Also, why would I pick a hatchback over a station wagon model? Like, the Ford Focus had a hatch and station wagon version. What's the difference?
Depends. If its just you and a lady (or man) friend, hatchback. For a small family, mum, dad, 2 kids, 4 door hatchback and maybe if you do alot of travel with luggage then a station wagon. Chuck a 3rd kid in, stationwagon as a daily driver to me is entirely justifiable. If you do carry alot of stuff around in the car, again, perhaps a stationwagon will be best. Ultimately though. I don't think it matters. Over here anyway you'll find station wagons (or estates as we call them) or pretty much just a sedan (or we call it a saloon) with a bigger boot and maybe a longer tail overhang and raised ceiling. Ultimately, its a small engine and handles the same as a normal car, its hardly a road hogging lifted f250 duallie or something. If I see 1 person in an estate, I don't suddenly thing "oh look, you're a cunt in a car way too big". Its a normal car with a bigger boot. - - - Updated - - - the station wagon/estate version has an extended boot and raised roofline. Why pick it? More boot space. Simples. Why pick the hatch? Physically smaller, weighs a little less so maybe better fuel economy and fits into a shorter space when parallel parking.
If you have something like a Subaru, and you live in a snowy climate, the station wagon will do better in the snow than the hatchback
how so? To me thats highly subjective to comparing a 4wd stationwagon vs a 2wd hatchback, which I will say in a snowy climate it would be a genuine advantage to have 4wd of course which would be a definite advantage. Pretty sure the legacy is offered without AWD though?
Thats why i chose the subaru brand, their hatchbacks and stationwagons both (can) have AWD. The station wagon will do better because of weight and ground clearance. The hatchbacks are usually lower, and obviously have less weight due to size.
I drove a skoda felicia on summer tyres in 2 inches of snow, a bit of caution and you're fine. Mum however span out the 4wd within yards of the house
I love station wagons. My dad used to have a Saab 9-5 '03 wagon. It was a really nice car (Turbo 4 cyl, 5 speed, etc.) but a tree fell on it during that big snowstorm in 2011.
Nope. Just a bit of sense. Snow it is traction management. That is it. Keep traction, you're fine, it is fully possible to do that in a 2 wheel drive car with the wrong tyres for the occasion. It is fully possible to lose traction in a 4 wheel drive on chains. Careful throttle management, selection of gear and braking is all it takes. Keep the speeds low - especially for corners- and there shouldnt be a problem. Only issue I had was with an off camber section on the farm, car was facing forwards, car was moving forwards, then it was moving sideways instead, then it wasnt facing forwards and instead facing pretty much about where I was going to steer towards anyway, I got full control back before it got any worse. - - - Updated - - - Apparently on the 2nd and 3rd gen it was standard for all US models but nowhere else (and US is just a fraction of legacy sales). Cant find anything for the 1st and 4th gens. Apparently the 5th gen is universally AWD.
Last winter someone took out a brick mailbox and wall on a snowy hill in my neighborhood. At the bottom of the same hill, there is this house that sits right where the hill levels out and turns, and their mailbox has been completely fucking obliterated 4 times in the past 5 years. One time someone hit it hard enough to send chunks of bricks all the way into the yard next to it, a good 30 feet.
In fairness. When driving on snow, hills are probably the number one hardest obstacle. 4 wheel drive going uphill would certainly be a huge benefit. Downhill, hit the top of the hill slowly as possible and engine brake the entire way, very very light touch on the brakes if necessary. Too hard and they lock (even ABS will tend to lock on snow) and you just skid the entire way down the hill.
Yeah. The thought of going down that hill when it's iced over isn't something that I would really want to attempt to do. I'm glad the road I live on branches off just half way up it. It is quite entertaining to stand out there watch people try and make it up the hill. I was out on my dirt bike last winter, that same snow storm actually, and I was at the top. Saw a car coming and hopped the curb into a yard just to make sure I was completely out of the persons way. They got all scared for some reason and STOPPED THEIR FUCKING CAR RIGHT BEFORE THEY GOT TO THE TOP. When they were trying to get going again they ended up sliding backwards down the hill and bumping a mail box. Retard. But the people that took out the mail box did so in clear weather. They're just idiots. People like to hit mailboxes in my neighborhood. And they'll do some damage. They're the big brick ones.
Some could argue that "a bit of sense" is now a skill. Here in Maine it seems that everybody forgets how to drive every winter. Youll even see big lifted trucks with giant tires stuck in a snow bank from time to time.
IMO, all it takes is a bit off common sense (not so common anymore) to drive in snow. You're driving on a slippery surface, so treat it like such. Don't yank the steering wheel around, go slower around corners, feather the brakes. People like to panic and slam on the brakes in snow and lock the wheels up. Like 6 said, ABS doesn't help much on snow and ice.
ABS is useless on snow and ice, but at the same time, turning it off makes no difference, you do get people advocating turning it off which is true for hard packed dirt. But snow, ice, wet slippy mud, turning ABS off doesnt help, turning it on doesnt help, if someone tells you to turn ABS off for snow, save yourself the hassle and just leave it on. The problem with snow, ice and wet mud is that once your wheels break traction, they don't regain it again. Tarmac if you brake hard and the wheels lose traction, release the brakes and they gain traction again quite quickly. Do the same on snow, no, they don't gain traction back too quickly. Accelerate too hard on tarmac and wheelspin, release throttle and as the wheelspeed drops they regain traction. Snow they almost have to come to a complete halt and start again. Tarmac, you are losing traction on a grippy surface, snow you are losing traction on a low traction surface, it takes more matching in tyre/ground speed to get them gripping again. On a front drive car though, if you find it sliding forwards while trying to turn, yank the wheel further and give some more power and it will sometimes spin around, not recommended as its easy to lose control after that but in a last ditch attempt to avoid a pedestrian or something its worth a shot. I'd add go slower in a straight line, stopping distances are much lower so it makes sense to not be going so fast in the first place.
