Winter Driving - are you prepared?

Comments

• dtownfb Member Posts: 2,918

  March 2010

  I don't think any blade can remove dirt and snow completely without some washer fluid. In the winter, I highly recommend keeping an extra bottle of winter blend washer fluid in the trunk. Also get a set of winter blades.

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• kdshapiro Member Posts: 5,751

  March 2010

  The bigger they are the harder they fall though. A SUV with a poor crash rating will likely cause a fatality when dancing with large immovable objects, while a smaller car with a stellar rating will likely keep the driver and passengers alive.
  
  I got around fine in the snow with the Subaru, there has to be more than two feet on the ground before there is an issue. For 90% of the country who don't live in insane snow conditions a v8 and 4wd is unnecessary in 2010.

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• Mr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

  December 2010

  It's interesting how well heavier RWD cars often do in even serious snow conditions. Undoubtedly, some people are probably paying a good deal extra for an AWD when they could undoubtedly do without it 99% of the time (and stay home that one day).
  
  I wonder how many RWD drivers bother to put snows on all 4 wheels. It makes a difference.

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• ray80 Member Posts: 1,655

  December 2010

  Sometimes at least heavy is good (may depend on weight distribution).
  
  My 64 Catalina was a tank in winter with its retread snows and would go through almost anything, once you got it moving).
  My 66 LeMans 77 Volare, and 71 dart on the other hand were rear end floaty and while I could get through with winters I for sure needed my winter driving skills.
  
  Speaking of tires I wonder sometime how often it happens people find their brand new shiny vehicle with all seasons go through the slop fine the first year only to find it not so good going in subsequent years and end up swapping for new magic winter all seasons (and throwing away the old one that may still have acceptable milage on them for dry or wet/unfrozen conditions)

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• Mr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481

  December 2010

  Well "all-season" is a compromise tire for people who live in climates that might only have a few inches of snow a year. It's expensive to keep two sets of tires and rims but if you gotta go in the snow and have no choice then I guess you have to gear up to give yourself the best chances.

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• nwng Member Posts: 663

  January 2011

  where I am in the NE, there's snow and ice starting probably from nov til march. If you have the space (4 set of snow tires and rims are 4 ft tall and 2 ft wide), I would definitely get them plus you average out the wear and tear on the "all season" tires anyways. Snow tires can last quite a few winters.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  December 2011

  A freelance writer is working on a story about roadside emergency kits for an insurance company magazine. She’s looking for a good, personal example of why you need an emergency kit in your car -- or about that time you really you wish you'd had one. If you’d like to be interviewed, please send a brief overview of your story to Jenny at atfrostyshouse@gmail.com by 12/10/11.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  February 2014

  These could be real handy.

  "A thermostat triggers the blades to heat when the ambient temperature is around 35 degrees. The blade heats to between 70 and 90 degrees where it contacts the windshield, he added, thus melting away snow and ice — and also preventing snow and ice from building up on the blade while you drive through inclement weather."

  Heated wipers melt winter off windshield (Detroit News)

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• kurtamaxxxguy Member Posts: 1,798

  March 2014

  After one web review panned the '14 Subaru Forester XT for getting stuck in the snow (its Bridgestone tires simply slid the XT off the icy test trail), I dumped its Bridgestones for Nokian WRG2's (WRG3's are better but are not available for XT's 18" wheels). During Portland OR's Feburary '14 blizzard, those tires let the XT get home, including climbing a 35 degree snow covered hill with no problems.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  I got a set of those for both our cars. They make me overconfident in the '97 Outback. They are nice in the rain for the '99 Quest but didn't help the FWD van a whole lot in all our snow.

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