Would minivans such as toyota sienna and honda odyssey be considered okay to use on snow covered roads? I remember some of the minor residential streets in St Albert near Edmonton were reasonably hilly and if these sorts of roads are low priority for clearing snow then they could be tricky for quite a few days in the winter. I'd be a bit dubious about these heavy vehicles making easy progress on snow covered inclines.

Once you start to look at 4WD versions of the minivans it seems from the prices you may as well go for a mid SUV such as a highlander or pilot instead.

Anyone got experience of these or similar vehicles?

Which is a bit odd as many places are struggling to supply them due to the demand in Quebec. Get 'em now while you still can.

Heavy, FWD, Snow Tires = No problem. Mostly they have standard traction control anyway.

Why would you go for a SUV with less practical space? The AWD vans usually start off life as up spec before AWD is added, same is true of many cars too, hence the heavy sticker shock...Subaru are the only people who seem to do base spec with AWD. Subaru with snow tires is the choice for my family in the winter, but as everyone else has said, winter tires are far more important than AWD for safety.

I had numerous minivans before discovering this site. We drove them on all season tyres for many winters without anything remarkable happening. Front drive ones would be better and front drive ones with snow tyres better still. I can't see that there's ever a need for four wheel drive on a road.

What Iaink said. We have a minivan. Better and more flexible interior space, ride, economy, comfort, etc than the equivalent sized/priced SUV. Absolutely no requirement for 4wd. Proper tyres + 2 tons of front-drive bus = traction and stoppability.

They would be fine. We had an old Previa for a while, just standard all season tyres and that was fine. We now have a Kia Sedona, and while we haven't driven it in winter conditions yet (not had it that long tbh), I don't expect it to be a problem.

Do it right and get something distinctive !! As you can see, snow is no problem.

Or the hidden environmental impact of a hybrid too...............the batteries are not exactly very green. The greenest current option is really a modern diesel............but North America is so far behind europe in this automotive area.

Personally I like a 4x4 and have just changed from a small SUV to a Ford Explorer.............3 times the size and exactly the same fuel economy

I remember doing much the same on my fizzy - just after waving at my mates headed for the bus stop for school. So NOT cool.

Thankyou everyone for the information.

As it will be my car, it will be the 'second' car, so if the weather is bad I can always use the 'other' car.

We can check out all the cars when we arrive in January.

See you over there soon!!

It's Alberta. Presumably you need a lifted F250 just so the neighbours don't wonder at the effete 'yurpian who has moved in next door?

Out in the Far East we don't need 4x4's in winter. Oh not at all.....

Hmmm...my neighbor drives a Camry, the guy across the street has a Ford Windstar, the guy behind has a Honda Civic, I drive one of them thar Camry hybrid thingies. Not an F150, F250 etc. in sight.

Must check to see if I'm still in Alberta.

Our neighbours to the south have an F150. The people beyond them an old F250, a new F250 King Ranch, a 90hp John Deere, two other tractors, a skid steer, a JD Gator and several large trucks. The people across the road have an F150, another truck and a Case with a loader. The people to the north of us two lifted F250s, an F350 crew cab, a small JD and several lifted Jeeps they use only off the road. Maybe I'm in Alberta.

We have a Grand Caravan (obligatory minivan) and a Subaru Forester (obligatory AWD thingy) - as we figured this would cover all our needs. And they do. The Caravan is my comfy, flexible bus and I love it. The Subaru was the smallish engine AWD (2.5l) that we thought we needed.

Last winter the Caravan was superb in the snow - heavy yet responsive. The Subaru was the "vespa on ice" as described beautifully above.

Turns out I had been driving the Caravan with winter tyres all year ( we thought they were all-season) and Subaru was on regular tyres. The Subaru will be getting some new boots any day now !

You don't really need four wheel drive but its better to have it than not , I live in Okotoks and both our cars are 4 wheel drive , Wouldn't ever go back to 2 wheel drive after last winter, Car just feels so much more secure in the snow and ice although you have to bear in mind that doesn't lead to a false sense of security .
Also comes in handy when visiting the Rockies and you decide to take a trip down one of the many gravel roads out there.

Here's a scene from last winter ....