stopping and braking while turning became so much better, I didn’t skid through the turns anymore.I ended up parking my truck most of the winter and just driving the car to save gas. I recently traded the car in on a new Jetta and Im buying those same snow tires for it! Totally worth it!
They’re great, I’m glad you made the switch and are happy with it!
AWD wont help you out with braking or steering. Snow tires are a must if you are driving in an unplowed area.
where do you live?
@@brentdybevik2482 I live in the bay area, but I frequently drive to tahoe when I go to ski
Depends on the type of awd. Subaru and audi awd systems typically do not have issues with steering in unplowed areas.
I have a subaru legacy sedan on Yokohama avid ascend gt tires and we just got 6-8in of snow like a week ago and I was actually having to drive in a v sloped median to get around people who were in cars getting stuck on the actual road. My issue was ground clearance. I got through it but was shoving snow everywhere
@@Hallowsaw good to know! I bought a new legacy a couple days ago. Loving it so far
Who just drive little cars in the snow tho that’s where suv and trucks come in
I had a GTI with snow tires.....it was a beast in the snow
They do quite well!
Mk7?
An icy hill
I completely agree with you dude! I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
They make a massive difference! Thanks for your comment!
There not though have driven cars with both 2WD and AWD. Having 4WD or AWD can make the difference tons of wheelspin and not even really being able to tell its slippery
@@rangerover06scYou know what makes even more of a difference than AWD or 4WD? Snow tires. My FWD Golf with 650 CAD snow tires - all four tires plus steel rims and installation - can start, stop in, climb, and descend over 30 degree incline hills in Canada with no issues whatsoever even with a foot of snow. Most people who buy AWD SUVs don't need them and would be better served by good winter tires.
@@GlassOnion23do you need snow socks for the winter tyres on FWD car? Or is the winter tyres good enough?
@@Lotsofchai I've honestly never even heard of snow socks till now but no, I've never needed that where I live in Canada (Vancouver Island, BC). Chains and snow socks are necessary when the road is covered in mostly ice, and that's a whole other level from simply snow covered roads.
AWD doesn't help you stop...since ALL cars use all four tires for stopping. This date is in line w/ that fact. The best scenario is AWD + snow tires.
Absolutely, that’s the point that I wanted to illustrate most with this video!
Acceleration doesn’t matter at all, deceleration and traction is the key for winter driving and winter tires blow any AWD car out of the water
Precisely. I don't even understand this discussion of AWD vs winter tires. I can drive 80-120 km/h (depending on the road) safely with my FWD car with winter tires and make it stop as well. Safety first.
@@JohnJohnson-jm8ku why nobody gets this is baffling
Acceleration shows how much grip the tires have. Obviously not in this test with 2 different cars. Same car dif tires it is important
If that were true a RWD would be just as good as a FWD car in snow, but it's commonly known not be. Your most likely to lose traction while accelerating. Which is why AWD can make such a huge difference.
AWD is mostly designed for off-roading, it just so happens to be useful in winter as well. AWD checks which tire has the most traction on the ground and then focuses most of the engine power into it. This helps drivers get out of wet conditions like mud or snow from a stopped position and helps navigate rough terrain while driving along. Winter tires are only good for just that, winter. If your power train is off the ground, your screwed. Winter tires cant help you with that. If anything, having both AWD and winter tires is the best combination for the cold season.
When CashedOutCars releases a video about tire performance 😍😍😍
I do it for the fans👀
This test is only partially useful. You need to use the same vehicle, either one that has the ability to switch between awd and fwd or two of the same vehicles, one with awd and the other with fwd. Otherwise, you introduce other variables like weight, weight distribution, different size brakes,throttle response, shift mapping, etc., which end up skewing the results.
the AWD drive should have the advantage. This test is a good demonstration that shows the snow tires are superior in the winter
The Pass at weighs 100 Lbs less than the Golf GTi. The VR6 Passat has 280hp and the 2.0L GTi has 200hp. So the Pass at had the largest advantage. Less wright and much more power. Still care to argue?
So the tires would've increased performance by around 20% + on the same car with the same specs.
