naaah. When it comes down to it, the only reason to have a bloody great 4x4 is because you want to own a bloody great 4x4. Unless, of course, you habitually fill the back with bales of hay and attach a horsebox, in which case its the towing capacity you need and not any spurious claims of driveability or roadholding.

We're likely to move offices in the near future which will necessitate driving to work (I currently use a bus and a train). Since the only thing I'll be doing in a second (third?) car is driving 30km to work and back along suburban roads and highways and a bit of an industrial estate, I'm anticipating something like a Toyota Yaris or Hyundai Accent. Don't need bells & whistles, certainly don't need AWD, just need something that will start every morning and have front wheel drive for the winter.

Oh, and a radio. Radio will be top on the list of options. Probably above a steering wheel on the list of priorities - I mean, there're only two corners to negotiate...

Subaru Forester XT and Ford F150, though I probably spend most time on a John Deere 3120 or a Polaris quad.

Oakvillian's quite right about owning a bloody great 4x4. If I couldn't justify it for work, it'd be gone.

Get a Sirius/XM radio, then you can enjoy Radio 1!

Enjoy. Radio 1. Two mutually exclusive things.

Radio 1? I'm afraid I'm a bit fuddy-duddy for all this modern music malarkey. I'd rather plug in radio 4's daily newspod or the 6.30pm comedy shows... but I've got quite used to CBC1's Metro Morning show. The "World Report" segments do actually make a reasonable effort at reporting world news. Does Radio4 get a slot on the Sirius/XM system?

No, but the World Service news does. Fires in Australia, Facists in Israel, Grovelling Bankers in the UK, it's enough to make you wish you were in Canada.

It was a transition from the jeep. Snow tires make way more difference than AWD. AWD can give you a false sense of security and you just end up going faster before you realise you dont have any extra traction to stop with.


AWD and snow tires is the ultimate winter option for me (well, for Mrs K and the Klets). I would rather have the low CofG and nippy handeling to get out of trouble than be sitting up high with ponderous handeling when in a cruch. With AWD in winter conditions you still need to engage your brain first. FWD and snow tires is a cost effective option, and preferable to AWD and all seasons in my opinion.

If you are not towing or carrying a heavy payload, I really dont see the point or justification for a truck given what we know now about the environmental impact of automotive emmissions. Snow clearance in canada is virtually immediate in all but the most rural of rural areas, ground clearance has never been a significant issue for me.

Men drive them as a compensation for having a small @#^@.
Women drive them, as its the only time they get a big @#^@
So it is and allways will be about the size


< i can fell a ban coming soon>

Pretty much exactly how I feel. The CBC Morning show in St John's fuses the minutae of living in the far flung reaches of Canada with the World Report in a reasonable way. No John Humphreys though.

Do you really mean the CBS Morning show or should that read CBC Morning show?

No I am not trying to be a smartass.

If it's CBS I am surprised you would watch an American network for world news.

Post duely edited. I'm talking Radio of course.

In the UK we were a one car family and had a Vauxhall Zafira, otherwise known as the kids taxi. The extra seats came in very handy especially when we went on holiday with our friends as we then only needed to use the one car to go out together for the day or for dinner.

We opted for a Honda Pilot over here as it has the extra seats in the back and I find it a very comfortable car. A little cramped for leg room in the back but I have sat there on the journey to and from Banff without any great discomfort. It came in very handy for transporting all the visitors we had last year.

We have also become a two car family as daughter needs a vehicle, living out here in the sticks as we do. We wanted a Honda Civic but ended up with the Honda CRV as we needed the traction control. The track to our property is steepish and winding and we also needed the extra ground clearance particularly with all the snow we had in December last year.

The CRV is a nice lvehicle but I find it not so comfortable on longer journeys as the Pilot.

'Tis true I don't drive. I did pay for the car though and have spent many hours in it.

I've never used OC Transpo.

What is Top Gear?

At the moment I am driving a Hyundai Sonata. It is not a car I ever imagined I would buy but it was available, and very cheap, just as my Golf was falling to pieces. It was literally a little old lady's car and had less than 6,000 kms on the clock. The Hyundai is loaded and is OK to drive, basically an OK car.

Mrs JonboyE drives a Honda CRV. This is ten years old now and has 200,000 on the clock. It is not a great vehicle to drive but it is solidly built and extremely reliable. It is on its second set of tyres, second timing belt, third set of brake pads at the front and still the second set on the rear. Apart from oil changes that is it for ten years.

In the UK I drove an Audi A4 Avant and Mrs JonboyE a VW Polo.

Either 5th or 6th nowadays. Used to be 4th in the VW I had when I left the UK