Snow on I-95

My daughter is moving from Palo Alto, CA to Boston for that most understandable of reasons - she got a job in Boston.

One aspect of her job will require her to drive maybe once a week to Portland MA. So she's thinking about trading in her 2007 Lexus RX on a, groan, Subaru. Where did I go wrong? My daughter wants to become a crunchy. Well, at least, she is not into reggie music...

But I got to thinking that gas prices are more likely to go up than down, and a Prius that gets 50 mpg on the freeway is a better idea than a Subaru that gets 25 mpg. Better a greenie than a crunchy, I guess.

However, the dust in the eye is snow. I'm thinking a Prius can't handle much more than 2" of snow before getting hung up. So what say ye? How fast do they plow I-95 in the winter? Do the the unions ever get out and plow at all?

Your thoughts?

Dale

PS Have they finally gotten around to toll tags? I have never seen a more stupid thing in my life than 500 toll booths, but no toll tags.

 

The Prius being FWD will be fine. Hear the latest model is better in the snow than earlier ones, due to the TC. 95 is plowed pretty well, if its not you shouldnt be out regardless.

Lastly snow tires are a great help if needed.

 

Thanks. Am I wrong to be so down on Subarus? I have had some bad experiences with following a few while driving through Vermont. Imagine doing 30 in a 50 zone with smoke pouring out the windows.

Dale

 

Tires do make all the diffrence if she gets the Prius make sure she puts snow tires on all four wheels not just the fronts.

 

Here in New England, any FWD vehicle with snow tires is going to be perfectly fine on major and secondary roads. There will never be 2' of snow on I-95 to barrel through (aside from the blizzard of '78). The only potential issue is if she lives in a rural-ish town, and has to get out before the plows get to her street. Otherwise, she'll be FINE with a FWD vehicle, don't worry.

Do make sure she gets snow tires, no matter what vehicle she gets (AWD or not)!!!

vty,

--Dennis

 

As for the tolls, she can sign up for FastLane, and it works in almost the entire Northeast, here is the link:

http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/fastlane/main.aspx

2.Where can I use the FAST LANE?
Your FAST LANE transponder can be used in Massachusetts and on these EZ-Pass equipped toll facilities (map of states where transponder can be used):

Massachusetts Turnpike (including the Sumner and Ted Williams Tunnels)
Massachusetts Port Authority (Tobin Memorial Bridge)
MBTA/Amtrak Parking Garage (FAST LANE transponders only)
New York State Thruway Authority: Entire Thruway including the New Rochelle Barrier, Yonkers Barrier, Tappen Zee Bridge, Spring Valley (commercial only), Harriman Barrier, City Line Barrier, Black River Barrier and Grand Island Bridges.
Port Authority of New York & New Jersey: Bayonne, George Washington and Goethals Bridges, Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and Outerbridge Crossing.
Metropolitan Transit Authority Bridges and Tunnels: Bronx-Whitestone, Cross Bay, Henry Hudson, Marine Parkway Gil Hodges, Throgs Neck, Triborough and Verrazano-Narrows Bridges and Brooklyn-Battery, and Queens Midtown Tunnels.
New Jersey Highway Authority: Garden State Parkway.
New Jersey Turnpike Authority: New Jersey Turnpike.
South Jersey Transportation Authority: Atlantic City Expressway.
Delaware Department of Transportation: Interstate 95 and Route 1.
Delaware River Port Authority: Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross Bridges.
Delaware River and Bay Authority: Delaware Memorial Bridge.
Maryland Transportation Authority: Francis Scott Key Bridge, Fort McHenry, William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge, Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge, Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway and Baltimore Harbor Tunnels.
West Virginia Parkways: West Virginia Parkways - Economic Development and Tourism Authority: West Virginia Turnpike.
Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission: Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority: Peace Bridge.
New York State Bridge Authority: Bear Mountain Bridge, Newburgh-Beacon Bridge, Mid-Hudson Bridge, Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge, Rip Van Winkle Bridge.
Virginia Department of Transportation: Dulles Toll Road, Dulles Greenway, Coleman Bridge, Chesapeake Expressway, Powhite Parkway, Boulevard Bridge.
Maine Turnpike Authority
New Hampshire Department of Transportation-Bureau of Turnpikes: Hampton, Hooksett, Bedford.
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority: North-South Tollway, Tri-State Tollway, Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway, Northwest Tollway.
Indiana Toll Road
Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority: Claiborne Pell Bridge (Newport Bridge)
Ohio Turnpike Commission: Ohio Turnpike
Important: When you open your FAST LANE account, you must wait 3 days before using your new FAST LANE transponder to travel on EZ-Pass equipped toll facilities outside of Massachusetts.

 

As others have mentioned, the major highways are generally fine with secondary roads being the issue. Near the coast ice can be serious, while inland areas tend to see more snow. The classical big snow event in New England is a nor'easter... these storms produce a lot of it. When one of those comes along I call the office and tell 'em I'm taking the day off.

I live in a rural area and use of one those crunchy granola hippy subarus for my "winter crasher" car. It has actually been pretty reasonable for the past 250,000 miles. It has studded snow tires all around, and it's not a problem.

If she's really concerned about going through significant snow then ride height is the limiting factor, as a wedge of snow will build up under any vehicle at some point. But I can't imagine someone contemplating this unless serious off-roading is their hobby.

Attached photo shows my driveway one day after a January storm dumped a couple of feet.
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Many years ago, I spent several winters commuting on I-95 and I-90 in my FWD VW GTi with all season tires. It did fine.

I suggest keeping the Lexus RX. And for an extra measure of safety, put snow tires on it.

