Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The biggest snow I see in northern Wisconsin is Drummond at 72" and Bayfield where you get lake effect with 103". Most of the state gets more like 30" to 50" per year. The highest point in Wisconsin is Timms Hill at 1,900 feet. There isn't any mountain driving. Most of the state is totally flat.
Unless you live on a long dirt road or somewhere plowing is horrible, any FWD car with snow tires will do just fine.
I am very familiar with northern Wisconsin. The location that averages the most snow is Hurley in Iron County and the towns west of there on the ridge downwind from Lake Superior. Hurley averages 140-150'' a season with some seasons well beyond that depending on how lake effect bands set up shop. The counties in the Lake Superior Snowbelt in that area are: Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Vilas, and Oneida. Western Vilas averages 70-80'' in the Minocqua/Woodruff, Manitowish Waters Belt. It falls off rather quickly even on the eastern end of Vilas and Oneida counties with Eagle River and Rhinelander averaging in the 50-65'' range a season.
Says the guy from southwest Florida. As an Alaskan with over 50 years of Alaska driving experience, I'll take an AWD car with factory tires over any FWD car with Blizzaks or any other winter tire any day of the year, especially winter days. My wife has a Subaru Outback and she'll be moving long after that FWD with Blizzaks is spinning its front wheel. Same with me and my Chevy Silverado.
Agreed 100% from someone who spent a combined 30 years between Minnesota and Colorado. Changing to and from snow tires and fwd is just plain stupid compared to awd and all seasons.
I am very familiar with northern Wisconsin. The location that averages the most snow is Hurley in Iron County and the towns west of there on the ridge downwind from Lake Superior. Hurley averages 140-150'' a season with some seasons well beyond that depending on how lake effect bands set up shop. The counties in the Lake Superior Snowbelt in that area are: Bayfield, Ashland, Iron, Vilas, and Oneida. Western Vilas averages 70-80'' in the Minocqua/Woodruff, Manitowish Waters Belt. It falls off rather quickly even on the eastern end of Vilas and Oneida counties with Eagle River and Rhinelander averaging in the 50-65'' range a season.
In 50 years of driving I have never seen chains on a car in Alaska. Never. I don't know anyone who owns a set of chains. I'd be surprised if anyone in Wisconsin uses them either.
Wow. What do they use instead? In WA, where I lived for many years, front wheel drive would work when the roads were plowed. But, if roads weren't plowed, or driveways - which was usually the main problem for me - getting down the driveway to the road (which may or may not be plowed) I needed to put chains on.
Unless you are living right on a road that gets plowed, and snow never piles up next to your vehicle between you and the perfectly plowed road - or you never get snow or ice - I can't fathom never needing chains in Alaska. Not when I needed them very regularly in rural WA.
I can't tell you how many times I needed help getting out of a situation in northern OR or Western WA, where I had slid into a ditch, or couldn't get out of a driveway, or the roads hadn't been plowed for a few hours, or the ice on top of the road was too dangerous. I really can't believe that Alaska is somehow immune to the problems in the rest of the Pacific Northwest that require people to carry and use chains. I'm just really not able to wrap my head around your assertion that nobody in Alaska ever needs or uses chains.
Awd with snow tires embarrasses fwd with snow tires. When I plow snow with a 3/4 diesel truck with snow tires, I’d be stuck after one push if only in 2wd. I fly past everyone putting down the freeway. Awd/4 wheel drive improves turning, exactly why all rally cars are awd, time matters.
That's fine if you're plowing snow or running in a rallye. We're talking about driving to work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatopescado
What does a warranty have to do with reliability? A good warranty won't keep you from freezing to death on the side of a dark road.
With VW's reputation for reliability in the tank, I can see why they upped it to 6/70. I had a '99 Golf TDi which I really liked. It had a 2/24 warranty. In the course of 12-18 months I had three failures of either a power window or the power locks. I traded it early, I was not planning to pay a few hundred bucks for repairs for some junk system every few months for as long as I owned the car.
Too bad, otherwise it was an excellent and satisfying car.
Wow. What do they use instead? In WA, where I lived for many years, front wheel drive would work when the roads were plowed. But, if roads weren't plowed, or driveways - which was usually the main problem for me - getting down the driveway to the road (which may or may not be plowed) I needed to put chains on.
Unless you are living right on a road that gets plowed, and snow never piles up next to your vehicle between you and the perfectly plowed road - or you never get snow or ice - I can't fathom never needing chains in Alaska. Not when I needed them very regularly in rural WA.
I can't tell you how many times I needed help getting out of a situation in northern OR or Western WA, where I had slid into a ditch, or couldn't get out of a driveway, or the roads hadn't been plowed for a few hours, or the ice on top of the road was too dangerous. I really can't believe that Alaska is somehow immune to the problems in the rest of the Pacific Northwest that require people to carry and use chains. I'm just really not able to wrap my head around your assertion that nobody in Alaska ever needs or uses chains.
Both of our vehicles have their original factory tires. Some people use studs, but I think they're a waste of money. Our main roads are bare pavement a few days after it snows, so you're rarely driving on snow or ice, except for the side streets, which are low speed anyway. My wife has a Subaru Outback and I have a Chevy Silverado. They do just fine.
Both of our vehicles have their original factory tires. Some people use studs, but I think they're a waste of money. Our main roads are bare pavement a few days after it snows, so you're rarely driving on snow or ice, except for the side streets, which are low speed anyway. My wife has a Subaru Outback and I have a Chevy Silverado. They do just fine.
Interesting, looks like your city gets around half the snow Burlington gets, and considerably less than more central parts of Vermont. It's also warmer than most of central Vermont, but pretty similar to Burlington's temperature (next to the lake in the Champlain Valley). Here, there are brief spells where the roads dry out but it's often slush or ice for 5 months of the year, even with plow trucks constantly traveling back and forth, pushing snow off the road and laying down salt.
Burlington is also built on fairly steep slopes, with the flow of traffic moving directly up and down these slopes, which can be treacherous if conditions are bad. What's the local geography like?
I don't have passengers, so I prefer 2 door pickups. Extra cab space slows the heating process. One pickup winter disadvantage is the rear windows. With a cap, there are three panes between the driver and rear view, all getting fogged or frosted. Removing the cap was my simple solution.
It all comes down to what you like. Just because there is a car out there that has the best AWD doesn't mean you will like it, nor does it mean that you should buy it. As I see many people on here raving about Subaru, I would never buy another one. I have always had 100% reliability with Audi and VW, others have clearly not had that same experience and would never buy one. In college, my wife had a Toyota Corolla, early 90's I think, and according to her it was great in the snow with snow tires, never had any issues. Years later, I bought her a brand new 2005 model and even with snow tires it was aweful. It really varies year to year. I remember my buddy in high school had a Ford Escort. That thing was only FWD and even without snow tires we just plowed through what seemed like everything and I cant remember a single time we ever went off the road or got stuck. I also had Jeep Wranglers before that I thought were aweful in the snow. Everyone will have different experiences with the same cars.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A good warranty won't keep you from freezing to death on the side of a dark road.