@@neilduncan8657 Not at all. An AWD vehicle is significantly more heavy and sluggish on acceleration due to parasitic loss of power from the front differential to the driveshaft then to the rear differential, to the rear axles.
So many people do not understand mechanical physics. The only time AWD has the upper hand is in turning and if the pwr:wgt ratio is identical then acceleration as well.
@@Twitch_Moderator The Passat weighs almost 1000 lbs more than the GTI
I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
I have snow tires for one car that I swap to survive braking when going downhill in snow. Yes my brakes locked up in all seasons and I slid down a slope in an inch of snow which fanned my love for snow tires - sumitro - ice edge !!!
I have those tires too! I used to have Nokians, but these were cheaper.
Big dub fan so very happy to see the Passat and GTI.
AWD is king around here but tires are needed regardless!
I have two older cars. 1984 datsun for summer and 1999 camry for winter the camry has snow tires. In the snow from a stop sign my camry routinely out accelerates four wheel drive trucks. My camry is slow but with snow tires it is a great winter car
AWD manages available traction, snow tire improves traction.
Great video I love the data comparison 🤓
Thanks! It really shows the difference👀
I run all seasons, it doesn’t snow enough where I live to justify buying dedicated winter tires. I just gotta drive more carefully when going up to the mountain and let xDrive do it’s thing lol
There's certainly a point where it's not worth it for a few storms a year. Enjoy!
You can get all seasons that are decent in snow, if they were superior to snow tires they wouldn’t make snow tires though!
Gotta love that xdrive
Well, we can’t all afford xdrive lol
What you need are all weather tires, basically seasons that actually perform in ALL seasons. You can run them year round and use them on the snow. Look at something like the Michelin Crossclimate2
Snow tires have a better stoping distance, put studds on them even better.Just common sense, I knew this back in the 1970"s. Great video.
I didn't know the Passat came with AWD, great video
I have front wheel drive and I have been using all season tires. I have gotten stuck, slipped and had to let myself literally roll down the road because I couldn't move. I'm planning on getting snow tires this year but not studded.
That should make a big difference!
I think a better testing would have been doing it with the same car. These cars are different but it's still somewhat useful.
VW’s 4WD systems don’t allow you to turn 4WD on and off, so that isn’t something I was able to test. If it was possible that is how I would have done it. The main point that I wanted to demonstrate was that 4WD makes up for the lack of snow tires while accelerating, but absolutely does not under braking, which I think this does a good job of showing
@@CashedOutCars Correct! Thank you for the testing the data is still useful. It will be cool to test this in a track with the same car to see which performs better in cornering with snow. Needless to say I think at the end of the day the best would be having an AWD with winter tires.
Agreed, AWD with snows is certainly the best. I’ll see what I can do about some snow testing around a course, it certainly would be fun!
Its worth noting studded snow tires aren't legal in some places as they really chew up the road surface. In my experience over the years even the cheapest snow tires will be better than any all seasons in the snow pretty much in all cases. I ran last winter on all seasons and multiple times I found myself skidding or engaging the ABS even while being careful. Got some cheap snow tires this year and had to drive in about 4 inches of wet sloppy snow earlier this week I struggled to even force it to lose traction.
I 100% agree. Glad to hear you made the switch!
No need to chose one or the other; snow tyres with 4WD, diff-lock, LSD and plenty of ground clearance. Then if you do get stuck you can console yourself with the thought that "I did everything I could." But you will get further up the hill than anyone else.
Jack, the Japan Alps Brit
Just watched your video. Great information. What are your thoughts on snow tires, two versus four. I’ve been driving front wheel drive cars for 20+ years and saw some videos on UA-cam that claim you should always put snow tires on all four wheels not just the drive wheels. Recently bought an all Wheel Dr., Hyundai Santa Fe and wondering if it’s worth putting snow tires on it at all as it has a special snow traction control, setting that is selectable besides being all-wheel-drive.
