Drive with rear-wheel drive in winter

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Driving in winter with rear-wheel drive vehicles requires some practice. Otherwise, when accelerating, the rear of the car may break away on icy roads.

Drive a car safely in winter
Drive a car safely in winter © Rainer_Tegtmeier / Pixelio

Rear-wheel drive driving

Cars with rear-wheel drive are still being manufactured today. Since most people are used to driving with front-wheel drive these days, when driving with rear-wheel drive there is especially in the winter occasional problems.

  • The reasons for this are as follows: First, there is usually significantly less load on the rear axle. This is because the engine is mostly installed in the front, while only the trunk is available in the rear. As a result, the weight distribution in vehicles is rather irregular in that the main weight of the vehicle is on the front axle.
  • When driving on smooth surfaces, however, a heavy weight on the driving axle is an advantage, because this is better pressed onto the road surface and thus a better power transmission is given.
  • The second reason for the different driving behavior with rear-wheel drive in winter is the vehicle breaking away when accelerating too hard, for example when cornering or turning.
  • Breaking out the rear can cause uncomfortable situations for the driver, as vehicles parked on the roadside could be damaged.
    • Cars with rear-wheel drive - this has to be taken into account on black ice

    Rear-wheel drive cars are not always easy to drive, especially in winter.

How to drive safely in winter

  1. Good tires with Winter tires is very important especially in winter. This is even more true for rear-wheel drive vehicles than for other cars. Get good winter tires and mount them in good time (in October).
  2. Be very careful with accelerating when driving around bends or when turning. To test the driving behavior of your vehicle in winter, you can practice a little in a large parking lot.
  3. Here you can test how your vehicle begins to break away with the rear when you accelerate. However, be very careful when doing this in order to keep the vehicle under control.
  4. If you have to start off with rear-wheel drive on a hill or an incline, you should not accelerate too much so that the rear of the vehicle cannot break away here either.

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