You'll be fine. I remember visiting northern Quebec and I saw more Toyota Corollas than I saw 4WD vehciles. I had a Corolla, it was terrible in the snow, but I suspect it's not too bad with snow tires.

AWD is a nice to have feature if you can afford it, but in the north, they generally maintain the roads well. You still have ground clearance and larger diameter wheels, which is the biggest issue in deep snow, not having all 4 wheels providing traction it's all that critical. If you NEED 4WD, you probably shouldn't be out driving anyway. Jsut wait for the snow plows.

I equate 4WD to choosing a 4 cylinder vs. a 6 cylinder. its' nice to have the extra pwoer, but you don't really need it.

I drove a Toyota Tercel without snow tires in Michigan for 8 years. I only got stuck 3 times, but I was goofing around being a teenager ).


As others have said... 2-3 sets of snow tires on a 2nd set of rims for winter over the life of the vehcile is probably money better spent, than getting AWD and the extra maintenance costs.

If I lived where the roads were snow covered most of the winter, I'd have a set of snow tires too.

one of my previous vehciles was a '04 Honda Accord Coupe. Next to my CR-V, it was the best snow vehicle I ever owned. I never had a problem even in 6" deep snow. So in perspective, what I'm gaining from AWD in the similar CR-V, it probably minimal.

 

As with many answers, it depends. Do you live out in the boonies where the roads aren't plowed? If so, AWD is the way to go. If your roads are plowed during and after snow storms, not necessary. Unless, for example, you have a long uphill/downhill driveway when AWD is very useful.

I still live in Michigan, where this winter has been comparatively mild. Wife's car is front wheel drive with a set of new and quite good all season Conti ExtremeContact DWS tires on it. When the snow is measured in inches, she takes the AWD Pilot, and I get my old CRV (driven by daughter when she's home) back. Our drive isn't that steep, but its a long uphill drive to get to the garage. AWD gets up that hill without any drama. All of the front wheel drive cars spin tires -- dating back to a '93 Plymouth minivan, a '94 Accord, a 98 Olds minivan, a 94 Buick (family pass around car), and an '06 Volvo wagon. Traction control operates via the brakes, so it doesn't really help that much. There seem to be many off lease CRV's of the current body style on the market here now. Haven't checked pricing, but you might want to do so.

Extra maintenance cost is minimal on CRV -- rear diff fluid replacement at approx 30 K intervals at about $30 per service. Fuel economy not much different, either. Resale usually higher with AWD. But so is initial cost.

 

I live in the burbs and don't really need the AWD 90% of the time. I guess from your feedback that the AWD would be nice to have but having the FWD is ok. My needs are to simply have a roomy, reliable, economical daily commuter that will last and the CRV put a checkmark in all three boxes.

My next issue is in regards to the winter tires. I've read alot about the TPMS issues and have the three options:

1-swap tires twice a year...initial cost about 1k plus the 120 for the installation. I will probably have to change the stems after three or four years and mags too since the salt they put on the roads eats the finish

2- buy a set of winter tires mounted on the steelies with the stems along with a TPMS programming tool

3- set of winter tires on the steelies less the sensors and ignore the low pressure light on the dash. From what I've read though this will make it impossible to disengage the traction control making it difficult to get out of a show bank.

Thank you all for your input.

 

If you're going to keep the car for a while, just go ahead and get the sensors with a set of steel wheels and be done with it.

THen again, for what you'll spend on tire wheels and such, you could get AWD. Although FWD with snow tires, will typically outperform AWD with all seasons.

 

I'm happy to report that we made our purchase of a FWD LX on Friday.

Thank you all for your help.

 

If you could, let us know how it performs in the snow and ice with FWD, with and without snow tires. I'm curious how well traction control works with FWD only and aiding acceleration form a stop.

My wife's FWD Altima needs a new set of tires. It's amazing how bad it is in the snow compared to my CR-V. It doens't help that the car is 400lbs lighter and the Nissan 2.5L is a torque monster and it has a touchy throttle and a short gearing form a stop. It really, really could use either traction control, or a "snow mode" that softens the throttle and holds a taller gear ratio.

 

This year we've been very lucky and had much less snow than usual. Our neighbors to the south (NY, NJ) have had to deal with quite a bit more snow. In Quebec, winter tires are now manditory and one of the reasons they say that the winter tires are essential to safe winter driving is not only to get better traction in the deep snow, it is also to keep traction in extreme cold. All season tires tend to get very hard when temperatures go below freezing and thus when driving on a very cold day,even with no snow on the ground, you can very easily lose control. I can say that from experience, I have always had two sets of tires,quality winter tires and quality summer tires. You do have to make that extra initial investiment but remember that your eight tires will last twice a long as if you would have only one set of 4 seasons with the benefit of being ready to tackle the elements no matter what.