I'm living overseas in Sweden at the moment - snow tyres are a legal requirement here from Dec 1st to Mar 31st. Studs aren't allowed in most cities though, and Sweden has ... an interesting definition of cities. with populations as low as 3000
How do you afford that! Tires for an SUV in America can run you $800 to $1000 dollars for four. Times two if you through in snow tires
Snow tires plus 4WD. No way to skip any of it. Really needed only on about 2 weeks. But when you need them, it is great to have them. We have a steep incline of 250 m. Several times neighbors with snow tires but only FWD could not get home, I could. I would not drive all season tires in winter at all. Snow tires are the ones to go for me.
I was in a situation with a steep driveway in Vermont and FWD/snow tires and couldn't get up. Solved it by backing it up the hill...it was a beast with so much weight over those drive tires.
Give me the snow tires, didn’t even watch the video yet lol
Awesome test good work
Here's the pro choice: A good AWD system with a good set of snow tires. This AWD with all-season tires vs 2WD with snows, is a silly comparison. (Subaru with a set of Blizzaks = snowmobile)
up in nh you need snow tires ...move up here and you will make a comparison videos on what snow tire is better.. snow tires do make a huge improvement. when i had my all seasons on my 14 passat and my 07 escape i was sliding all over the place i poped snows on them i don't slide . i run snows on my awd as well.
Comparing my FWD (Honda Accord) all-season setup to my RWD (Mazda Miata) winter tire setup: winter tires are more confidence inspiring during acceleration and especially braking!
Great video and testing!
They make a big difference! I’ve always wanted a Miata to blast around in during winter, I can’t bring myself to expose mine to that kinda salt at the moment
I completely agree with you dude! I had driven so many years of my life with front wheel drive Buick LeSabres with just all-season tires year round here in ND. I never saw the point in buying snow tires and would just plan my paths around town, to make sure that I only had stop signs and traffic lights that were either on the level or facing down hill. Then I bought my 2005 Mustang and could not get around in the snow. First I bought all 4 studded snow tires for it. I could start out on glazed packed snow on steep hills and it would ever so slowly claw it's way to the top of the hill. Later I got rid of the studded tires and went to normal snow tires with no studs in them. I can still start out on really steep hills in 4 inches of snow and climb right up, as long as the snow is not packed and glazed over. As for on the highway, studded tires do not perform any better than studless tires. I think AWD cars are a waste of money and gas. Snow tires are like having 4wd. Never going back!
There’s no reason to rush to the dealership and buy an AWD. Get the winter tires and you’ll be fine. Down the road, when you’re ready to buy a new car, get an AWD with some All-weather or winter tires. All Weather are better than all season in the snow but not as good as winter. But you can run the all-weather tires all year long
AWD gives you the ability of not getting stuck, and being reliable in snowy weather, snow tires are obviously going to be better at breaking, but that's about the extent. Also using studded tires in this test feels a little like a cheat, they are quite the step above normal snow tires; theres a reason "snowmobile" have a studded track. When it comes down to it you have to weigh the better breaking with changing out tires every year and replacing the winter tires when they get worn if theres a dry spell, etc. Overall, if you're a safe/"good" driver I think AWD is preferred, but in an ideal world you would have AWD and snow tires.
We both know someone with a 1000whp GTR that’s on some R888’s, I think you should test that in the snow too, you know, purely for studying summer tire performance in snow
Now that’d be a fun video! I hope he’s ready to be smoked by a GTI and a 4-Motion mom-mobile
For getting unstuck I prefer awd even with all season tires
You didn't get the whole point of the video.
You're not gonna get stuck or very low chances with winter tires on first place so why get stuck?
Yah. Normally have always done snow tires. I know how they work - the softer rubber and whatnot. Snow tires are what you need in snow ! Traction AND braking are so much better!!! Hopefully we don’t get much snow this year ?? My 2024 KIA Sportage awd has all season tires and I know they’re not good for snow …..😏😏😏
If someone saw me driving with snow tires in the middle of Florida, I'm pretty sure they'd be concerned.
