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Really your snow/ice "needs" seem pretty benign coming from someone who lives in Buffalo NY. You could get thru those conditions with a RWD muscle car with snow tires, so I would think any FWD hatchback would be more than adequate. Especially with snow tires.
No kidding. Portland, Oregon rarely see snow. Here in SE AK we get close to 100 inches of it yearly and at least half of drivers don't have 4WD.
Even if Portland doesn't see a lot of snow, if the OP has to contend with any mountainous areas, the AWD is a good idea. I live in NC. We don't get a lot of snow, even in the winter. However, we live at the top of a mountain and when we do get snow (and we got a lot this past winter, probably close to 50", which is way more than usual), we cannot get up and down our mountain without AWD. We have very steep grades and areas that turn to a sheet of ice.
OP, my husband drives a Forester. I don't think they come in manual, but I am not sure. However, it is a very surefooted (suretired?) vehicle. It has x-mode that assists in our downhill ascent. It comes up the mountain like a champ. It's also lightweight enough that slipping and sliding going down was never an issue. We only put chains on once and that's when we got 14" of snow in December and we had to go pick up a client's dog a couple of hours away (where it wasn't even snowing!). When we got close to home, we talked to a neighbor who told us how much snow had come down while we were gone, so we picked up a set of chains. Next winter we will be putting snow tires on his car. I had an Outback and while it handled the mountain beautifully, I never felt it was as nimble or secure as my husband's Forester.
I drive an AWD Highlander now. Just to make it up our gravel/dirt road without tearing it up, we need AWD. I love it. However I will not be driving it down in the snow, even though it has downhill assist. I ended up in the ditch in the Outback when I came around a curve going up and a neighbor was sliding downhill backwards towards me. I could have either allowed her to hit me or try to back out of her way. I started sliding backwards and thankfully ended up in the ditch, the other side is a long drop off the mountain. That soured me on driving in the snow up here. LOL
I didn't realize they stopped making the Impreza in a hatchback. My son drove a WRX for a while and really liked it (and then wrecked it). I test drove the Crosstrek and I liked it, I would suggest just doing a test drive to see what you think.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,714 posts, read 58,054,000 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by goldenlove
Even if Portland doesn't see a lot of snow, if the OP has to contend with any mountainous areas, the AWD is a good idea. ...
OP, my husband drives a Forester. I don't think they come in manual, ...However, it is a very surefooted (suretired?) vehicle. It has x-mode that assists in our downhill ascent. It comes up the mountain like a champ. ... I never felt it was as nimble or secure as my husband's Forester.
I...
Good luck!
My Forester is a manual (and a sport version, so Pozi drive) it does OK in the snow, BUT it is SUCH a DOG... It could not spin wheels if it had too!
It wears oversized studded snows on all fours.
I drive it a infrequently as possible due to Subaru 'fragility' and dreadful economy. (My 9,000# Diesel 4x4 gets same economy as my pitiful subie) YMMV
My Forester is a manual (and a sport version, so Pozi drive) it does OK in the snow, BUT it is SUCH a DOG... It could not spin wheels if it had too!
It wears oversized studded snows on all fours.
I drive it a infrequently as possible due to Subaru 'fragility' and dreadful economy. (My 9,000# Diesel 4x4 gets same economy as my pitiful subie) YMMV
OP,... go with the TDI!
What year is your Forester? I have to be careful with my husband's to not hit the gas too hard or I spin the tires easily and accidentally. I drive a 6-cylinder Highlander and never have that issue. His Forester gets 29 mpg right now which is mostly mountain driving. I am averaging 20.5 mpg driving the same roads. I don't really consider that "dreadful" honestly.
As someone that has lived in Portland, I can tell you that snow conditions in Portland are different than other places.
Snow is rare, but when it comes it is a problem getting around, especially in the hills around Portland where a lot of people live. I live in Montana now where we get real snow storms, and it is easier to get around with studded snow tires than in Portland.
I remember there was about 3 inches of snow in Portland on the ground, and they got a hard wind down the Columbia George. When that happens everything turns to ice, and that year they closed all the streets to all vehicular traffic, due to a hard sheet of ice over everything (was snow till the wind hit, and it became hard ice). Fortunately it was for a weekend, so most people did not miss a lot of work.
