Best 'bad weather' vehicle?

I've always lived in states that border Canada, and have snowy winters, and I've always done well with a front-wheel drive compact or sedan. Caution and skill are more important than the vehicle you're in. I've seen too many people from out-of-state who think their 4WD is going to make them safe..then drive too fast, make unsafe lane changes, etc. I use good all-season radials, and check my treads going into each winter (Often buying a new set of tires in October). I weight the back end of the car with two or three bags of sand (useful for putting under the driven wheels in an emergency too.) I travel with a cellphone, a blanket, hat, gloves, winter coat, and a AAA card. It would be wise to carry along some water, rations, and a candle and matches, but I honestly don't. If my one-way commute is anticipated to go over 2 hrs due to weather, I sometimes call in. An extra set of clothes in a BOB would be a great idea if I'm ever stuck at work in a snowstorm, and have to ditch to a hotel, but I never have.
 
I grew up in NE Kentucky and I'm now in Iowa so I know the ice drill. My best advice is get a pair of snow tires with studs for the ice. I had an 84 T-bird and with two sand tubes in back and the studded snow tires on back I made it through some bad ice storms in the 90's in KY. Obviously 4 wheel is great but on ice it doesn't really matter unless your getting out of the ditch.

Just make sure that you take them off when the bad weather is over as those studs that do great on ice make your tires slick on bare wet pavement!
 
Yet another vote for Subarus, especially if you have to deal with hills. When I had one I used to notice that I could go uphill with ease compared to heavier Blazers, Broncos, etc that would tend to fishtail. If the snow got extremely deep, then the advantage would go back to the Blazer with its superior ground clearance.

A point that I have not seen mentioned is that full-time 4WD systems should have a big advantage if you have to deal with dry sections of road mixed with snowy/icy sections. With full time 4wd, you don't have to shift when the road changes.

And I agree with the advice to always remind yourself to take it slowly and smoothly.
 
hannibal lecter spyderco said:
how reliable is a subaru ? I looked up subaru on cardomain.org and it doesn't seem the are too reliable.
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Like anything else, you've got to take care of them. They can be prone to blowing head gaskets; I don't know if its some sort of defect or what. My son did it on his car. But, my family has had 3 subbies with collectively about 500,000 miles on them and that's the only major problem we've had.

I'd put a new subaru up against any of the other imports.
 
jkarp_53 said:
Since that first drive up, we've been numerous times in pretty nasty conditions and that car is a confidence builder every time. No slipping, straight tracking while braking, and good gas mileage too.
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Exactly. After driving my Impreza through two winters now, I will never own anything but AWD.

I knew going into buying a Subaru that gas mileage wasn't going to be what it is on other cars in that size class. But even when gas hit $4.30+ around here, it was still worth it to get 24mpg and feel safe than 35+mpg and drive a beer can on wheels.

And while 24mpg may not be the best in the world, it's a lot compared to the 13 I got from my v8 T-bird.
 
Shann said:
Like anything else, you've got to take care of them. They can be prone to blowing head gaskets; I don't know if its some sort of defect or what. My son did it on his car. But, my family has had 3 subbies with collectively about 500,000 miles on them and that's the only major problem we've had.

I'd put a new subaru up against any of the other imports.
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Poor design, regardless of how you take care of it will fail on you. I love the way english cars look and have owned many of them and taken care of them like no ones business but they constantly fail. I've owned modern wranglers and love the way they look but I can tell you how many times they just blow up compared to japanese counter part.

When it comes to japanese cars

I would rank it

1. toyota
2. honda
3 everyone else.
 
I love my Toyotas, I have had a 1988 truck, and now, a 2008 Tacoma. I wish the Tacoma had more ground clearance and a mechanical 4 wheel drive system like my '88, but it sure rides nice. Very sure footed in the snow!
 
Can't beat a Toyota IMO. I've seen too many other brands have all sorts of problems as the miles rack up. Toyota's just seem to be put together right and with good stuff.
 
hannibal lecter spyderco said:
how reliable is a subaru ? I looked up subaru on cardomain.org and it doesn't seem the are too reliable.
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I'm on my second one, an '01 Outback that I brought new. The dealer had an oil change for life buy for $300, so I did it and between every 3000-3500 miles I've had the oil changed on my car. The only issue I had was at 120K there was a recall notice about the head gasket weeping and because of my high mileage, Subaru of America would only pay half, but I had the belts changed at the same time for an additional $40 so I feel satisfied. My first Outback, a '98 went 60K before rolling on some black ice and being totalled... :rolleyes: It still drove into the next town with most of the windows cracked and the top mushed in. I'm going to buy another one when this one dies. :thumbup:
 
jill jackson said:
Can't beat a Toyota IMO. I've seen too many other brands have all sorts of problems as the miles rack up. Toyota's just seem to be put together right and with good stuff.
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I agree. My daily driver is a '99 Tacoma TRD V6 Ext Cab 4x4 with a Fabtech lift. I've owned about 4 other Toyota trucks that ran perfect when I sold them. Only sold to buy a newer model. My current Tacoma does all I ever asked of it and then some. I have owned this one for five years and never had any problems. People I know never listen when I tell them to go Toyota, so I don't feel bad when their vehicles break down and mine is still running strong. I'll never buy another make. :cool:
 
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