Best of luck
Jon

 

Ja mon, one love. You understand all dat smoke she wasn't coming from da engine, no?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjPODksI08[/ame]

SOB. No wonder you guys won the War of Northern Aggression. I may gripe about how hot it gets in Tejas. But sweat never killed no one. Hey, any time you feel like coming on down, feel free.

Dale

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLaityMWJjs[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=883HIebcXAo&feature=fvst[/ame]

 

I'm assuming your daughter isn't a car person if she is contemplating a Prius lol.

anyway I'd say go for it. she will never really hit that much snow in MA, especially not on major roads and highways. My neighbor has an older one he just puts through the snow no problem.

Good luck,
-Alex

 

Dale

I agree with all the comments about 4 good snow tires doing wonders for driving through New England in winter whether the car is FWD, RWD or AWD.

However, the difference between AWD and FWD is very real and a big improvement and for me that would cause me to choose the Subaru over the Pious despite the mileage difference. Add in the traction control and I would be surprised if the Suby ever got stuck in snow.

I am surprised that a Subaru gets only 25 mpg on the highway. I would have thought that it could get closer to 30 mpg. My wife's C300 4matic Mercedes gets 27 mpg at 75 mph.

 

Dale:

Regarding that fault condition you observed with the smoke coming from the subie in VT: Well, there's an aging hippy population that do such things, but around here a subie is pretty much a standard transportation item and wouldn't have that stigma. It's the ancient Volvos and VW transporters you really have to look out for.

I agree with Ashman on the subject of AWD having significant advantages in the snow... It's true that you can get by fine with anything if the tires are correct for the conditions, but the AWD just makes it so much easier, there's less worry and you won't have a white-knuckle grip on the wheel all the time. On my car, the studded snows are there to help stopping more than anything. That said, as BusDriver noted, the Lexus would still be fine if fitted with proper tires. (And do put snows all around).

If your daughter will be commuting to Boston from the suburbs, there's also excellent public transport in the form of light rail, the 'T'.

If I find myself in lone star state I'll give you a shout... I did some consulting in the Houston area some years ago. A climate where year round Ferrari driving is possible is very appealing. As far as the war goes, my ancestors were still in Norway at that time, so I can't claim any responsibility for the North's success in that regard. My ancestors moved here because of the nice winter weather.

My subie gets about 25 MPG regardless of how hard I beat on it. It really is insensitive to driving style in that regard: I think the losses in the AWD system dominate the equation. (This is with a 5 spd stick)

 

John's right- I will never again have a DD that is not 4WD- Roads are plowed amazingly well here, but there is always ONE day a Winter when you have to drive home from work and there's a foot and a half pile of snow at the end of the parking lot, or that slight hill leading up to a stop sign where FWD just loses it...

If it saves you from getting stuck ONCE it's worth it.

 

Thanks all! It looks like keeping the Lexus is the best idea. I'm guessing it will be more stable in the high winds. Plus, even better, it is paid for!

Dale

 

c'mon Dale, there's nothing wrong with Subarus!


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LOVE my Subaru STi, faster than the 355 any day (ok only up to 130-ish) and is a BLAST to drive in the snow. Yes, the STi is heavily upgraded to be faster, bone stock it's down about 80 hp vs. the 355.

I'll always have an AWD living in New England.

 

I love the WRX as well.

however, I went to college in Boston (1996-2000), and had a Cherokee at the time. I think I put it in 4WD twice during those four years. so AWD really *isn't* a requirement, provided you have great winter/snow tires and adequate ground clearance.

 

I've driven a 997 TT and a 612 through the last 3 winters on snow tires... as Bighead says, snow tires are the key. Even a rear wheel drive car with a remarkable surplus of power can make do quite nicely here with the right tires. Lexus + snows will be all good, but get her a skid pad course in oversteer. The advantage of FWD is of course the panic of "do nothing" works well with FWD, not so much with RWD.

 

Good point. Is the nearest school the skippy one at LRP?

Dale

 

I agree, have lived with a S2000 as the only car in Michigan, NY and now Boston. Snow tires are a must and for a RWD its important to know what opposite lock means. But if I had to do it over, with the amount of snow that we get here I would definitely get an AWD.
Boston has suprisingly good public transportation and one can live fairly comfortably without a car if you live in the city proper or a suburb like cambridge.
BTW I would pick a subaru any day over a prius even if the prius gave 100 mpg, big fan of the Impreza.

 

I just finished my 2nd winter with my Subaru (and I the least tree huggin guy you will meet!), my 1st winter I used the stock tires, Bridgestone RE92's which I found out too late that RE stands for Road Executioner! They sucked. So winter 2010/11 comes around and I need new tires AND I was going to be driving my kids to school/daycare 4 days a week at my work which is 28 miles away. I got the Continental E/C DWS and WOW what a difference! I actually looked forward to driving in the snow. I was out with some buddy's at Nashoba Valley bar for some cocktails and it was snowing like a SOB that night. They were shocked how well the car handled in the snow.

My Legacy is rated at 21/30 and during the summer I avg roughly 28.5-29mpg and 25.5 on winter blend. For N.E. winters, Subaru's really do VERY well. After this season is over I want to get the new generation one, it has tons of interior room and can fit 4 golf bags in the trunk!

 

I regualrly drive an '04 Volvo v-70R wagon. They stopped making real R wagons in 2007. Summer it's Bridgestone Potenzas (the Pirelli P-zeros that are standard are awful), winter it's Gislavid Nordfrosts......no problems in snow or slush. Get her a used R wagon. She can haul a lot, get decent mileage (25-28 on highway), has 4wd, and the twin-turbo 300 hp engine and adjustable suspension are there when she needs a kick.