Toyota yaris sedan, how good is it for the snowy roads??

Question

I live in Wisconsin and we get a lot of snow here. I'mm looking on buying a Toyota Yaris sedan! Any advice? or any suggestions for another car but not an SUV too big for me!!

Thanks for ur help!! :-)

Answer 1

yaris is not specially made for ice driving, as with any FWD you will have problems if speeding or curling, but with safe driving, it will be ok.

Answer 2

Its a front wheel drive, so it has decent traction in snow and if you get some snow tires it will be as good as you can get. Dedicated snow tires (on all four wheels) are the most important thing when it comes to winter traction.

Answer 3

Like all front wheel drives, the traction is not the best when you start driving or when steering. The stopping is same just like any other car, front wheel, all wheel, etc. It's also very light, so it makes less traction than a heavy sedan. But I'm sure other people manage to drive it. Snow tires are must, but then the hassle to change it, store it, etc.

Others to consider, but all of them going to cost more:  

Toyota Matrix - it comes in AWD too, hatchback, more stuff fits and sporty, cool. Redesigned for 2008.

Subaru Impreza - they all AWD, cost about $16.5K, either sedan, either hatch. Redesigned for 2008.

A little bigger, longer, more $$: Subaru Legacy (sedan only) or Subaru Outback (wagon only). There was a slight redesing for 2008.

Subaru Forester completly redesigned, now it looks more like a small SUV or something between, but with same engine, same gas price.

These would be the best to keep the price down.

If you new to driving in the snow, snow tires would be best on all vehicles, the highly recommended in AWD too..

For pricing, user reviews, comparing your choices, go to Edmunds.com, it's a great website to answer all your questions. You can compare up to five vehicles side by side, to see dimensions, engines, prices, gas prices, "ture cost to own" prices, equipments, etc. Both Subaru and Toyota is very reliable so can't go wrong with either of them.