Road Test In Watertown in Winter Tomorrow

[umhuhwhat]

Thanks Sharon. I agree that practice makes perfect. Maybe we'll see each other driving around Watertown, lol.

[sharencare]

Haha. Perhaps we will see each other around Watertown.

Yeah, I've seen a lot of bikers in Boston use hand signals, which are always signaled with the left hand. They're also meant to be used if your signals lights are broken or if you have some very old vintage car without signal lights.

Speaking of winter and new drivers, do any of you recommend a first car that is good for hilly urban areas and safe for a new driver? I was looking at a Subaru Impreza but the gas mileage isn't great, and perhaps AWD is overkill. I also have a friend who recommends a Prius but her only complaint is that the car doesn't seem to handle well in snowy conditions on hills. But she and her family are fiercely loyal to the Prius and rave about it. Perhaps there's other cars that we should consider? We're probably only traveling about 14 miles every day, mostly on surface streets in suburban/urban areas.

[dravogadro]

Good winter tires >> AWD. Especially on hills!

I would probably choose a car that was a hybrid or had good city MPG. Personally, I wouldn't get a new car as a new driver because of 'learning experiences'. A 1999 Toyota Corolla should be cheap and easy on the wallet for repairs.

If you are a newer driver, I highly recommend taking your car on a snowy day to a lightly plowed parking lot and figure out how your car handles in the snow. Can you recover from sliding out? Better to find out then, rather than on the road.

Bikers may signal with the right hand. I find that pointing is the best form of communication as most people don't remember the traditional hand signals.

[raveabouttoast]

Originally Posted by dravogadro

Good winter tires >> AWD. Especially on hills!

I would probably choose a car that was a hybrid or had good city MPG. Personally, I wouldn't get a new car as a new driver because of 'learning experiences'. A 1999 Toyota Corolla should be cheap and easy on the wallet for repairs.

I was going to say the same thing. Traction depends almost completely on the tires, not the car (not including extreme examples). For a beginner, buy a used car that's got proven reliability and include snow tires in the budget. A 10 year old Civic or Corolla with snow tires will be able to handle the snow better than a majority of vehicles out there. You'd literally be able to drive past SUVs spinning their tires.

FYI, the Prius may be bad in the snow because it has low rolling resistance tires (designed with gas mileage in mind). If it had snow tires on it, I guarantee your friend wouldn't complain about how it drives in the snow.