AWD vs FWD (Boise: find a job, option to buy, maintenance)
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I drove from Alaska to San Diego in a FWD Honda Civic back in late January with no problems. The road was snow and ice covered from Alaska to Alberta.
I just looked at the road you're talking about on google maps, and it seems like it's well maintained. It's important that you have a good set of winter tires as that makes all the difference. Also, like others have suggested, AWD is preferred, but you can you definitely get by in a FWD vehicle. Just watch your speed, maintain distance, and don't make any sudden maneuvers.
5.7 Hemi?
How about the 392 Hemi?
I still want to get my 392 Scat Pack Challenger.
But I know I will need something different than that car for adverse weather conditions and snow.
5.7 = 347 cid
6.4 = 390 cid
That's available right now
392 has seen it's better days and it's RWD
Of course, I don't have the sales statistics, but I'd bet that there are more Subaru autos sold in the northern Rocky Mountain states, (i.e., Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana), than the rest of the country combined. Not Wyoming. They go for pickups.
In terms of market share by state, here’s the top 10 for Subaru in order:
Vermont is tops at 11.3%
Maine
New Hampshire
Connecticut
Colorado
Oregon
Montana
Alaska
Washington
Massachusetts(down to 3.6% of total)
p.s. After three full winters here in North Idaho, and another partial year; I have yet to see a car or truck with tire chains of any type. They just don't seem to be used here. Have seen a some studded tires, driven by mostly older, retiree-aged folk. But most people just use their regular wheels/tires.
Might be because of the temperatures. After a snowstorm, whatever is on the highways seem to turn to slush sometime during the morning rush hour. Secondary roads turn to slush by the next day or the one after. It is the tertiary roads that seem to be iced up continually between storms. You just drive slow, don't make any sudden moves, give extra stopping distance, and things seem fine for getting around.
As above, I think it is a lot about that folks can get away with and what is customary.... It was the same thing in Northern IN for me 30+ years ago..... no one had chains except me, who had come out of the mountains where you needed them fer shore. It kinda surprised me with plenty of snow in winter around Ft Wayne. Of course when there was more than 6", I was zipping along (relatively speaking) while the All-Season tired cars were stuck at the least little grade. Prolific AWD has changed all that now, but we still need chains to get in/out of here in some winters. It can be a couple days getting the plows to our area when we get those really bad snowfalls once in every 6-7 years.
Going up to ski in the mountains around Boise... depends. If you are going up past Idaho City on ID21, you had better be very well prepared.
Full size pickups, half tons or heavy duty, would be far and away the most popular vehicle type. After that would be your various SUVs/crossovers.
Doesn't mean they are any good in snow/ice without sandbags, cinderblocks, or a pile of logs in the bed. An empty PU handles horribly on slick roads. If you don't need to haul big stuff on a routine basis forget the PU. If you basically haul yourself and a passenger or two on maintained urban/suburban roads the majority of the time you don't need an SUV either. Why pay more to maintain a larger heavier vehicle you don't need?
Don't forget...you could have the most sophisticated, highly regarded 4WD or AWD on the planet, but without the right tires and knowing how it handles in those conditions, it won't make much difference.
Ditto on the right tires. The wrong tires on a 4WD pickup will only get you into trouble faster, not avoid it.
While a pickup is a very versatile vehicle for this state, everything Parnassia said about them is true. They are designed to carry and/or pull loads, and while the 4WD systems are more sophisticated than in the past, they're all light in the back and heavy in the front, and that can make them tricky to handle in the winters if a driver has no experience with them.s
I have lots of experience with them; they're the vehicles I've driven the most over my life here. I have one parked outside that's now 20 years old. I only use it for it's intended purpose, and I don't need it for that like I once did.
So my main all-season vehicle is a Subaru Outback AWD. I chose it because it will take me almost every place the truck will in all weather and any season, has more than enough room to carry the stuff I load into it the most often, including me, when I don't take a tent to the boonies, and is a more confident vehicle to drive in the winters by far.
It's also more comfortable for a road trip, but not by much, as modern pickups are much better now in that regard.
But the Subaru cost less than an equivalent pickup, gets better gas mileage, and so many are sold here that if it breaks, I can easily find a mechanic who can easily get parts for it.
They might not have the proper masculine vehicle image for some folks, but to hell with that; I've never cared about how manly it looks to shovel out a pickup from a snowbank after it just plowed its way in. The Suby won't go there if I'm paying attention to driving it, and it has plenty of traction with a set of really good winter tires.
Tires make a huge difference, but they made the biggest difference on the Outback. It was good in snow with the 4 Seasons that came on it, but the winter tires make it drive almost as if the road was dry instead of covered in black ice.
Hybrid RAV 4 or conventional gas as there are those two energy sources then different trim levels.
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