I've owned a couple of 91 Celicas when I lived up in Maryland. Fun in the snow! Not necessarily so much fun in the rain, if you think it can do superthings when it really can't, say goodbye to a control arm and tie rod here and there
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94 Prizm LSi 1.8. Auto and still quick as hell.
The trick in my experience are the tires and the driver. My Uniroyal Tiger Paw Tourings up front are awesome in the snow. The Daytons before that? Not so much. But it does tend to go the direction it's pointed and doesn't slip. It's biggest failing in the snow is it's light weight, low ride height, and 2WD mean you really need to pick your battles though on hills and going through deeper stuff in lots, shoulders, and developments. I only drive in light snow on the road, both because much deeper and it's harder for the car to handle and because I don't trust the other people on the road.
Too bad it's still only average or even below average in the rain for some reason to me. Wheels spin too readily on starts, braking is just average.
Well in reality the design of your tires plays a big role in handling. General suspension design and quality of shock absorbers, etc also helps. But honestly I don't see what the big surprise is here. Japan isn't a tropical place. It snows there too. Why wouldn't Japanese cars do good in the snow?
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94 Prizm LSi 1.8. Auto and still quick as hell.
Clearance was the only issue I ever had but then all my cars get 4 snows for winter. The Corolla had over the years Nokian Hak 10's, Q, RSI and was never stuck. Common sense dictated that when it was REALLY snowing the Sequoia (with 4 Nokian Hak SUV's, and/or General Altimax Arctic) stayed in the front of the driveway.
The Corolla just won't do this and this lot had been plowed during the night before. The autoparts store (busted wiper blade) was where the snow line on top of the bumper came from . These are the General Altimax Arctic's and yes I definitely recommend them. The Sonata has Continental ExtremeWinterContacts and they are also excellent. I like them because they can be cross rotated to even out the wear, are VERY quiet even at 85 mph, and handle at least as good as my Michelin MXV4 S8's did in dry and wet.
I did a mountain run not that long ago with my 205/45/17s on fresh snow/ice, about 6 inches, no salt, twisty switchbacks galore. While it wasn't fun (and we slid for a quarter-mile when I deliberately locked the brakes on a downhill stretch!) it was very predictable if you know what you're doing.
Only high-centered on snow once. The trick is that if you don't have the ground clearance (drop + my Hotchkis swaybars) or traction, you gotta go with the momentum instead. This applies to driveways as well as drifts.
At least the tow hooks are easy to get at.
Oh, and if you need tire chains, don't get chains, get cables. Trust me they make all the difference in the world.
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. These are the General Altimax Arctic's and yes I definitely recommend them. The Sonata has Continental ExtremeWinterContacts and they are also excellent. I like them because they can be cross rotated to even out the wear, are VERY quiet even at 85 mph, and handle at least as good as my Michelin MXV4 S8's did in dry and wet. 
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