I'm interested in trading in my Golf for one of the new models. Hiowever, as I have recently moved to a village, where many of the roads may not get cleared of snow in Winter, I'm wondering about the relative merits of 2WD + Winter tyres or something with 4WD.

Apparently, there are no plans for a 4motion version of the new Golf for the forseeable future, and the availability of the Quattro version of the new A3 is also not expected until sometime next year. So if I didn't get a Golf, I would probably go for a Q3.

Anyone have any experience of such 4WD SUVs, particularly in snow and ice, and would winter tyres on a 2WD be better or worse ?