Every car has different handling characteristics. You should know what your car can and cannot do in the snow. (Hint: It can't do any of the things it was doing on the TV commercial that made you buy it.) You should know if you have front, rear, part-time or full-time four-wheel drive; antilock brakes; traction control; and stability control. You should know what kind of tires are on the car, and how all those things work and how they help you or don't help you. In fact, it's not a bad idea to do a little driving in an empty parking lot on a snowy day just so you know what to expect from your car when you drive on snowy roads.