Originally posted by Sigo
'eh you were talking about non-belief in weight having anything to do with handling in snow, but yet you used a pickup as an example of "non-handling". Pickups lack weight in the rear and thusly have no weight over the drive axle to sustain snow driving.
Semi's either run fwy tires or fwy tires w/ chains. If they're putting chains on then you probably shouldn't be driving. Their sheer weight dictates a great contact with the road.
If you're trying to say that semi trailer trucks handle well in the snow, I have to disagree with you. They're very unstable, and tend to jacknife with the slightest provocation in the snow.
Sheer weight does
not dictate good contact with the road. Weight divided by the area of the contact patch does make a difference in the snow, but absolute weight alone is not relevant. Those of us who drive their cars year 'round sometimes replace our big, wide "handling" tires with narrower winter tires. This doesn't increase the weight of the car one bit, but increases roadholding because a smaller patch puts more PSI on the road, which squishes out more snow.