dbgoodwin

just know that you're the only one in the history of the world that thinks a minivan looks cooler than a nice clean truck or SUV.

grantv

Way wrong sir, putting words in my mouth. I never said cooler as neither qualify for cool, and absolutely did not include SUV's in my comments.
1. I said it looks better than a pickup truck. I'll take a nice SUV over either any day, and I do actually like many SUV's (and have one in our driveway by choice).
2. I know plenty of people that put a pickup truck as their least desirable vehicle. Yes, even below a minivan.
Cooler no, cause neither is cool; both are undesirables. Often one has to be chosen for reasons however. That's what I am sayin'
Peace

leadfoot4

You're overlooking the idea behind a "winter car". The idea of a winter car is to keep your "good ride" out of the road salt and safe from the careless a-holes that go sliding around on icy streets.

It DOESN'T have to be "cool", stylish, or shiny. It DOES, however, have to start every time, have a good heater, a reasonably clean interior, and snow tires......

dbgoodwin

fair enough, I guess you didn't realize that I posted a picture of an SUV and a pickup when you said that you didn't like them. Enjoy your undesirable, I'll keep having a lot of fun in my pickup.

dbgoodwin

You mean like a super reliable 4wd toyota that costs $1500-$3500? For the life of me I can't think of a better winter beater than a 4runner. Why would you WANT a front wheel drive minivan over a proven 4wd platform that is going to generally cost less than the minivan?

I've been stuck in snow in a chrysler minivan. They aren't particularly better than any other front wheel drive vehicle. Don't worry though, if you guys ever get stuck I'll happily come pull you out.

leadfoot4

4 of my past "winter cars" were a 1969 Chevy Brookwood station wagon, a 1976 Chevelle POS, a 1978 Olds Delta 88, and a 1982 Buick Le Sabre. All started every time, never let me down, had good heaters and good winter tires, and made it through the snow. I never got stuck, and between 1990 and 2008, my commute to work was a 24 mile, cross town ride.

And yes, I had a couple 4 WD pickups, too.....

Rabbitman

those old heavy rear wheel drive cars with snow tires especially the studded ones would go through most any situation.
Two wheel drive pickups today are almost useless in snow or even rain for that matter. The 4 wheel drive is a lot better but everything today has tires that are way too wide for decent snow traction even 4 wheel drive ones.

Narrow is better for snow, now I'm curious to see how people respond to this

leadfoot4

You'll probably get all sorts of replies............from people who don't drive in deep snow!

I agree with you on both counts, yes, narrow tires work better at clawing through snow, and yes, it's difficult to find narrow winter tires that still match the OD (have to keep the computers happy) of the OE tries. I went through this when I bought a Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2 years ago. It came with 60 series, 18 inch tires, which drastically limited my tire selection. However, I bought a set of Nokians that are quite good in the snow.

dbgoodwin

I put an offer on this guys window, willing to trade my truck, bike, and corvette for his sexy plymouth voyager. Hope he accepts.

As far as 2wd trucks being useless in the snow, theyre useless in general. Buying a 2wd truck is as stupid as buying an automatic corvette.

With my extra set of truck wheels in the bed, I only had to put my truck in 4wd twice When we got 9 inches of accumulated snow this past time. (not counting the times when I was deliberately trying to climb up and over snowbanks, or in general driving where I should not have been driving on a normal day)

If you actually look at the tires that were on it when I bought it, they were ten year old unsafe to drive over 30mph totally bald tires. I didn't get the chance to swap them out before the snow hit, and yet I still did just fine.

P.S. Don't get too offended about the 2wd/automatic corvette joke, its just a joke.

grantv

OK. That's great.
After one weekend last month of 12" accumulation of snow in 3 days, our minivan (and front wheel drive SUV) fared fine also. Never been stuck in any of our front wheel drive vehicles. They are great in snow, minivans included.
Between the 2 vehicles shown, are they around the same value? I'm guessing the van is worth all of $800. If your truck is also worth $800 then your point of the truck vs. minivan has some merit.

dbgoodwin

dont take it so seriously, it's just a joke. Anything under $3000 can be classified as a beater. It's a small investment for a vehicle that runs reliably. Which would you take for reliability, the Toyota or the Plymouth? Which would you take for capability to get you from a-b in any circumstance, the fwd minivan with a little ground clearance or the proven 4wd Toyota with a ton of clearance. Need more room inside? Get a 4Runner. There is literally zero reason why you should pick a minivan over a 4Runner unless you just love the way minivans look.

Its fine if you prefer the minivan, but I bought that last 4Runner for $1300. I'll happily pay an extra $500 to get 4wd and Toyota reliability instead. Heck, maybe you guys should look for an old Toyota previa with 4wd so you can satisfy your minivan fetish

once again though, lighten up, don't take it seriously.

grantv

Fair enough. We basically need a minivan, or some vehicle with 6+ seats (larger SUV?). I'm not a Toyota fan, no idea what a Previa is, but I wouldn't mind the wife getting something (newer) with 4WD (SUV) instead of her current FWD SUV. Peace man.

dbgoodwin

the previa via was the predecessor to the Toyota Sienna, it's pretty fugly even based on minivan standards haha.