Has anyone moved from SoCal or a place with a similar/warm climate? (Chicago: luxury, price)

[oakparkdude]

From 1992 to 2000 I lived in Chicago and drove a 1989 Mazda Protege. Needless to say it was FWD and I never had problems driving in the city in the winter (hardly ever went to the burbs) and it was great to be able to squeeze into small parallel parking spots that most cars passed up. Remember, this is the city that salts the roads on the barest of rumors of snow.

Also relevant is that I was born and grew up in the deep south. Adjust to the cold was simply a matter of buying decent outerwear. It wasn't a problem for me. Obviously YMMV.

[Lookout Kid]

I would DEFINITELY recommend front-wheel-drive. It is a necessity if you park on the street and drive often. But a lot of people I know in the city just leave their cars alone until conditions get better.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Adding to NYrule's comments, I'm always amazed at how different the weather is in the south suburbs compared to my north lakefront residence. Especially once you get into places like Plainfield and Mokena. There can be wide swings in temperature. And for some reason, that south suburban area seems to take the brunt of most of the major storms that come through.

Storms form along frontal boundaries as Tom Skilling states on a regular basis during his broadcasts.... With lake breezes rushing inland as inland land area's ground and air warms, air rises creating lower pressure at the surface creating almost like a vaccuum. This causes warm air that has risen to higher altitudes to be replaced with heavier denser cold air to rush inland off the lake usually during the mid afternoon (the main culprit for why areas up to 40 miles from the lake shore are much colder than areas like Aurora and Oswego), this causes small frontal boundaries to set up right through the metro area and with the Mokena area being warmer than the city many days this creates instability as the two air masses clash and in turn create strong rotation and supercell development near the Orland Park heat island but rarely do supercells move over Orland Park or Mokena thanks to the area having a very strong urban heat island causing storms to vere south or north of the Orland area frequently. The Orland area is surrounded by farm land on the west, forest on the north and east, and farmland on the southern edge of Tinley Park creating a warm bubble epicenter usually near 151st and La Grange Road extending southwest through the town including areas of Wolf Road and 159th down to 191st and Will Cook Rd then extending in a small band out to New Lenox. This area sometimes during especially summer months can be 5-10 degrees warmer than areas such as neighboring Palos Park or Oak Forest only 5 miles away especially on days with little wind mixing up the air thanks to the area being so built up and having so much traffic. Remember more cars = more engine heat and more pollutants creating more green house gases and there's one thing Orland Park has plenty of and that's traffic.

(Yes, I have studied meteorolgy as you may be able to tell and Chicago and it's burbs was always a hot topic of coversation among the professors I've had so Chicago's weather is of major intrest to me with it being so diverse over such a small area). It's one of the most studied cities out there among meteorologists thanks to Chicago being a metro area that is able to produce winter weather on one end of the city area and summer on the other end all at the same time thanks to urban heat islands and icy lake waters along with it's midwestern continental inland location and flat terrain. All those natural variables along with man made complications create some of the most bizzare weather experiences anyone can experience and sometimes violent and deadly as well; Plainfield 1990 and Oak Lawn/Belevidere 1967 being prime examples.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Well, Drover... I've only owned 2WD vehicles here, and it's been a pain, but I've survived just fine. AWD is nice, but not absolutely essential.

I never said it was absolutely essential, so there you're countering an argument of your own making. But trust me, it makes a huge difference. When I owned AWD cars, I could pull right out of spots that would take people 10 to 15 minutes to shovel or rock out of. And you know those "dead" spots that nobody will park in because it would take half an hour to clear the snow that has piled up between occupied spots? I could park right on top of them without a sweat. While you can get by with 2WD in winter, if you have to park on the street, you just don't know what you're missing if you've never done it with AWD. While others push, rock their cars, dig out, whatever, with AWD you just pull in and pull out like the snow is cotton candy.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

From 1992 to 2000 I lived in Chicago and drove a 1989 Mazda Protege. Needless to say it was FWD and I never had problems driving in the city in the winter (hardly ever went to the burbs) and it was great to be able to squeeze into small parallel parking spots that most cars passed up. Remember, this is the city that salts the roads on the barest of rumors of snow.

Also relevant is that I was born and grew up in the deep south. Adjust to the cold was simply a matter of buying decent outerwear. It wasn't a problem for me. Obviously YMMV.

First, it's not necessarily "needless to say" because AWD was an option on Proteges back then. Second, of course they salt the streets, while they're plowing them... and that's actually a major cause of the parking problem on many side streets. If you live on a street where most cars vacate the street during the day, then you'll probably be fine as the plows can reach all the way to the curb. But if you live on a street where most of the cars stay put all day, then the plows have nowhere else to put the snow except up against the cars that are already there, creating this nearly impenetrable wall of snow you have to try to drive over or shovel out of. And that's when winter parking becomes a huge pain in the ass.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by Drover

I never said it was absolutely essential, so there you're countering an argument of your own making.

Well, no. You did say "Try street-parking in Chicago for a winter or two with 2WD and then let's see how smug you are about your driving skills" though, which, to me, suggested that AWD was par for the course.

No matter.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Well, no. You did say "Try street-parking in Chicago for a winter or two with 2WD and then let's see how smug you are about your driving skills" though, which, to me, suggested that AWD was par for the course.

No matter.

AWD WILL get you right over the snow like nothing though. It handles better there is no doubt, but the con here is that you get about a mile less per gallon. No biggie for the added comfort of having it, but that is the disadvantage of having it.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by NYrules

AWD WILL get you right over the snow like nothing though. It handles better there is no doubt, but the con here is that you get about a mile less per gallon. No biggie for the added comfort of having it, but that is the disadvantage of having it.

Granted.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Well, no. You did say "Try street-parking in Chicago for a winter or two with 2WD and then let's see how smug you are about your driving skills" though, which, to me, suggested that AWD was par for the course.

No matter.

It was in response to a post that claims there's no use for AWD at all and only weenies who can't drive would own one. Which is smug and presumptuous, not to mention inaccurate. AWD certainly has its place around here, even if it's not "absolutely essential." Parking and better winter is just one reason to favor AWD. (It can make a difference in rain too, BTW.) For me, another reason is because I hate FWD but RWD isn't practical for year-round use around here. And a proper AWD setup is a livable compromise.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

Originally Posted by Drover

It was in response to a post that claims there's no use for AWD at all and only weenies who can't drive would own one. Which is smug and presumptuous, not to mention inaccurate. AWD certainly has its place around here, even if it's not "absolutely essential." Parking and better winter is just one reason to favor AWD. (It can make a difference in rain too, BTW.) For me, another reason is because I hate FWD but RWD isn't practical for year-round use around here. And a proper AWD setup is a livable compromise.

Understood. My own experiences aside, I'd drive a Subaru in a heartbeat.