Best vehicle for driving in the snow

I've owned a few H2's and F350 diesels and they were as good as one would think in the snow. My wife drives a roughly one year old X5 50. I was worried about her taking the kids to school in any amount of snow with those huge 315/35-20's on the rear. I had heard that no tire of that size would ever work in the snow. I bought her a pair of Toyo Observe G02 Plus tires; 275/40-20 on the front and 315/35-20 on the rear. These tires come with crushed walnut shells embedded into the rubber. The very next day we were hit with a decent snow of about 6". That thing was a literal tank. I was worried about my wife driving all 3 kids to granny's house with terrible road conditions so I drove them. My goodness, one would have thought that BMW's sole purpose was to drive on slush, ice and snow roads.
Unfortunately it's 55 degrees today in Indy as I sit here staring outside wishing for more snow.

 

I have a Ford Expedition 4x4 with the limited slip rear axle. We rarely find ice or snow on passable roads bad enough to have to dig the chains out. It was one of the few vehicles on the road the last couple ice storms in the Portland area. I would put winter tires on it if we traveled further in the nasty stuff but having the chains available helps a lot.

We travel across country in the winter and the Expedition has always got us home safe and sound on some pretty hostile roads.

I would suggest that for regular driving on snow it is not the vehicle so much as the tires that make a huge difference. My old Mazda B2000 did just fine on snow and ice with chains. The traction to stop and steer provides the most benefit.

 

An American Expedition Vehicles Jeep Wrangler.

 

+1. I've been driving this 2013 WRX on winter tires for the past week and I'm in love. "Best" is subjective; to me it means the vehicle that actually had me looking forward to it snowing.

I linked to my review too if anyone's interested.
http://doubleclutch.ca/3386/2013-subaru-wrx/
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How about this guy
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af7COWxEi3c[/ame]

 

I have an Audi A6, which does fine in the snow. However, over a foot or so and it starts to plow up in front of the car, eventually making it impassable.

I think the classic Range Rover is the best car I've driven in snow, although my wife had a Lexus RX-300 with 4 studded snow tires that was pretty unstoppable-- more the tires than the car, but still...

I think any decent 4x4 with studded snow tires and ground clearance would be fine.