busycouple

Moving to Calgary next year after February and wanted recommendations on the cars we should try to get. Is it best to go with a SUV for safety? as we are not very confortable driving in the snow and want to make sure we are safe. Also what cars do you guys have?

iaink

Honda Civic, with winter tires. No one really "needs" more than that for the basics, unless you are a farmer, have a family of 7, or are frequently going to tow stuff. That's probably why its been Canadas top seller for 12 years in a row.

The laws for physics are the same in Canada as elsewhere, a big heavy SUV is just more momentum to have to try to stop and steer, and AWD/ 4x4 may help get you going when the traction is poor, but that just means you are going faster when you lose control. AWD/ 4x4 does nothing to help you stop, that comes down to the friction from your tires. Make sure they are good ones.

Really Canada drives on just fine in the winter, snow clearance is good, and we get lots of practice. What would you drive in the UK?

Anyway, Im sure there will be lots of replies, there always are in these threads.

My two vehicles are a 2008 Honda Civic (comfy, fun to drive, uber reliable and good on gas) and a 2007 Subaru Legacy (Its a reliable wagon with a smallish engine, good for toting kids and their stuff around). Used to have an SUV (Jeep), but I am so over that.


When I arrived I went out in the fresh snow and found a big empty parking lot and learned about driving on snow covered ground till I was more comfortable with it, but the reality for me is mostly the roads are cleared by the time I get on them. The biggest, simplest thing to remember is to slow down.

There is a good wiki article on winter driving.

Zap0ne

A snow brush, good winter tires and a quality battery seem to be the best bets for winter safety. Not all SUV's are created equal. Many SUV's end up in the ditch with so many over confident drivers speeding along in a less then adequate vehicles.

Have a Volvo S60T5 with winter tires on is fab. Have a Jeep that has the Goodyear Ultra Grips and Quadratrac II will go most places but like every other car the brakes are exactly the same.

busycouple

Sound good. Im driving a BM 320 at the moment, but as its rear wheel drive dont think it would be good over there. Shame I cant take it with me.

Tangram

Ah you are one of those.

iaink

The police drive round in crown vics... V8 lump up front, rear wheel drive. And Goodyear Ultragrips.

busycouple

Didnt know that, thanks.

How much do a set of 4 good winter tyres cost?

dbd33

$800 or thereabouts.

iaink

About a grand give or take for a bimmer. depends on rim size, brand name, etc.

Get them on a 2nd set of steel rims, its a lot more convenient that way, and it saves your alloys from salt and kerb damage.

You can often get them used on the kijiji classifieds, but its a bit of a lottery.

Partially discharged

I can't believe nobody has mentioned block heaters yet in the must have items for winter driving in Canada.

iaink

Its in the wiki, which I mentioned.

must have? no, not really.

busycouple

Not a bad price for them as it is for safety. The american and asian car makes are a lot cheaper so I might just go with one of those while were out there.

TheThornes

My car manages just fine on winter tires too. I drive a Toyota Sienna. It's a typical mom car. Plenty of seats for when driving the kids and their friends about (not to mention all the visiting family from the UK!) but also plenty of space for the dogs too. I've not had a problem driving in winter conditions with it although the majority of my driving is local. If we intend to drive to the back of beyond during the winter, we do usually take the truck instead!

helcat12

Out here in farming country B.C the edges of the road are not really marked and the ditches are deep, so to avoid ending up in a "salmon habitat" I prefer a car with some height in the driving position for snowy weather (and just generally, to be honest).

In the UK I lived in a rural area and had a Honda HRV and would have been VERY happy with the same thing here but there don't seem to be so many of those here.
It was extremely reliable, a good size for transporting stuff but not too big for the small village roads in the UK. I think it would do just as well here in Canada.

However, in the absence of that, we have a Ford Explorer, which is a bit bigger but not too much.
The back seats fold down to give tonnes of room.
I have been grateful for it recently when moving larger items of furniture and with the back seats down I can also get both the bikes in the back comfortably with still lots of room for other stuff.

Unlike my HRV, the back seat legroom is also enough for a passenger to sit behind me while I am driving (because at 6ft tall, I have the seat quite far back).

It is also elective 4WD, so I can drive 2 wheel and more economically normally and engage the 4WD if I need it.
There are LOADS of them round this area so I assume that lots of people like them and find them good to drive here. Jeep Grand Cherokee are also common and a very similar size.

dbd33

I managed perfectly well for twenty odd years driving whatever was the more interesting car I could afford at the time. Examples were a 1973 Olds 98 and a TR6. I didn't have snow tyres as the first I heard of them was on this board. Few cars have snow tyres in Ontario (<20% of those in a nearby car park when I checked last winter).

Eventually I moved to the back of beyond, serious snow country. At that time I had a Mustang, RWD, no snow tyres as noted. In view of the likely conditions in the country I thought it prudent to get a car with FWD. I did that and managed quite well though eventually I caved and did buy snow tyres. I would say that, if you're going to driving a lot on farm tracks and gravel roads, FWD and snow tyres are prudent. I'm glad I switched to an appropriate vehicle. If you're mainly driving around town then anything will do.