Hi Andy,
I live in NE Scotland and am familiar with the weather, and back roads as
daughter has a horse that needs regular attention! I drive a 2001 Subaru
Impreza and a 1997 Shogun and previously I've run a Subaru Legacy.
I'd say your best bet was a Subaru Forester as you've got a reasonable
amount of space, the come under your price range (saving money for a little
heavy fuel consumption), about 30mpg average, service intervals are now
12,000 miles, and they have enough ground clearance.
Personally I believe the 4x4 system makes an amazing difference in the
snow - great traction - but watch the braking. Subaru type car handles
mutch better than big 4x4 like Shogun which only really comes into its own
when you want to batter through really deep snowdrifts.
I looked very carefully at all options Freelanders are unreliable! Rav's
are not mutch good in snow! X-Trail is basically front wheel drive with
electronic sensors which shove drive to rear as well when it gets slippy.
Hope that helps.
Dave
<
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
>
> On 2-Mar-2004, Colin Blackburn <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > How about these...
> >
> > http://www.spikesspider.com/
> >
> > has anyone any experience of these on a non 4WD car?
>
> No experience but they do look interesting. For all the waffle on the web
> page they are basically a set of chains, but may well be easier to fit and
> remove than standard chains. Ease of fit is actually a major
consideration.
> We do have a set of basic chains (bought when we lived in Salt Lake City
and
> used to drive up to Yellowstone in the winter). If you can be bothered to
> fit them (lying on the ground and trying to get the links together with
> freezing hands) and you get them on tight enough (or they'll fall off)
they
> do make a huge difference to traction. Provided you have the clearance you
> can drive through any snow with them. But they are such a pain to fit
(just
> to remove a mile down the road) that we almost always get stuck before we
> get round to putting them on (and they are almost impossible to fit once
you
> are stuck). Hence out thoughts turning to AWD. But a set that was simple
and
> fast to fit and remove and small enough to stick in the boot could well be
a
> viable alternative to a new car.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Andy
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (
http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.648 / Virus Database: 415 - Release Date: 31/03/04
