Friday, December 21, 2012

Taste of Winter

So, silly me, we drove to Montreal this week, and came back today in the teeth of that winter storm.  Toronto never gets any snow, so I had to go to Montreal to experience it.  They had already got a foot of snow, and the sidewalks were horrible.  Walking around gets you really ready!  They really need those little sidewalk salter and sander machines.

This morning it was wet snow, but coming down like a real Winter Wonderland.  I have the new Hybrid, and I wasn't too worried about wet snow, but it was really heavy on the highway.  You get these high slush rows that want to throw you off the road (one car and one truck!).

My new Highlander Hybrid is the ideal road chariot for this, with the new super-stability control and the rear wheels that are electric and blast on in a flash.  I could see and feel this when I passed and hit the slush walls.  The stability light would be flashing, and I felt like I was on a boat!

Is all of this any safer?  Without all the fancies I'd be stuck in the slow lane, instead of electronic snow-boarding.  If I had winter tires, I could go 30% faster!  :)  As it was, the standard tires are quite aggressive, and held well, and the winter tires might be better in a snowstorm at -7C, when I wouldn't be driving anyway, since the salt just rolls off the highway.  Then you see a heck of a lot of cars in the ditch!



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