Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches New England Moving from California

Yup, now that im in school in Boston I need a car to commute to school, so Im gonna go back home and drive my '98 SVT cross-country. In January no less, and since my car has never been out of the sunny state of California I was hoping that you fellow New Englanders could give me a few pointers on how to "winterize" my contour for these wicked cold winters out here. And if any of you have ever done this 3000 mile drive before I would love any advice anyone could give me.

I was thinking about winter tires, but since I have all-terains on there now would it be worth it to buy new wheels and tires? Also, I read the manual and it says not to put chains on the front tires when driving through the mountains, e.x. the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains. Is this a common practice among you guys?

Hook me up with some info.
Zach

definitely get dedicated snow tires. you won't be sorry.

my SVT hasn't seen snow yet, so i can't help other than that. sorry!

oh...Welcome to New England!

Boston gets snow but chains are not used. Chains and studded snow tires may not be legal in MA because of the damage they cause to the road surface. If your job requires you to travel no matter what the conditions I would recommend a set of 15" steels and snow tires. If you can walk to school or stay off the roads in the worst conditions the all season tires will get you by. Just drive slow.

I HIGHLY recommend you practice driving in the parking lot before taking the car out onto the road. One of my friends from Maryland was barely able to keep his car ont he road after a giant snowstorm we had. Keep in mind that you must drive the car as if, at any given time, you will lose traction.

(This applies to the icy or snowy days, or for that matter any day where it's below 32° F.)

might want to change the coolant and run a 50/50 mix, I beleive this gives the optimum temperature protection. Uses windshield washer fluid that is a de-icer and will not freeze in the cold. I also agree with the snow tire comment, all seasons are good but nothing will match a snow tire. Make sure you have a ice scrapper and snow brush.

Other then that I can't think of much. As 98SE said practice driving in a parking lot first. That semi controlled environment will help alot for learning skid control and traction limits of the car in the snow.

All this is great advice thus far. Since it seems you do not have much experience in driving in the snow, DEFINATELY get the snow tires. You'll be happy you have them.

In addition, a few comments about Boston and the snow. First off, do you have a dedicated off-street parking spot? Where abouts are you going to school? Where abouts are you parking the car? If not, your car will probably see alot of cosmetic abuse this winter, especially on the streets of Boston. In Boston you're subject to being bumped and rubbed by people parallel parking year round, but in the winter it will get alot worse.

You will probably want a compact or portable snow shovel to keep in your trunk. In the winter its everyone for themselves in terms of parking. Unless you go to some of the old school neighborhoods (like in Southie) where if you shovel out a spot, you've earned a right to that spot.

Finally, it is always wise to keep above 1/4 of a tank of gas in the car. You never know how long it'll take you to actually get to the next gas station in the snow.

Winter sucks! Its beautiful for the first 20 minutes after a snowfall, then it just gets messy. Heres a few shots from last year:





I would HIGHLY recommend a set of snows/steelies. Not only do you save on traction, but you'll save your tires and wheels. The salt attacks the wheels and if you get stuck, you'll have the tendency to just spin the wheels until you free yourself which greatly diminishes tire life. I may be selling my New steelies and Blizzaks with 1 week of driving on them (I'm in the process of selling the SVT).

Good luck, drive safe, welcome to Boston!!

batteries hate the cold. If your battery is over 5 years old just change it, don't gamble on it. If the battery is between 3 and 4 years old I suggest having a capacity check performed on it to ensure it will be able to withstand the rigors of the cold.

A battery that is old and tired may be easily able to start your engine when its 70 and sunny, but when its 15 and windy the only thing the battery will be able to do is make the starter go click, click, click, click.

Snow tires are a must especially if you are unfamiliar with driving on snow covered roads. When trying to get moving from a stop I've often found that using 2nd gear is easier becasue the wheels tend to spin much more easily when trying to start in 1st gear.

As 98SE suggested, if you don't have experience driving your car on snowy roads practicing in an empty parking lot is a must so you can learn how much more distance your car needs to come to a stop, how fast you can go around a corner before you start sliding and continue going straight, and if you try to hit the brakes with the wheel turned while sliding will usually put you into a spin. Go nuts in the lot trying to make your car loose control and then try to regain it. Keep trying until you feel comfortable or you get kicked out of the lot.

welcome to New England!

as everyone else has said, you should get dedicated snow tires.
and yes, studded snows are allowed in Mass from November 1st to april 1st i beleive.
so if you feel safer with them, go for it.
i have used both regular snows and studded snows on my El Camino, i didnt really notice a difference. except on ice, but most of the time you will be dealing with sloppy yucky snow.

Wow, thanks for the great responses. I will take all of your advice seriously and pick up a set of snow tires and steel wheels for winter, change my battery, and pick up a snow shovel and a ice scraper.

Does anybody have and recomondations on snow tires and steel wheels? And can I drive them all year round if I dont want to buy a seperate set of wheels?

SVT, do you have price on those wheels and tires you are going to sell?

To answer some of your questions, im going to school at northeastern and we have a dedicated parking lot and Im lucky enough to have a driveway to park in at my apartment.

See you all in Jan.