Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

First winter was a real novelty, loads of snow, dry cold, etc. Last winter was not so much of a novelty as it lasted from Oct to end of April.
I moved house on the coldest day here this year - it was -48! Brrr! Not an experience I would wish to repeat in a hurry, most of the plants died even though they were only outside for a period of about 10 minutes! Cat's paw froze to metal door threshold ....

Winter clothes are cheap here - boots rated to -40 in Walmart for about $30. However, I haven't had to buy any 'winter clothes' for eveyday use as I had some warm stuff from my hillwalking days in Scotland - I just wear my normal work clothes (trousers, shirt, etc) with down jacket over the top and boots - most people leave indoors shoes in the office to change into.

As for cars, mine struggled to start on one or two mornings when the temp unexpectedly dropped overnight into the -20s (thanks crappy Weather Network, who always get it wrong!!).
If you can, get a car with command start!

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

AWD All Wheel Drive

4WD Four Wheel Drive

Basically similar ideas. Although there are a few technical differences to do with differentials that allow one set of wheels to slip relative to the others.

AWD is a full time system thats driving all 4 wheels to some extent all the time, and is safe to drive on dry pavement.

"4WD" is a much missaplied term than can mean one of about 4 different things now, and in some cases it might not be a good idea to have it engaged on dry roads, although most modern systems are pretty sophisticated.

My Subaru has AWD, its nice in the winter, but by no means essential (good tires are way more important), and I'm not sure now that its worth the extra fuel consumption year round for the two weeks of the year that AWD helps. I guess the remark about getting one to help confidence at coping with winter driving at first is valid though, Im glad I had it.

Before that I had a jeep with the very basic 4x4 system. I had to decide when to engage 4x4 rather than the usual rear wheel drive. That was a nightmare. Leave it too late to put it in 4x4 and you fishtail, Change to 4x4 before its slipery enough and you could do serious drive train damage. Far Better to have a system that decides for you. Not all Jeeps are the same by a long way. All to do with differentials:)

There is a full explanation here

http://www.4x4abc.com/4WD101/4WD-AWD-autoAWD.html

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

You don't need to buy 'special' winter clothes over here. All your UK sweaters will be fine, just layer up thats all. Oh, and invest in the good outer garments. Good boots and gloves being the main things. I wear all my UK coats (and I have many..........quite the coat aholic) and they are up to the job as long as you have enough good layers underneath. Its your extremities that feel it, nose, fingers, toes and ears !!!

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

Oh yeah - I'd forgotten the advice about getting decent 4-season tires or changing to winter tires - cheers Notiaink. :)

My 4WD has 2 options - full-time or part-time. In winter it goes on full-time and stays there until the roads are clear. This option can be driven on any surface -wet, dry, slippery etc. I only use the part-time when I suddenly have to deal with adverse conditions ie the recent storm that left a foot of water everywhere or when the back roads haven't been cleared of snow yet - but then switch to normal drive for the cleared main roads once I reach them. You can't use this option on dry roads. For both of these there is a restriction on how fast you can drive - my engine starts to protest in 4WD at around 80-90 km/h.

AWD was great cos it made the decisions for you! Every few seconds the car checks the road condition for each wheel and applies extra control there if needed so stability is improved. I don't know the technical details of what happens to be honest! I didn't need to do a manual switch. There didn't seem to be a restriction on speed.

Both these systems really help with stopping, starting on hills or if you get in drifts or on ice. My husband uses his 4WD truck on the lakes when he goes ice fishing! Neither of these systems help if you're driving too fast for the road conditions though - you still need to be sensible. ;) And they are very heavy on gas. When we next switch cars I may have just that little bit more confidence to get a rear-wheel drive with traction control and snow tires and leave it at that!

Re clothes. I haven't found the need to buy special makes unless we want them for very specific purposes where we will be out in the cold for long periods of time eg ice fishing again. Mostly Walmart, Superstore, Costco, Sears etc all do cheap ranges of winter gear which is perfectly fine. Clothes shopping here is extremely seasonal. The cold-weather gear will come in at the end of summer/beginning of autumn and last till around Jan - then it will be the spring stuff. Grab it in the first couple of months its in the shops and you should get a good selection.

:)

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

Nothing about AWD/ 4WD/ 4x4 helps you stop better,


This is an important consideration. Not getting going in the winter is an inconvenience. Being unable to stop in the winter is a rather more serious issue. In fact, there is a school of thought that says 4/AWD encourages you to go faster in adverse conditions, and then you find there really isnt the traction you thought there was, and worse still, you are going faster when your tires wont grip the ice to stop.

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

I haven't tried snow tyres but I have endured traction control; make sure you get a system you can turn off, so you can spin the wheels.

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

Err I said this too!!!:blink:

[Neither of these systems help if you're driving too fast for the road conditions though - you still need to be sensible. ;) [/QUOTE]

Also - my comment about stopping was specifically about hills. My 4WD does help me stop when I have to pause on a very icy ramp for instance when waiting to get into the rubbish dump - or when I'm queuing behind my hubby on our very steep driveway - waiting for the garage door to open. :)

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

:rofl::D

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

Ditto ! I am hoping some Alberta sunshine will help me ! However, April/May here with ongoing snow might lose it's appeal too. We'll see. :p
I'll be ready to 'enjoy or suffer' my first winter - but it's sunny right now and way too early to be thinking about it .... :blink:
ps - I was 'advised' yesterday to stop talking about my jumpers - funny looks all round - it's a sweater, silly :p

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

i carnt wait for my first white christmas there, we where there in Jan 05 up north of Barrie and it was -25 , loved it!, i know i know that its not the same as living with it everyday, but it beats the endless days of rain overcast, dreary days here, yes you can laugh at the attachment of me in the daft hat but it kept my ears from falling off, my other half though that he didnt need any protection !! lol some thing to do with "im ard me" who was laughing then:rofl:, Norland here i come in 29 days for a 2 week relaxation after a family wedding in Oakville, i was speaking to my nephew on MSN the other night he had just been to the cottage and said it was HOT HOT HOT carnt wait!:thumbsup:

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

Think your hat is very cool!! Nice snow btw.

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

You looked like a wee snowwomen there with your white coat - cool :thumbsup:

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

In Vancouver I used to know an aussie from Brisbane who lived in Toronto and found it unbearable in summer. Said it was far more humid than Brisbane and thats one humid place.

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

The humidity in TO can be shocking (and the air quality). I think it's even worse up here. We're looking at 29 degrees today, with a humidex of 38. That's humid.

Re: How was your 1st winter there
 

We have 100% humidity in St. John's at the moment............but it's 8C and raining.;) Still, the garden needs it as the last two weeks have been dry and hot.