If you want to have the best of both worlds for your Altima, you may want to consider the Nokian WRG series tires which claim to be "year round tires". They are not cheap but you will same the installation charges associated to swiching every season.

I'll keep you posted on how the CRV fairs in the snow.

 

We don't get enough snow or have long enough of a winter to justify any type of snow tire where I live IMO. The added road noise and reduction in dry handling in the other 9 months of the year, isn't worth it.

If I lieved where the road and highways stayed hardpacked, or we frequently got snow storms with >6" (frequently = 4+ times per season), then I might consider snow tires. We only get 1 or 2 snow events over 6" most years and the roads around town are usually clear down to the pavement in a week. the highways are clear in 2-3 days. SO I'd be driving on pavement most of the winter, where the snow tires would be a disadvantage, have shorter life, noisier and less traction.

 

4WD simply helps in the "extreme" conditions where it's questionable if you should go out or now. granted it hasn't snowed much this winter, but honestly i've yet to need it. the price is carrying around all the weight most of teh year, and the payoff is that two or three times a year you get a situation that would be do-able without 4WD, but with you simply don't have to think about it.

i think you'll be fine.

 

4wd

Cant even find a EX-L FWD here in northern Indiana/SW Michigan. Dealer has not had any '10 CR-V we can test drive for over 2 weeks. Need to buy in the next 1-2 weeks so have no options but AWD and limited color selections.

 

Hi litlet, we're in the exact same situation that you described above. I notice you went ahead with the 2wd version. Did you get snow/ice since you bought it, how has it behave, I assume it is similar to a sedan.

thanks!

 

I don't know about everyone else, but I had to go through the huge dumping of snow we got here in NJ this year. All the 2wd cars my family has were stuck pretty good and required a LOT of shoveling/pushing/swearing to dig out. My 2001 AWD CR-V needed almost nothing, it just came flying out of the snow bank it was stuck in with a little clearing in the front.

Actually the snowstorms this year prompted me to sell my FWD sedan and pick up a 2002 CR-V for myself, also with AWD. I just like having it for piece of mind and if I ever do get in a situation where I get stuck I'll have all 4 wheels going instead of 2. It isn't just snow you can get stuck in... Getting stuck in the mud or if you have to go offroad to get around an accident or something. You don't use it much when you have it but when you don't you get into a situation every so often where you think "man I wish I had 4wd...".

I know the OP already got FWD, hopefully it all works out well for him. I'd never buy a 2WD/FWD when 4WD/AWD is available. You can always find very low mileage, basically new vehicles with RTAWD if brand new is too much. My parents picked up a loaded 2007 EX AWD with 19,000 miles for $18,500 last year as an example.

 

I just like having it for piece of mind and if I ever do get in a situation where I get stuck I'll have all 4 wheels going instead of 2.

More accurately, Its' really 2 wheels providing traction instead of just 1... although traction control does provide somewhat of a limited slip effect... but it's still not the same as having locking differentials or a true LSD. Either way, you are still doubling the amount of traction available.

 

Has anyone read this article?

2008 page
http://www.rubicon-trail.com/4WD101/difference_4WD_awd.html

Wonder Honda has done anything about this since 2008? My guess is no.

I have decided to get a 4WD myself. Any other useful info?

 

That test has been around for a while. There's no doubting the that Suburu system is superior. But it's also more expensive. Subaru's are decontented significantly to reach a price point.

No, Honda has not completely redesigned their AWD system, adding complexity and weight, just so it can pass a carefully designed test that replicates a very uncommon scenerio on an incline.

Keep in mind a motorcycle with studded tires would also fail that test as well, but would easily navigate the most extreme icy condtions you could find.

I've gone up some very steep city, snowy inclines in the snow in my CR-V and I never had a problem. So if my CR-V works just fine in the most extreme conditons I've ever encountered... why do I need something more expensive and complicated?

 

Remember that the CR-V is FWD until the wheels start to slip. Thats when the 4WD automatically kicks-in.
In my opinion... Whats the point of driving an SUV if it doesn't have 4WD??
Get a station wagon instead.

I've been driving an oldschool Non-4WD Subaru for a few years. Believe me it gets scary in the snow. Even though we only experience snow 2-3 months out of the year, it's worth the extra ssafety in both snowy, and rainy conditions.

Go 4WD all the way

 

The added ground clearance and larger diameter, higher profile tires are as muh or more beneficial than the 4WD. CUV's also have better visibility and some are more manueverable than longer wheelbase and longer OAL wagons. My CR-V is much easier to manuever and park than our Nissan Altima and it clears snow banks, ruts and rides better over large bumps and broken pavement with it's longer suspension travel.

Actually, I think it has better steering feel and handles better overall in all conditions than the Altima.

 

I too prefer 4WD, especially in the winter, it is worth it!