Zaedock, I agree, part time will help with engine braking (and I do downshift my auto). When it gets really icy / nasty, I've been known to come to a near-stop at the top of a hill and crawl down it in 4LO and 1st or 2nd gear. Keep in mind, your Jeeps are both shorter in wheelbase than mine, so they'll rotate around turns more easily, which means the part-time understeer isn't as severe, and it's harder to recover once the tail comes out in 2wd (in 4wd, you can apply power to help pull it straight).
The understeer can be countered with the application of enough power to pull you through the turn, but I generally take the racing approach to corners (and don't put down power before the apex), so being in part time causes it to push badly coming into the turn, only to settle out once I get on the gas. In 2wd, the turn-in is much better, and unless I put down way too much power coming out, the tail stays in line pretty well.
In addition, I HATE understeer. I'd rather be going down the road sideways at full opposite lock than understeering.
Also, I don't see being in 2wd as a problem, as I've never spun the Jeep, even when screwing around and hanging the tail out pretty far in the snow, or after one particularly nasty mid-corner ice patch that led to 90* worth of snap oversteer very quickly while under throttle. Scared the [censored] out of my passengers, and I was just surprised that I could move the steering wheel that fast.
I will agree with your assessment that Jeeps are pretty good in snow, at least in terms of raw ability to progress through it and get somewhere. However, a Wrangler or other SWB Jeep isn't great as far as getting somewhere any bit quickly in the snow, and it's certainly hard to drive well in the snow.
I'd say I'm pretty good at driving in the snow (and I make sure to get some parking lot practice in at the beginning of each winter), and have never had an issue handling the ZJ, just times where I wish I had more grip. Honestly, I think I've lost the tail more times unintentionally in the rain than in the snow, as the handling in this thing is a little quirky (stomp on it a bit pulling out of a driveway in the rain, it spins a little but the tail stays in line pretty well, however, come through a tight turn where the road angle changes noticeably, such as crossing over the crown at an intersection while turning left, at any real speed, and the tail will just unweight and slide out, even with no throttle. It's easy to pull it back, but it's not exactly the time most people would expect it to slide).
The understeer can be countered with the application of enough power to pull you through the turn, but I generally take the racing approach to corners (and don't put down power before the apex), so being in part time causes it to push badly coming into the turn, only to settle out once I get on the gas. In 2wd, the turn-in is much better, and unless I put down way too much power coming out, the tail stays in line pretty well.
In addition, I HATE understeer. I'd rather be going down the road sideways at full opposite lock than understeering.
Also, I don't see being in 2wd as a problem, as I've never spun the Jeep, even when screwing around and hanging the tail out pretty far in the snow, or after one particularly nasty mid-corner ice patch that led to 90* worth of snap oversteer very quickly while under throttle. Scared the [censored] out of my passengers, and I was just surprised that I could move the steering wheel that fast.
I will agree with your assessment that Jeeps are pretty good in snow, at least in terms of raw ability to progress through it and get somewhere. However, a Wrangler or other SWB Jeep isn't great as far as getting somewhere any bit quickly in the snow, and it's certainly hard to drive well in the snow.
I'd say I'm pretty good at driving in the snow (and I make sure to get some parking lot practice in at the beginning of each winter), and have never had an issue handling the ZJ, just times where I wish I had more grip. Honestly, I think I've lost the tail more times unintentionally in the rain than in the snow, as the handling in this thing is a little quirky (stomp on it a bit pulling out of a driveway in the rain, it spins a little but the tail stays in line pretty well, however, come through a tight turn where the road angle changes noticeably, such as crossing over the crown at an intersection while turning left, at any real speed, and the tail will just unweight and slide out, even with no throttle. It's easy to pull it back, but it's not exactly the time most people would expect it to slide).
