Quote:
Originally Posted by E46M54325Ci
It wasn't until a European ski trip a few years ago that I realized all the fuss in western states about chains or 4wd was a total bunch of crap. We had a low tier, fwd passat wagon with proper snow tires and it just charged along without any hesitation whatsoever. certainly better that these awd crossovers rolling around with "all-season" tires.
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I wouldn't generalize to "western states." Rather, it is California that mandates chains or 4WD in certain situations. Perhaps Nevada does also, I'm not sure. This is not anything that I see in Idaho, for example, and I don't recall ever seeing it in Montana either.
The rationale in California is (presumably) that many or most of the drivers in slick mountainous areas during the winter are people who live in the large, balmy, coastal cities, and hence their cars are ill-equipped for winter driving. This is their way of forcing people to equip their cars or come equipped for winter driving conditions.