The Best Cars for Snow and Winter Driving

The best cars for snow and winter driving are those with high ground clearance and a high-performance drivetrain that helps you power over icy roads while maintaining necessary traction. You can improve your existing car by installing dedicated winter tires, using snow chains and implementing safer driving behavior in deceptively dangerous winter weather.

Read on to learn more about the best cars for snow driving, what makes certain vehicle types ideal for winter conditions and winter driving tips that help keep you safe.

On This Page

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  The Best Cars for Snow and Winter Conditions

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  What Types of Cars Are Best for Snow and Winter Driving?

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  What Are the Best Safety Features for Driving Through Snow?

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  Is 4WD or AWD Better for Snow?

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  Winter Driving Tips

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  FAQs

The Best Cars for Snow and Winter Conditions

The ideal cars for driving in snowy winter conditions have a mix of high-performing drivetrains, safety technologies and comfort features. A few top-ranking vehicles for snow driving include:^[1]

What Types of Cars Are Best for Snow and Winter Driving?

Ideally, you’ll look for a vehicle with all-wheel drive, significant ground clearance and even weight distribution for the best snow and winter driving. These traits provide the best traction on icy roads, reduce your braking distance and reduce your chances of getting stuck, all of which can help you get to your destination and lower the risk of an accident.^[2]

Vehicles with safety features can also improve driving in snow, such as traction controls, vehicle stability systems or snow modes for your transmission that reduce wheel slip.^[2]

While not always necessary for driving, various comfort features can improve the driving experience in colder winter climates, such as a heated steering wheel or remote start to warm up your car before you even open the door. Other heating features, such as heated wipers and heated side mirrors, can help keep your vision clear in icy winter weather, reducing the risk of accidents.^[2]

What Types of Cars Aren't Great for Snow and Winter Driving?

Some types of cars, like pickup trucks, don’t have even weight distribution due to a lighter back end, which can reduce traction and lead to skidding on icy roads. However, placing more weight in the trunk or truck bed can help even out the weight, improving grip on snow-covered roads. Additionally, low-to-the-ground cars, like many sports vehicles, can make driving through heavy snowfall or snow-covered obstacles difficult, potentially damaging your car.^[2]

What Are the Best Safety Features for Driving Through Snow?

Safety features have become standard in nearly all passenger vehicles, with many, such as anti-lock brakes, automatic emergency braking and electronic stability control, becoming mandated by law.^[3] However, many new safety features are available with different car models or as optional upgrades. Not only can safety features reduce the risk of an accident in snowy conditions, but some may even lead to discounts on your car insurance, depending on the feature and your insurer.

A few of the standout safety features that are beneficial when driving through snow include:^[1]

• Adaptive headlights: These headlights help light the direction your car is facing rather than just head-on. Depending on the type of headlights, they may either move to focus on the direction your vehicle is turning or feature additional lights that activate when you turn.
• Anti-lock brakes and electronic stability control: These features can help prevent your vehicle from swerving by automatically locking the specific brakes to help reorient the car in the right direction.
• Automatic high beams: This feature turns high beams on automatically and off when another vehicle is detected nearby to prevent blinding them.
• Blind-spot monitoring: This feature detects when you don’t have clearance to turn or merge into another lane and warns you if you start to do so. This feature even works when visibility is low, such as in heavy snowfall, when manually checking your blind spots is more difficult.
• Forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking: This system detects an obstacle ahead and automatically brakes to avoid a collision, which can be life-saving in snowy, low-visibility conditions. While this feature typically works with stationary objects, like a stopped car on the road, more advanced technologies can also detect moving objects, such as pedestrians and cyclists.
• Ground clearance: While not always considered a safety feature, greater ground clearance can help your car more easily pass over snow and other road obstacles. This can help reduce the risk of hitting hazards on the road, which could otherwise lead to an accident.
• LED headlights and taillights: Compared to standard halogen bulbs, these lights offer better illumination, helping you see farther and giving you extra time to brake if an obstacle or another car is ahead. Similarly, brighter taillights can help those behind you stop sooner and prevent a fender bender.
• Snow tires: These dedicated winter tires typically feature a tread pattern that provides better traction, helping you drive steadily on icy roads.
• Tire chains: These chains wrap around your tires to improve traction without replacing them. However, they may limit your driving speed, with most tire chains only handling about 30 mph.^[4]

Is 4WD or AWD Better for Snow?

Between the two options, all-wheel drive is preferable for driving in snow in most situations when compared to four-wheel drive (4WD). Both types of drive are suitable for snowy driving, but the automatic nature of AWD and its improved fuel economy slightly push it ahead of 4WD.^[1]

AWD

Most all-wheel-drive systems distribute power to either the front (front-wheel drive) or rear (rear-wheel drive) axles to propel the car forward, respectively. This “part-time,” or on-demand, AWD system will then engage the alternate axle if it detects slipping on the primary axle, such as on slick or icy roads. This provides additional torque for traction and power when needed while reducing fuel costs.^[1]

Some AWD systems operate in full-time mode, delivering power to each axle continuously and adjusting the split as needed. However, this full-time version isn’t as fuel-efficient as part-time AWD.^[1]

Both AWD systems operate automatically without requiring driver input, which can make them more convenient and may reduce the need for quick reactions when your wheels begin to slip on the road.^[1]

4WD

Four-wheel drive systems engage a lock between the front and rear axles to maintain equal speeds, which can help in low-traction conditions such as heavy snow. However, this can make turning corners more difficult. Additionally, most 4WD systems can’t be activated above a certain speed and must be manually engaged, which can limit usability. Much like AWD, this type of drivetrain can be full- or part-time, with part-time options typically favoring the rear axle.^[1]

Four-wheel drive vehicles can be ideal for driving in heavy, deep snow and other rugged terrain. Still, given their limited versatility across road types and lower fuel economy, they may not be as suitable for year-round use in as many weather and environmental conditions as AWD cars.

Winter Driving Tips

Below are a few winter driving tips for driving in winter:

• Avoid using cruise control when driving on slippery roads.
• Do not let your car warm up in an enclosed space, such as a garage, as this can cause carbon monoxide to build up, which is poisonous.
• Keep at least half a tank of gas in your car at all times.
• Check your tire pressure and tread regularly. Worn or underinflated tires can reduce traction on snow-covered roads.
• Keep emergency warming items inside your car, such as blankets, extra food and water, an ice scraper, medications and other essentials.
• Consider staying off the roads if it is snowing and driving is not necessary.
• Drive slowly on snow, including when accelerating and braking, to reduce the risk of slipping.
• Increase the distance between your car and the vehicle in front of you compared with warmer weather, as stopping distances are longer on snow-slicked roads.
• Avoid stopping unless necessary. Instead, slow to a crawl before a light or stalled traffic, as stopping entirely can cause you to lose inertia, making it more difficult to restart on snowy roads.
• Avoid accelerating or stopping on hills. Applying too much power can cause wheel spin, and stopping can reduce the momentum needed to reach the top.
• Use snow tires or tire chains to improve traction in snowy conditions.
• Consider roadside assistance coverage if your vehicle becomes stuck and needs towing.
• Review your auto insurance coverage. If you don’t already have full coverage, consider purchasing collision protection to help cover your car repairs if snow causes you to slide into another vehicle, a snow-covered hazard or someone else’s property. You may also want to consider purchasing UM/UIM coverage in case someone hits your car due to icy winter weather and doesn’t have enough liability coverage.