MarkG

I'm thinking of buying this for next winter, though I don't know what the SGI insurance lady would make of it . Being amphibious would come in handy in Saskatoon too, when the bridges are closed.

http://www.tanksforsale.co.uk/OT90_A..._sale_page.htm

Bit big for the garage, but we do have parking out on the street in front of the house.

Onefut

now that wud be cool
certainly wudnt be much of a problem if someone bumped into ya

scrubbedexpat091

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

Never been to BC lower mainland in the snow have you.

4x4 isn't really necessary for city driving, but some prefer them. I always drove around in a pontiac sunfire with only minor issues.

chinnybloke

When we came we bought a 2003 Toyota Highlander (4wd), after 6 months we needed a 2nd vehicle so I bought a used Subaru Outback Limited (awd). I had in my mind we needed AWD/4WD.

The Subaru (I know, I know, lots of people think they are great and have no problems with them) but ours was a complete nightmare. The $&^!ing thing CONSTANTLY went wrong and it was unbelievably uncomfortable for me on anything over 100km trips. My legs used to go numb. The Subaru went in December of 2008 and I replaced it with a RWD car.

The winter that has just gone has convinced me you definitely do not need AWD or 4WD. Both the Toyota and car have X-Ice tyres on them. The Toyota has no traction control or stability control, but the RWD car has both. We've slid and gone sideways several times in the Toyota because by the time the wheels are spinning and I notice, its too late and you slide. However in the car I can feel the traction/stability control fighting it and correcting it - plus the light flashes on the dash to tell me the car is sorting out my bad driving. I guess the ideal would be a 4WD with traction and stability control and owning your own gas station.

I've testing it on my long drive. Start at same starting point then foot down and see what happens. The RWD car with stability control is better. The ONLY thing the Toyota is better at as far as snow is concerned is I don't have to clear the snow from right in front of it after a storm as it will just drive over/through it. The car wont.

The Toyota/SUV good points are:

• Higher viewing
• Very easy to get kids in and out of car seat, the car is noticably more of a pain (literally in the back)
• Massive boot especially with the seats down and its surprising how often we seem to have to pick up something big
• Can tow a boat

Toyota Bad Points:

• VERY thirsty
• As aerodynamic as a brick so lots of wind noise
• Wife now a bit paranoid it will roll after a very scary incident of going down the roadside gravel bank to avoid a moose!

Car good points:

• Far, far quieter inside (less wind noise)
• Almost double MPG
• I actually prefer the car driving style/lower seat position etc

Car bad points:

• Relatively very small boot

Just my 2 cents worth