I've seen it from people out of town LOL
I will never rely on anything else than winter tires below 3C/37F, other tires will become just like ice hockey pucks, very bad grip. In the snow regular winter tires are OK but studded tires are even better in icy conditions. I just have to stay out of roads that don't allow studs.
we need a mx5 turbo vs 944 drag race video man !
I’ll make it happen come spring time, stay tuned!
@@CashedOutCars Very Cool ! stay safe brother.
Winter tires for winter conditions (snow, low weather temperature...)
Exactly!
True! When the temperature drops below 7C, we need winter tires. 👌🏼
In my older beater cars I just ran all seasons and didn’t care but we got my mom a new Passat this year and I definitely want to get snow tires on it to see how much better it can be
They certainly make a big difference!
I have yet to own a FWD car with snow tires outperform my AWD's with good all seasons when the snow is 12" deep. I usually run General Altimax RT43's or Mastercraft Courser HSX tires for all (3) season in the snow sometimes and they do very well, and I use Firestone Winterforce or Mastercraft Glacier Trex for snow tires. Are they different? Most definitely. Would a FWD RAV4 with snow tires outperform my AWD RAV4 with the previous all seasons i mentioned? No way. Not in anything 8" or more. I have owned several FWD cars and they will not hang with the abilities of my 2 AWD cars around here. I assure you of that. I grew up in this when old man winter was consistently a lot grumpier for longer ewch winter so I know. When we went to AWD or 4WD around here, everyone made that switch and now not 1 driveway is a virgin to AWD or 4WD. 2, 3, 4, 5" a FWD is fine, but you aren't busting drifts and going around stuck vehicles on a curvy, banked road like we live on in these mountains in 6" of snow in your FWD and that's just that.
When the interstate shuts down (it did last weekend into Monday) our side roads get backed up too. Well, the last chance we have to get home or to a store if need be, are forest roads that go higher in elevation and you are not taking either of these cars in this video across those mountains pushing snow with the front bumper and getting off of that forestry road without a tow, guaranteed. You may think I am crazy because i have a RAV4, well, think all you want. Driver skill makes a roller test on youtube look so dumb that they should take those videos off. Nothing about a roller test comes remotely close to real world and if you don't live in these conditions much and aren't subjected to real life scenarios I mentioned above, then take my word for it. Snow tires absolutely outperform all seasons but on an AWD or 4WD, you have a mini tank and people truly are silly for not using snow tires on their vehicles in the snow. Thanks for the upload. You did a phenomenal job and it is appreciated . however, I still believe in 7" of snow, the AWD in this video will still do better, especially up a hill. A FWD starts going side to side too much when spinning up a hill, but tye AWD tends to stay a little straighter
FWD cars can't handle over 4" of snow.
Very good info
Thanks! Be safe out there!
Can you do the same test with The new Michelin Cross Climate 2 A/S tires?
Dude I had studded snow tires on my mk5 Rabbit and I now have the same ones on my mk7 GTI and I won’t ever drive without them in the snow again. It makes me feel like Ken block.
They truly make a huge difference. Enjoy them and be safe out there!
to do the test right they should be exactly the same cars Passat FWD/AWD or Golf FWD/AWD, they got different weight and others and you use studded snow tyres vs no studd all season, if you have bottered to install so accuracy GPS system you should think little bit more about cars, but it give us jsut little bit imagine!
These are the cars and equipment that I had available for the test, so it's how I was able to do it
@@CashedOutCars of course, i fully understand but passat weight propobably over 200-250 kg more thank GOLF, thats why there is so huge braking distance difference, i am quite sure that with the same cars the difference would be smaller but still winter tyres with studds would perform better! thanks for video anyway!
You need to do the same car with and without snow tires to get any useful data.
That’s not the point of the video, it’s to show an AWD car isn’t a remedy for snow tires
I'd like to see the AWD with 4 studded tires. Here in the states, you cant put studded tires just on the front, has to be all 4 unless the car is a rear wheel drive
That's an interesting law that I didn't know about!
@@CashedOutCars I've never heard that law here in ND. The law is No studded tires till Oct. 15. Studded tires need to be off April 15.
It's because putting studded tires only on front would be incredibly dangerous. And would make your car far more likely to oversteer while turning or braking.
