First of all i live in Michigan, so the winters get pretty nasty.I want to get a 1994 Mazda miata, a little two seater convertible. This car is rear wheel drive and my dad wants me to get a front wheel drive car because he says its much safer during the winter. Is this true? And how much safer is it??
Most modern cars have front wheel drive for a very good reason: front wheel drive is safer and more controllable for the average driver. A front wheel drive vehicle has most of its weight on the front wheels, usually between 60% and 70%, so that it tends to go straight, just like an arrow where the weight is concentrated in the arrowhead. On slippery surfaces, if you give it too much gas in a turn, the front wheels will spin, causing the car to skid straight ahead. Even an inattentive driver will immediately realize there is a problem and let up on the gas, quickly regaining control: whereas a car with rear wheel drive in the same situation might spin the rear out causing the inattentive driver to lose control. Front wheel drive is also great in the snow. Since most of the weight is on the drive wheels, you get better traction, and if you do get stuck with a spinning wheel in snow or mud, just turn the steering wheel a bit to allow the front tires to get a new bite.
If rear wheel drive is so bad, how did we survive? Nobody had FWD until Olds made the Toronado, and not very many of them were on the road, but we still made it everywhere we wanted to go. Why are most taxis and police cars RWD? Why is Pontiac going back to RWD? Why is Chrysler making more RWD? Why is Mustang still RWD. What about Mercedes, and most Volvos? The truth is FWD is no safer that RWD in the winter, it is all about having the right winter tires and knowing how to drive. That isn't to say some cars aren't better balanced for winter driving than others. The best winter driving car I have ever owned was a 1976 Mercury Bobcat wagon, RWD. A close second is a 1995 Escort, FWD. I have also driven full size RWD cars in winter without problem. I would suggest the Miata may not be the greatest winter car unless you plan on putting a good set of winter tires, like Michelin X-Ice, or something like that. Not because it is a rear wheel drive car, but because it is a small low car, built for open road handling. You cannot make a blanket statement that FWD is better or safer in winter, and if you believe that, you have not learned to drive in winter. FWD will get you going a little better up a slippery slope you have stopped on, that is the only real advantage, taking the same basic car, with the same tires, and the same driver skill set. I have driven well over a million and a half miles over 42 years, living in Edmonton, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg, I do know winter driving. I have never had an accident on ice, or in snow in all that time.
