Wisconsin Winter- How will it drive?

[hattbm]

I am looking into buying a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid SE Sedan Front-wheel Drive. I am trading in a car that did not handle winter driving/snow well at all and I don't want to trade in for a car that I will have the same problem with. So my question is does anyone have any insight on how the Fusion Hybrids handle in snowy/icy weather?

 

Thank you!

[corncobs]

Best advice I can give you ( besides buying an FFH ;) ) is to spend an extra grand and treat yourself to a set of winter tires.

 

The FFH handles like any other front wheel sedan but the tires make all the difference.

Once the tires have the right traction it's really hard to get this car into an unexpected slide.

[jeffo65]

We spend 2 weeks, ususally around New Years, in the Rhinelander area at our family's cabin. The last 2 years we have taken our FFH up to the Rhinelander area for 2 weeks around New Years and have not had any issues with the winter roads. It is a front wheel drive car that handles snowy roads fine. It does have low clearance so you won't be driving in deep snow. We still had the original Goodyear tires on at the time and it was fine. Like corncobs states above about switching over to dedicated winter tires is always a plus.

[hattbm]

Thanks for your help! Your advice really solidified my choice and I'm going ahead with the purchase :)

[machoman1337]

My last Fusion was AWD and without winter tires, it slipped all over the place on Toronto ice, and braking took 2x as long as with winter tires. I basically proved first-hand that AWD is utterly useless if you don't have the right tires for the job.

 

A FWD with winter tires will beat an AWD with all-seasons any day of the snowy week.

 

If you shop around you can get a good deal. When I was living in Ontario, I paid $532 for a set of 4 winter tires, and the installation and rotation/balancing was $88. This is all in Canadian dollars after 13% tax. It was again $88 when I switched the tires again for the summer. This is pocket change compared to the thousands of dollars of repairs you could face after suffering an accident in the snow due to loss of control. As is the rule of thumb, USA is cheaper than Canada so you should have no problem finding an even better deal!

 

If you're skilled at replacing tires yourself, then investing in a set of spare rims would save you a ton of time (no waiting at shops) since you can leave the winter tires on the rims.

[corncobs]

 

A FWD with winter tires will beat an AWD with all-seasons any day of the snowy week.

 

 

If you're skilled at replacing tires yourself, then investing in a set of spare rims would save you a ton of time (no waiting at shops) since you can leave the winter tires on the rims.

Two very true statements except that I don't think you need be super skilled to swap tires. Well I should say that since the "experts" damaged the rim when they used the impact wrench.

Not worth the free wheel swap if you ask me but most places charge between $10-$20.