I use summer tires in a rwd suv and I can get anywhere I want to go
I don’t run all-seasons nor winter tires. I run all-weather year ‘round.
AWD is for rally or offroad. Not for city driving. It is a feature that sells vehicles better. I run a RWD Buick Roadmaster in northern Canada and in all the ice and snow, no issues with rugged tires. (Not even winter tires). LoL
Acceleration wise the awd will beat a fwd and rwd, but the fwd is better than rwd. Difference will noticed after the vehicle is in motion, especially at higher speeds and conditions. I think rwd with winter tires handled the best though.
don't need snow tires, but sometimres i put snow chains.
That's a good alternative!
You didn't account for weight differences? A lighter car (e.g. Golf) stops shorter than a heavier car (e.g. Passat).
You are comparing studded winter tires to all-season tires. In these conditions, studded tires will also provide more braking than winter tires without studs. In summary, you should not generalize that winter tires brake much better. In many countries, studded tires are illegal, and good all-season tires can brake better than some budget winter tires without studs.
I am still shocked so many states have asinine traction tire/chain laws.. farrrr too many treat awd/4wd as a cure-all for winter conditions.
I agree, 4WD and AWD Doesn't help when you need to stop!
The price for rims & Snow tires always win. No thanks!
saving some money worth more than saving a pedestrian life?
I drove an awd sedan with snow tires on last year, it performed like a fwd car in heavy snow still couldn’t corner directly but not drifting. I plan to buy a fwd manual let’s see how it does in the winter. Therefore, awd with winter tires can still make trouble when steering, and winter tires are actually help cars braking especially.
It very much depends on the car how it’ll handle! Lots of AWD cars are heavy front bias
The risk is to get too confident with the grip in an AWD and not realize that braking and steering is the same as FWD with the same tires. I like to have the margins on my side so I use an AWD with studded tires in the winter but still respectful to road conditions.
This winter imma get winter tires for my Honda CR-V lol
All weather tires are the way to go
Toyo all seasons would have been more competitive
Studded winter tyres v all season not a fair comparison and in many places stuffed tyres are not even allowed....
awd is shit with summer tires on snow since it doesn't stop:D
Agreed!
All season AWD MITSUBISHI ENDEAVOR
Love snow tires but the studs are annoying on the dry pavement.
Studless winter tires do a lot better on ice than they did just 5 or 10 years ago. They've made studded tires basically irrelevant for anything but hockey rink driving.
@@thomasdavis8117 I can attest to that. I have ran both on my mustang over the years and the studs are a waste unless your stopping on ice or glazed over packed snow on a really steep hill. I'm sticking to studless.
Could I race you at on track I do race league and a pretty fast driver?
Maybe someday! I haven’t gone in a while but once I get back into it I’d love to
@@CashedOutCars they have changed the track I actually recently got the 4th fastest time there in a adult carts and I’m only 13👍
Snow tires!
Gotta love em!
You need to disable ABS
For probably 98 percent of drivers out there, ABS will be better than no ABS which is why I filmed this how I did
Down goes Frasier
Using two cars adds too much variation.
I would have liked to see the comparison between the tires on the same car. Different cars Different weight different drivetrain isn't going to be exact. If you can do this again with one car or both cars using the same setup and you have the opportunity to present the best of both opinions. FWD with all season vs winter tires. AWD with all season vs winter tires. And there for see who would be the champ of best traction in the winter. Good luck
The idea behind this video was to compare AWD with all seasons vs 2WD snow tires, not necessarily compare tires between the same car! While I understand the concern about differences in weight, unfortunately with cars like these VWs you can't change between 4WD and 2WD, so I had to use different cars. The snow tires / wheel don't fit on the Passat because the brakes don't clear the wheels, but if I get the opportunity in the future I'd make a video on it!
@@CashedOutCars you're comparing both AWD/ FWD and a different tires. Its not a very good test to see which is better. This is all irrelevant when you doing a comparison as the data is skewed, sorry but the response you made doesn't make this an idea testing situation.
