Onefut

When we went to Vermont I noticed that a lot of folk had a car for summer and a 4x4 for winter, some even had plows on them

so the question is do you have one adn do you use it all year round or just in winter & would we need one for winter in NS?

iaink

No one needs 4x4 unless they plan to live a fair distance off the beaten track.

Snow clearance is very efficient here. Spend your money on decent winter tires instead.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Winter_Driving-Canada


I started with a 4x4 jeep, graduated to a AWD subaru, and now realise that a FWD Civic (no traction or stability control, just winter tires) is more than able to deal with anything i will see driving back and forth in the winter.

The jeep sucked gas like it was going out of style. The subaru was a great improvement in all respects, but uses a bit of extra fuel as its engaged all the time, but its expensive to buy and expensive to fix. FWD honda is just fine.

Luckyone

Hi there,
I've drove 70,000 plus kms a year for almost 20 years, and 19 winters in Nova Scotia. There are many AWD and 4x4's around, and I have no doubt they are useful when the snow is deep and crisp and even

However, for me a regular car, with a good set of snow tires does just fine, and with the amount of miles I cover the extra miles per gallon on diesel at 85cents a litre suits me. Each to their own I guess. The ones you've seen with plows on front are no doubt the plow guys that charge to clear out peoples driveways, and have nothing to do with winter driving in a 4x4. The ones without a plow are often used all year round, but some folks get an older and less expensive truck for winter use only.

All down to funds and what you want to spend your money on. Drive safe and remember a good set of snow tires will work out fine.

MarkG

I was finally convinced to get snow tires this winter by the various discussions here, and 99% of the time they've been fine on our antique FWD Buick: it ultimately doesn't have the traction of an AWD with similar tires, but most of the time driving around town you don't really need it.

Certainly way better than the all season tires were on the car, though it's lucky that my girlfriend realised one night that the truck behind us wasn't going to stop at the red light when we did and changed lanes to get out of its way while it slid right through the junction .

That said, we'd still have bought the Impreza if the seats weren't so uncomfortable: I don't know whether that's a flaw with this year's cars or we just got a bad demo car because we didn't have any problems with them when we test-drove one last year.

Atlantic Xpat

You can drive a 4x4 in the summer as well you know.

Is 4x4 really needed? No, you can exist most places without an SUV. Personally I feel more secure in the winter in a 4x4 and I like the high driving position and the ability to tow a trailer.

iaink

You can tow a trailer without 4x4, and get stadium seating and a tippy CoG without it too (how I hate being unable to see past all those stupid tall vans and SUVs with their dark tinted windows)


My problem with 4x4 / AWD for people new to winter driving is it TOTALY gives you a false sense of security, you can have no idea how treatcherous condition are as a result. You can take off in marginal traction and be barreling along and then, when its too late, you realise that AWD in no way helps you stop any faster than 2WD; Thats where you are totally dependent on how good your tires are.

Butch Cassidy

Totally

Atlantic Xpat

Yah, but then you are driving a minivan and frankly I'd rather shoot myself than do that. (Ask me again if there's ever AX Jnr #2) I like 4x4's and whilst our next one is likely to be a Subaru Forester as opposed to a real offroader, I'd rather drive one than a car.

iaink

Plenty of 2WD explorers etc around. Not sure the towing capacity of a Forester is all that high.

Im not going to persecute anyone for liking 4 wheel drive...My old Subaru Legacy GT is a great car for canadian conditions. But there are down sides too, and its certainly a luxury rather than a necessity, unless you live off the beaten path (as I said earlier).

R I C H

I've a 4x4 truck which rarely gets it's 4WD engaged, and an AWD Subaru. My driveway is long (takes a couple of hours to plow in the winter) and steep in parts, two wheel drive won't make it up in the winter if I've not managed to plow in good time, so AWD/4x4 makes sense to me.

For general highway driving it's rarely necessary, though for trips to the ski hill the additional traction has proved useful on occasion.

Atlantic Xpat

There's no clucking point IMHO in a 2wd SUV. You might as well drive a station wagon. If you are going to the bother of the poor handling dynamics of a SUV then get the 4x4/AWD to justify it!

Forester is 1087kg which is enough for an ATV or Skidoo on a trailer which is my interest.

Novocastrian

AX, I'm with iain on this. The only good thing about the higher driving position is being in a better position to see past all the other high driving positions.

R I C H

I purchased an 09 Forester XT last summer - drop me a line if you've any questions about it.

iaink

To my mind there is very little practical distinction between vans and SUVs in terms of handling and performance, its just different styling and price points. Beyond that 4X4 is an option on either, so its just a question of image, as no one is pretending they take their SUVs anywhere the ground clearance might be a practical issue.

The SUV was just a way for the big 3 to get around US federal fuel economy regulations and make better profit margins on selling trucks without beds, although I will concede it makes sense if you tow a lot (the ladder frame ones anyway) or have a large dog and dont like station wagons.

Having done the Jeep thing Id rather be lower to the ground with nimble handling and better green credentials, so give me a legacy wagon (or an audi) over an SUV any day. Seems to me SUVs sell for more money and I am damned if I can see any reason for it other than "because we say so". I guess I am just too cheap to buy into it

Atlantic Xpat

For me with a lower back problem I find climbing up into a SUV better than down into a car. And as I've said, I wont do the Minivan thing.