I dont want do go through another winter in a rear-wheel drive convertable, so I am looking for a AWD winter car.
The obvious choice would be a subaru or an Audi, but I really would like do drive something with a little more personallity. I was thinking about a 2003 2.5 with 60-70k miles on it. I will be driving 2000miles/year or less, mainly during winter.

I have a few questions:

Is manual or automatic better in ice and snow?

How is the maintenace cost compared with a similar aged/milage Audi A4 quattro?

 

It is hard to say what is better in snow.. I like the manual for the fun factor.. and I LOVE 4 wheel drifting in the snow..

But if you are more cautious.... the auto tranny is definetly a point and shoot kinda car. easy to drive and probably equally fast along a back road session in the snow.
Choose the manual because you like it .. not for extra performance.

Maintenace cost so far for me looks high compared to the competition. more failures.. and the parts are more $$ than for BMW or Audi. dont forget to factor in depreciation.. I think this will be a killer.

THe Jag should be excellent in the snow.. with the rear torque bias, and if you get an older car it has the viscous coupling . I hear the new ones are eliminated.
The VC is critical if you want the max winter performance. I think the jag is a bit heavy for being totally tossable, but well balanced.

FOr sure when you put any 4wd car in the ditch it always goes way farther in the ditch.. but dont blame the car it is a driver problem.

 

Thanks for the replies.
When did they change from the viscous coupling? I am looking at a 2003.

 

I am not totally convinced about the VC being dropped. THe service manager at my local dealer told me this the other day.
He said that was part of the big price drop but i see US write ups that claim the VC is there still.

IF anyone has the car up in the air you can check by trying to turn just one front wheel, parking brake on, and trans in Neutral. You need a helper to hold the other front wheel still, if there is a VC there will be resistance to turning just one wheel.

Alternatively, you can release the handbrake and see if the rear wheels turn when you turn the front ones.. ( same direction. )
B

 

from my experience with a Manual transmission Honda Prelude (FWD) in the winter
(i now drive a Ford Explorer Sport 4x4)
Compared to my Mom's Current Automatic Acura Integra GS (FWD)
The initial take off on snow or ice from a stop seems to be a bit easier in the auto because it is harder to give it too much throttle and spin the tire unless you really arent paying attention
after that the manual seems to be much better for control because for the most part,
on FWD vehicles the back end comes out when lifting off the throttle and not braking becuase the fornt end hsa engine braking occurring and the rear has more enertia.
with a manual it is much easier to control becuase if you dont want throttle or brakes, you can simply put the clutch in and the back end wont come out nearly as easily.

As for the fun to drive factor, the manual is much easier to control drifts and better to play with.

Now with 4wd and AWD vehicles, in auto transmission engine breaking will not cause the back end to come out because all 4 wheels will have the same effect
so really the auto COULD be safer but take off is about the same, i however would choose the manual because it is more fun to drive,
and it wont shift when you dont want it to for example going up a hill and the auto down shifts when you are not expecting can equate to loss of control,
the manual will obviously not do this.

So there are ups and downs
but you can actually control almost everything with a manual and this can be safer in the long run.

Bottom line you can either control what it does or react to what it wants to do and try to control that.

 

Thanks for all the replies.
I am going to test drive a 2003 manual with 60k miles on it this weekend. Wish me luck..