Moving to St. Paul and Getting a New Car (Advice Needed) (buy, law school)

[TheManWithoutQualities]

Hi folks,

I'm moving to St. Paul from Southern California to start law school later this summer (I'm from Connecticut originally so I'm not completely foreign to a snowy winter).

Anyway, I currently drive (or drove) a Honda Civic which was totaled by a drunk driver last week and I'm in the process of looking for a new car.

A bit worried about driving in the snow again so I'm wondering what's essential. I'm looking for a new car in the under 21 or 22k range.

I've been checking out Honda Fits (kind of like hatchbacks)...they have traction control with their highest end model (Sports Navigation version).

I've heard that Subaru's all have All-Wheel Drive so I'm planning to check out the Impreza 2.5i this weekend as well.

What I'd really love would be something sporty like a Mitsubishi Eclipse or a Hyundai Tiburon...would this be totally impractical?

Thanks for your help!

[Slig]

This topic was just discussed, please review this:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/minne...apolis-mn.html

[TheManWithoutQualities]

Thanks! That's most appreciated.

[Thegonagle]

Let me ramble as usual that the tires (and the driver) matter a lot more than the car itself. Pretty much any front wheel drive car will get the job done, as long as it's not some super-low sports car, or the suspension hasn't been modified to lower it. (Ground clearance becomes an issue if the snow is deep enough that the front bumper becomes a snowplow.)

All-wheel drive is nice, but the static and rotating mass of the AWD system is a gas sucker on the 361 days a year that you don't say to yourself "Wow, this all wheel drive is great!" Long-term, the difference in cost to maintain and repair AWD vs. FWD is significant. Crunch all the numbers and you see that AWD is an expensive option.

First thing you'll want to do when you get here is throw away the tires that come on any new car, and buy tires at a local tire store where they know what works, and what sucks, for our state.

Tires are just like shoes. You know how some shoes have better grip on a wet floor than others, but you really don't know exactly what to expect until you walk with them on a wet floor? Tires are exactly the same way with regard to rain, snow, and ice. Unfortunately, quality costs; there are few if any tires that I've ever found at a low cost that I've been impressed with in all the conditions encountered in Minnesota.

The tires the factory puts on a car are generally the lowest priced tires they can get in the size the car uses. And factory tire "upgrades" are generally to "high performance" models, which is tire-code for "lots and lots of grip, and then even more grip--on dry pavement."

The Honda Fit is one such car; upgrade to the Sport trim, and they "upgrade" the tires, which is really a downgrade as far as winter is concerned. Get the Sport model, but understand that the best traction control system in the world can't turn a bad winter tire into a good one.