I haven't had my Taco in the snow yet since it's 5 months old, but having grown up in the Cleveland area I've driven through a little snow the past 24 driving yrs. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

RWD stinks, plain and simple. We grew up driving RWD GM V8's and they were no fun. Today's cars with traction control are infinitely better, primarily limited by clearance. Good tires make a world of difference as well.

FWD is as good or better than 4WD. The FWD cars we've had just go and go. The weight on the front driven tires is an immense traction advantage. The only limitation we've run into is, yes, clearance.

4WD works well if there's snow everywhere and it's deep. I don't see a need for 4WD in snow up to 10-12" unless it's icy underneath. Tires make a difference here again. Weight on the rear axle helps.

I've driven my 94 through up to 2.5 feet of snow w/ 31" tires in 4WD and not had any real problems. I don't *think* that's doable in FWD, definitely not in RWD.

Our AWD vehicles have far and away been the best. We've had a Montero, Discovery, and now a CRV and they handle superbly - the first two due to weight, fulltime AWD (CRV has reactive AWD), clearance, and tires.

Where we do have problems is when the plows make the huge berms of snow in front of driveways, which we just have to blast through. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

So bring your vehicle up to Cleveland in late January for a first-hand test. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />