I was wondering the same thing, how do those little bitty Smart cars or others in that class handle snow. We have a RWD sissy SUV, but I've always had RWD and am the fishtail queen, rarely leaving my lane. I got stuck once because of an idgit in a mustang taking up 3 lanes to fishtail up a hill. We were in the middle of getting 18 inches, and only the two center lanes had been plowed, leaving about 4 inches. The sides had about 9 inches. I was in a Jeep RWD Cherokee (another worthless sissy SUV). I got out of his way but got my wheels stuck in the curb lane. Waited for an opening, fishtailed back out onto the "clear" road. Made it up the hill. He had buried himself just at the top and I guess didn't understand how to utilize a fishtail for escape. The 2nd hill, steeper but shorter, another idgit hit his brakes half way up and I lost my momentum, as slow as it was. Went sideways and ended up in some deeper stuff. So there I sat, in rush hour no less. Watched a city bus miss my front end by 4 inches in a fish tail. I could see the eyes of the passengers! A pickup fishtailed right across my front end and ended up stuck in front of me, after that near miss, I realized I had to pee. Hiked to the nearest house, where the woman was very sweet and said "It happens every year!".
Some college nuts showed up in a lifted 4x4 Wrangler and towed the stuck people out of the deep stuff. I had two more hills... luckily a plow had gone through the worse one. My street, I made it half way, had to hike to the house and get a shovel and make tracks.
Another storm, they just wouldn't shut down the mall where I was working as a hair stylist. I called the corporate office, they said we could only leave if the mall closed early. Dang. By the time they closed, I went outside, had flash backs to that last storm, and called my husband to come get me with his 4x4 POS Isuzu Trooper. That thing was a tank. In Columbus, another big storm. We were up there for some Nat. Guard stuff for my husband. I got way stuck, stucker than I've ever been. LOL But, luckily the Nat. Guard had some humvees at the hotel, so one of them came and towed me out of the ditch I slid into. Fishtails do nothing on ice. Ice under snow is not cool.
So, would a person in the north fair better with a compact tiny thing (what gets me is semis zooming by on the interstate in heavy rain!), or is it yet another vehicle that gives you the perfect reason to stay the heck home?