My son and his wife moved to Montana last year for her job. They had a nice apartment in Portland West Side where there was a little hill and the street rose at a reasonable rate not steep. He watched when they were trying to get an ambulance to a home just up the street. The ambulance with snow tires would spin out and could not even go up the street. They had to bring in a special track vehicle from the police department to get up to the house, load the woman patient into that vehicle and drive her down to where the ambulance was waiting.
Yes if they are going to spend time driving in the hills and mountains in Portland area, they definitely for safety should use a vehicle with AWD or 4X4 drive, plus studded winter tires, which are legal November through May if I remember dates.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,714 posts, read 58,054,000 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldtrader
As someone that has lived in Portland, I can tell you that snow conditions in Portland are different than other places.
Snow is rare, but when it comes it is a problem getting around, especially in the hills around Portland where a lot of people live. I live in Montana now where we get real snow storms, and it is easier to get around with studded snow tires than in Portland.
I remember there was about 3 inches of snow in Portland on the ground, and they got a hard wind down the Columbia George. When that happens everything turns to ice, and that year they closed all the streets to all vehicular traffic, due to a hard sheet of ice over everything (was snow till the wind hit, and it became hard ice). Fortunately it was for a weekend, so most people did not miss a lot of work.
...
Yes if they are going to spend time driving in the hills and mountains in Portland area, they definitely for safety should use a vehicle with AWD or 4X4 drive, plus studded winter tires, which are legal November through May if I remember dates.
as a 'near Portland' resident (but 900ft higher and MUCH colder and REALLY windy... though only 16 miles away... directly at the 'vortex' of "the Gorge") Portland / PNW snow is a bit unique. (Thus I wear 4 wheel studs from Nov1 - April). Usually fwd is OK, but snow clearance can get you stuck (Ice encrusted over deep snow). Sometimes my home gets encapsulated in 3+" of ice. One Christmas morning, we opened the door and it was solid snow (7'). One side of the house was bare soil, the other side fully covered in snow (26 ft). old tales by neighbors... "Where your house is... when it snowed heavy, you had to decide whether to duck under the power lines, or step over them...". There are (7) distinct Climate zones between our house and town (4 miles) from NO snow / drizzle to increasing snow, to wind swept (~ 80 mph) to too much snow!
in 30 yrs living in Colorado mtns, I NEVER had / needed a set of snow tires, or 4x4 or AWD. (for road driving, but I had a 4x4 for ranch driving / feeding cattle)
My Subie is a 2001, it is a terrible dog ~ 22 - 25 mpg. My other cars (since 1976) fall below 46 mpg, and they fall under the tracks of my bulldozer to go to town for their fate of get shredded. There will be no tears shed when I shred my subie. They are SO 'tinny' / thin /cheap (I have done a lot of body work on other subies, and they are flimsy! (scary flimsy)... thus I do not feel too safe in mine. Power... I must admit... I am used to the torque of my 52 - 68 hp diesels, so the pathetic 2.5 boxer is a far cry from capable.. Each to his own... but if you want something FUN to drive and think it is a subie... better get yourself a WRX. (turboed if necessary / if you live at high altitude. )
Someday I will find a Golf Country (or make one), then the Subie gets shredded. (if it does not get crunched first be a 'distracted driver')
besides a little snow... We (PNW / Columbia Gorge) also can get SERIOUS wildfires... tho 416 in Colorado burned for 7 days to consume 29,000 acres (bad)... we had one whip through our region and consumed 236,000 acres in 30 hours. (last yr the "Eagle Creek" (50,000 acres in a 3 days) could have done similar, if the winds had not shifted and burnt back over itself 3x) I did not take my studded tires when I evacuated, as I was promised there would be nothing to come back to.
The FJ was a good driving vehicle and reliable. Toyota stopped making them because of the terrible side and rear visibility. They are becoming a cult car like the Nissan SUV with a frame.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101
Although they stopped making them last year a Toyota FJ might be something to look into for fun winter driving.
Great {sarcasm}. This was another option of my BF. Just what I need, another cult car. LOL. He also wants his beloved Xterra back.
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