Hiya, I was interested in learning more about the trials and tribulations of motoring in Canada. When you buy a car does it generally come with an engine heater or is this bought individually? How does it work?

Any other tips on motoring in the Winter gratefully received!

Most cars already have engine heaters fitted, but unless it is really cold for three or four days (-40ish) you rarely need them. They work really easily - you plug them in to the mains and leave them on overnight! (south central Ontario rules - different rules apply in other areas!)

Far more common though is remote starters - relatively cheap and it means the car is warmed up by the time you get into it in the winter and cool in the summer. They start the car at the touch of a button on the key chain! Canadian Tire do a basic kit for about $70, fitted it is about $100, but watch out for special offers.

You can also buy mains powered car interior blower heaters - these work the same as the engine block heaters - plugged into the mains and often connected to a special out doors time switch (a good buy!)

Roads are genarally well cleared, although here in Ontario we use a LOT of salt... not good for cars. (Get them wax-oil treated at Walmart every summer for about $90)

A lot of folks buy a set of winter tires and rims for their cars, if you plan to keep the car for a few years this is a good investment. They can make a huge difference.

Other than that, common sense and keeping your distance is all you need. Be very cautious during the first couple of snow storms - people take time to get used to the conditions and you always see cars in the ditches at first. Make sure you have a good safety kit in the car when you travel - first-aid kit, water, flares, flashlight, blanket, snow shovel and a strong tow rope. Oh yes, and even if it's only a trip to the store - make sure everyone has winter clothes with them, especially the kids!

Last note, find an empty parking lot and have fun skidding around and learning to pull out of a skid! It really is good fun and time well spent!

One thing I have found is that if you are going through deep snow - keep going! Keep your foot on the gas - if you stop you are done for - stuck!!!

Wow, thanks guys (and gals), very useful information. I was toying with the idea of doing an advanced driving course where they let you play on skid pans - has anyone tried this? Any idea of costs etc?

Where in Canada will you be living?

Phil, Victoria, BC (wevver is just like Torquay)

Sunny Winnipeg

Ah! Winterpeg....

Don't worry - all the cars in Winnipeg will come with block heaters.

I actually have a "funny" story about block heaters.

About 15 years ago, my husband had a Mercury Sable. The car was a piece of junk. In the summer it would stop for no reason and we would be standing around for half an hour until it decided to go again. In the winter, you could not run the engine and the heater - which is REALLY useful in 30 below weather. You can't see out of the windows!

Anyway, the stupid thing didn't have a block heater and rather than spend $50 or so to get one, my husband would set the bloody alarm for 3.30 in the morning - get up - get his parka and boots on and go outside and run the car for 15 minutes or else it wouldn't have started in the morning. If the weather was 35 below for two weeks - he would get up every night at 3.30 and go through the same routine.

All so he could boast to his friends that his car didn't have a block heater and it still started at 35 below!!!

I sometimes wonder if the cold weather addled his brain!!!

Do you get break down cover in Canada, and would the breakdown service come to you aid when stuck in snow??

Thanks
Bob

You can belong to the CAA (Canadian Automobile Assn) - its about $65 a year or so and you can phone them and they will tow you out. I think you get 4 free tows a year, after that you pay for them.

I think in winnipeg its one of the coldest cities, no? they keep their cars running all night sometimes (course I have neve been so this could be crap) but when it gets to minus 40... well...

a useful thing I did as a teen first driving.. I used to go to an empty parking lot and do donuts.. thought it was fun a the time, but now realise that it was probably teaching me how to get out of a spin.. and havent really had any problems in the winter here.

good advice above, when you are plowin thru the snow, just keep going..

Thanks for all your comments - if I get a double insulated garage and an electric blanket for the car I might be OK!!

What is the tip for controlling skids by the way? Do you steer into it and keep off the brakes, or steer away and dab the brakes? As you can tell I'm expecting the worse!!

Also, the cars in the US are mainly automatic. Are they the same in Canada? Are automatics harder to control in bad weather because you can't use engine breaking, or is engine breaking a hindrance?

Cheers guys,

Daisy

Iv'e lived in Ottawa for 40 years. Most of the winter the roads are kept bare in most cities and major highways. Since they bought in radial tires I have never bought snow tires. The worst that you will experience, in winter is freezing rain, but snow is rarely a problem, unless you live in the sticks.

I now live in a condo with underground heated parking, so have no need of the block heater supplied with most cars. When I lived in a house I used to have the block heater on a timer that I set to switch on 4 hours before I went to work.

Also the need to winterize went when they introduced electronic ignition and fuel injection. You can even get away with using the same oil all year and most of the Gas stations either put fuel line anti freeze in the gas or in this part of Canada you can buy gas with 10% ethanol ( derived from corn) at no extra cost.

And I think you will find that most Canadians drive Automatic's. Manual Transmissions are mostly driven by younger people.

Thank-you to everyone on this thread. I am an expat that has come back to the UK. I have been in the uk for three years and for the past three years I have only seen rain at winter time.

I had forgotton the lovely winter driving of Canada!!!

We are visiting my Canadian hubby's family this xmas, and I WAS looking forward to it.

I remember going to the office in heels and my toes freezing for the first 30 minutes of the drive Owwww!!

Also realizing that I had lost the windshield scaper yet again, and had to root around for something to clear the ice and snow from the car.
Ahh the things we so easily forget..


Fried

Skid Control

Always try to turn into the skid, don't touch the brakes and come off the gas, the aim is to get the wheels rolling again in the direction of the skid.

This way you get control again, You should really aim to come to a gentle stop if your are no longer facing the flow of the traffic and of course you do have to be mindful of the idiot behind you that was taking a sip of coffee, answering his phone and trying to turn the radio down, hey, welcome to REAL driving... only kidding.

If you do skid off a road towards a ditch or a fence or drift you are usually wasting your time to try to get out of the skid, turn into the skid and try to hit the drift or obstacle head on as slowly as you can. That way you won't roll, any damage will be minimal and you can usaully self recover (remember the snow shovel I said you should have in the car...? Now you know why!)

The best thing though is as has been said before - find an empty parking lot and just have fun seeing how hard you need to hit the brakes to make the ABS cut in, learn what it feels (and sounds) like. Try to make a sharp turn in the snow with a little bit of speed till you skid, then practice turning into the skid and gently driving out of it. Do this again and again till you start to have fun - then you can be confident that your reaction in a real skid will be to turn onto it and not panic.

If you do get into trouble and can't recover it, sit back in your seat, try to relax, tell any passengers to do the same and let the car stop any way it wants to. If the airbags go off due to an impact they will merely hold you in your seat and stop any damage to you. Cars can be repaired or written off - you are more difficult to fix.

If you are late, for a meeting or school or whatever, remember BETTER LATE THAN NEVER - s*@t happens and most of us up here in the white wastes of Canada (*grin*) recognise that, or learn it PDQ!

Hope that helps!