Winter driving can be challenging enough without someone telling you to drive in reverse, but that’s exactly what I’m going to recommend for rare situations where driving forward with front-wheel drive just isn’t enough.
Admittedly, the idea of driving backwards is a bit strange, but in special circumstances it works better with a front-wheel drive vehicle than going forward. Special circumstances are deep snow and uphill.
For those of us who live with a long, steep driveway, it can be a challenge to climb a hill in deep snow, even with front-wheel drive. Going backwards with a front-wheel drive vehicle can help overcome the difficulty. This is why:
- Its drive wheels are lower, so gravity shifts more weight onto them for better traction.
- You have to drive slower to maintain steering control, and that tends to promote traction rather than wheelspin.
- The car’s front wheels are now on packed snow (thanks to the rear wheels) instead of loose snow, providing extra traction.
- If you feel like you are going to “focus high” in deep snow, you can stop and go (downhill) because the drive wheels are not in deep snow yet, so they will have better traction. Also, the weight of the motor and gravity are in your favor.
So when winter driving presents you with a challenge, like climbing a slope in deep snow, you can overcome it by going backwards with your front-wheel drive vehicle.
Don’t try this, except in situations where your path of travel is relatively straight, there’s no traffic to contend with, and there isn’t a ditch or embankment nearby that would present a hazard if you stray a bit while trying. drive in a direction you are not used to.