Again, the point of this video is to show that just because you have AWD doesn’t mean you don’t need snow tires. All seasons don’t brake like snow tires in snow. That is why I made this video
need a deeper snow comparison. 1 inch of snow ain't shit
If we get more snow this year Ill do more tests
You didn’t test on the same car and used some sketchy app to test performance…and you guys are Canadian I think. 🥱
The point was not to use the same car. Dragy is tried and true to be nearly identical to actual drag strip times, and we are not canadian
@@CashedOutCars No, it’s not. The Passat is heavier, longer and wider than your GTI, it’s a completely invalid test, you need TWO gtis or TWO Passats and then I would be interested in your results. I still think you guys are from Canada or Minneapolis or somewhere close by up North. Not trying to hate, but we poke fun at the great white north.
@@thomasfx3190 Just read the title to get the intent. It's a question of if you have awd on your car and needing needing winter tires. Plenty of other tests comparing just tires on the same car.
good video but to all of you americans that do goot tests of this kind please use metric to so THE REST OF THE WORLD can benefits from your test. It is kinda a increase in audiens you get with the rest of the world.
Illogical test. Awd system are not meant to brake you faster. They are meant to provide you traction during launch in case of slippery conditions. In this video they did their job as they meant to be. For braking, not slipping at speeds winter tires are way to go. Ideally awd with winter tires will provide you most grip on road. People don't understand the mechanics of a AWD system and spread wrong information unfortunately.
This is NOT spreading wrong info, it's showing exactly what you described. AWD doesn't help you brake faster, that's the whole point of the breaking comparison in the video
@CashedOutCars Did help that you compared a larger heavier car to a performance hatchback. But that being said true 4WD will actually make your braking distance shorter in snow as demonstrated by the Team O'Neilds rally school
I run summer tires year-round...
Have you tried to run them in the snow? If so, how’d it go?
@@CashedOutCars Nah I live in Florida with my Miata, but I took my friend's fwd focus up to colorado and it drove ok, just had to be careful.
I did for years too, but then when I bought a mustang I had no choice. The mustang now goes through as much as a fwd car.
m.ua-cam.com/video/D5dCbFjvSdM/v-deo.html
Here in this video, all these cars with all season tires for sure cuz if they tried go faster they would loose control, i had studded tires, and the reason i had to do that, was still legal, is because i didn’t wanna any of these people loose their control and cause accidents and close the pass again, i had to wait hours one day before because accident and heavy snow , pass was closed, so after late night i had to get going
Studs vs no studs...pointless video.
This course was weak
You talk too much.
Thank you for listening :)
2wd 4wd & awd are all different
Yes they are, but volkswagen’s 4-Motion system is a bit of a mix of both. It’s technically an AWD system, but it isn’t effectively always sending power to all 4 wheels except for when it needs to. Look into it, it’s a pretty neat system!
Complete nonsense!!
How so?
@@CashedOutCars Really? You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what is wrong with this "test": 1. You are comparing apples with pears.....if you want to compare tyres they need to be tested on similar cars (i.e. the same car with or without 4wd). Different cars=different characteristics, i.e. weights, braking competences, etc. Also these 2 cars are from a different era (2006 vs 2014). Furthermore 99% of all people who drive on winter tyres, drive on "normal" standard winter tyres and certainly not on "studded" winter tyres. These types of tyres are very specialised and are illegal in many countries, and if allowed then ONLY on snow covered roads, so NOT for normal road use. Anything else?
The point of this video is to show the differences in braking and acceleration performance between the two cars. It does that well. Here in the USA, studded tires are legal in almost all states in the winter and are quite common. These aren’t racing studs, they’re made for street tires. Also, as you can tell, this video isn’t filmed on ice or hard pack snow, so they’re actually not making as much of a difference as you think. The Passat is the first car of the B6, the GTI is the last year of the MK6. These cars actually overlap and were produced at the same time. Thank you for your comments!
@@CashedOutCars You are clearly missing the point.....
it was a useful video. which is better in the snow, an AWD with all season tires or a FWD with studded snow tires? Just what i searched for and wanted to see