Just so you realize, the tires on your car are 90% of the limiting factor when it comes to how well a car handles on snow or ice. The tires are the part that touch the road. Just as you can walk through snow much better when you have on a pair of good snow boots, so can your car.

I once made it through a New York winter with an Acura NSX and a set of Bridgestone Blizzack snow tires. Just get a good set of snow tires and you should be fine.

The main advantage of most of the SUVs is that you can get away with using just one set of all season tires. On a rear drive car, if you try to get through the winter with the standard all season tires, you will most likely have trouble.