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View Poll Results: What would you rather drive in the winter
2017 Subi Impreza 5-door in black 12 92.31%
2017/18 Mini Cooper 2-dr black on black 1 7.69%
Voters: 13. You may not vote on this poll

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      08-04-2017, 09:15 PM   #1
overcoil
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Best car for snow?

What do you think is the best cheap new car for snow in the mid-Atlantic.
Not interested in SUV's or CUV's.

Subaru Impreza?
Volvo? Are they so much better that the price is not excessive?
VW wagon ?
Mini Countryman?
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      08-04-2017, 10:30 PM   #2
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Any manual transmission car with snow tires
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      08-05-2017, 08:38 AM   #3
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What about that Subaru el Camino looking truck thing? Some added utility and with snows if you can't get someplace in that you should really stay home.
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      08-05-2017, 08:48 AM   #4
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Mini rules in winter !
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      08-05-2017, 09:18 AM   #5
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the Impreza

I volunteer at winter car rallies and Subi's rule the roost. You want the Impreza.
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      08-05-2017, 09:27 AM   #6
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Tires are far more important than the car. Whatever you get, make sure to get a good set of winter tires.

That said, for a budget AWD non-SUV/CUV, the Impreza is easily the best choice.
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      08-05-2017, 10:40 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bucketfoot View Post
Tires are far more important than the car. Whatever you get, make sure to get a good set of winter tires.

That said, for a budget AWD non-SUV/CUV, the Impreza is easily the best choice.
Yeah agree about tire's but want some ground clearance - so I can go out before the plows or handle ruts. Want to be capable on 5-inches of unplowed snow, maybe 6-inches or more ?
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      08-05-2017, 10:54 AM   #8
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      08-05-2017, 01:45 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottSinger View Post
Yeah agree about tire's but want some ground clearance - so I can go out before the plows or handle ruts. Want to be capable on 5-inches of unplowed snow, maybe 6-inches or more ?
The Impreza has a little over 5 inches of ground clearance. But if you want/need more you could also go with the Crosstrek. It's basically a lifted Impreza hatchback and gives you another 3-4 inches of ground clearance. But you are also getting closer to crossing into CUV territory with the Crosstrek.

I gave the Crosstrek serious thought before going with my X1.
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      08-05-2017, 05:41 PM   #10
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      08-05-2017, 08:42 PM   #11
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      08-05-2017, 09:10 PM   #12
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Subaru
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      08-09-2017, 10:07 AM   #13
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Subie with Blizzacks
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      08-09-2017, 10:13 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottSinger View Post
Yeah agree about tire's but want some ground clearance - so I can go out before the plows or handle ruts. Want to be capable on 5-inches of unplowed snow, maybe 6-inches or more ?
My lowered Civic with a real LSD and Hakka winter tires is unstoppable in the snow.
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      08-09-2017, 10:41 AM   #15
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      08-09-2017, 12:03 PM   #16
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This should be a sticky for all future similar threads :
Q: What's the best car for snow?
A: Use this formula: Enter any AWD vehicle with acceptable ground clearance + add a good set of WINTER TIRES = Best winter car for you.
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      08-09-2017, 01:23 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bucketfoot View Post
Tires are far more important than the car. Whatever you get, make sure to get a good set of winter tires.
This!! AWD is one of the all time great myths for your average vehicle. It does not help you stop. Just get a set of Blizzacks or X-Ice III's and drive.

Done.
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      08-09-2017, 01:26 PM   #18
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One thing to consider depending on budget and how many miles you drive. I just discovered this in looking at cars for GF who drives 20k a year.

Benz GLA isn't crazy expensive. Yes it's a CUV which wouldn't be your ideal. But if you get one with 1-2 years factory warranty on it, give them $2500 to extend the CPO to 3 years instead of 1, you can have 4-5 years and unlimited mileage all covered by warranty.
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      08-09-2017, 02:51 PM   #19
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The advantage the Impreza has over most of the other cars you listed is it has a real center LSD with a starting 50/50 torque split and varies torque front to rear as needed, while the others are more "on demand" type awd systems that are fwd and send power to the rears when needed. Some are better than others at predicting when to send power to the rear. When you get in deeper snow, that center diff helps keep both the front and rear wheels churning.

I know this from experience when I had a Mazdaspeed 6 with a similar on-demand awd system. Even though that car also has a rear LSD, because there's no center differential and it's up to the computer to decide if/when to send power to the rear wheels, awd systems like this aren't as good at pushing thru deep snow.

My wife drives a 2016 Impreza and it's great in the snow, now that it has proper tires on it. She wasn't interested in the Crosstrek because she didn't like the higher ride height and tacked on black plastic body cladding.

The one big knock against the Impreza is the tires Subaru equips it with from the factory tend to be garbage in the snow. Which is frustrating when "this car is good in the snow" is central to Subaru's marketing. We drove my wife's car in the snow with the stock garbage Yokohama S34D tires and with 150 hp and a CVT it would step the back end out with giving it even a little bit of gas in turns. They were awful so we decided to ditch them. The truckier tires that come stock on the Crosstrek tend to be more acceptable in winter conditions.

Even though I have summer & winter sets of wheels & tires for my 335xi, and I told her I'd swap summer & winter wheels on her car for her, she didn't want to have another set of wheels & tires taking up space in the garage, so we replaced the stock tires with BFGoodrich g-Force Comp-2 A/S which are a sporty all-season tire with good winter test ratings. Huge improvement in all conditions including snow. They cost about $400 and I sold the shitty stock tires for $150 on craigslist.

Winter tires would of course be better, but this will do the trick since I couldn't sell her on them. So if you go for the Impreza, be prepared to get winter tires, or at least replace the shit factory all-seasons for something better in snow.
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      08-09-2017, 03:15 PM   #20
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Best "cheap" car I had when I lived in MT was a '99 A8 I bought off lease for $16,500. With Blizzacks it was a beast.
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      08-09-2017, 04:03 PM   #21
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another one for Imprezza with the right tires. I had a WRX that was unstoppable. The AWD system knows exactly what to do in any situation.
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      08-10-2017, 06:22 AM   #22
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used Volvo s70 awd.
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