Are Smart cars driveable year round in Waterloo?

[Guest shawna]

HiNever been to Waterloo but I am relocating in January for work for one year.....I hear they get a lot of snow. I currently live in Vancouver and love my 2005 Diesel smart fortwo cabriolet. I really don't want to leave it behind but I am concerned with the snow in Ontario whether I can actually drive this car year round.So I am appealing to the smart car owners of Toronto to let me know if they drive their smarts during the winter and if so, how they drive in the winter. I assume I would need to put snow tires on my car - any recommendations?Your input is greatly appreciated!Thanks! Shawna

[Alex 21]

I've had mine in the snow a lot, mostly up to Mount Seymour and on the rare occasions it does snow in Vancouver. About as good as a two-wheel drive can be with low ground clearance. Good tires are a must, of course, like any other vehicle.It will have ground clearance problems in deeper snow and berms or drifts, the first sign is a broken intercooler scoop.The eastern cars have had a lot of problems with the salt, electrical mostly and the eluctor rings (wheel speed sensor targets) crack with corrosion underneath them. Can be largely prevented by applying Fluidfilm, crown or similar product. Also unless you are driving far and fast enough to thoroughly warm the engine frequently EGR plugging will show up. A smart is far from the ideal Ontario winter vehicle, but as far as handling on slippery plowed roads it is wonderful.More will come from the snow-zone drivers, I'm sure.

[smart142 605]

I've gone through 6 winters and look forward to them. I'm only an hour away from Waterloo.However you should get some good winter tires

[Wully 0]

I live in Cambridge, next door to Waterloo. Welcome to a great area!I got my SmartCar, an 06 Diesel this summer so I have no personal experience of it in snow/ice. But I have driven my Subaru here for 3 winters on snows. Subies can go anywhere!!I am a firm believer in snowtires and when I examined the summer tires on my SmartCar I was convinced that they will be a real hazard on ice and snow. So I now possess a set of snows and rims I got secondhand. For the record the seller of the tires told me he drove in the winter in his SmartCar from his home, in this area, daily to work in Mississauga and regularly drove around stuck SUV's! Yes we get snow but in the metropolitan area the roads are well salted and ploughed so that you are mainly facing lots of slush.Driving North out of town you will face real snowy roads particularly with blowing snow and slippery roads.So bite the bullet and get good snows.

[Britsmart 0]

I drove my smart last winter and it was perfect but I highly recommend a decent set of snow tires they make all the difference My smart is leaving Toronto in March to go to Esquimalt, BC with me due to military posting

[Tardis 3]

Hi Shawna welcome to the club Jake has driven our Tardis all year since 05 we live just north of Waterloo and yes, do get snow tires. We get a lot more snow than Waterloo but they do get a fair amount and lots of salt covered icy roads makes for a crusty smart. Hope we haven't scared ya yet. relax, get snowtires, most days the roads are pretty good. bring your smart and hopefully come out to meet a few smarties in the area get togethers.Karen

Edited October 22, 2010 by Tardis

[cdbh 0]

Lots of us Smarties in Waterloo Region. Snow tires and you are good. In fact, I have been able to drive through more snow due to ESP than in previous small cars: Mazda RX7, Nissan Pulsar & Sentra, Honda Civic.

[shakey 0]

I live in Cambridge, close to Waterloo. I have had my Smart for 2 winters and do a daily Cambridge to Mississauga commute. Never had an issue in the winter.Welcome to the area.Cheers,Shakey

[sujim 0]

I live near owen sound Ontario and we get a lot of snow yet I have driven my 2005 smart year round up here with no problems. As long as you have good snow tires I have found that they do as well as basically any other car

[passionateaboutRUBY 0]

Hamilton here, we get less snow but Ruby goes everywhere in winter. +1 on the winter tires. Be careful of ice ruts in Feb and potholes in March! Welcome to ON, hope to see you at meet-ups.

[ianjay 6]

On a really bad day, should you be driving anything?Ask the owner of the first SUV you see in the ditch.Common sense is your best defense. If it is below freezing, there WILL be ice (the infamous black ice) on the road somewhere. Ice is always slippery.If the snow if up to your knees, don't try to drive through it.Who knows what kind of winter we'll have in southern Ontario this year? I never had my snowblower out last year - the year before, it got lots of use.

Edited October 28, 2010 by ianjay

[waiting 0]

I live in Winnipeg and will be going through my 5th winter with my '06 Smart. I don't think anyplace else has anything on Winnipeg when it comes to winter weather and I have never had a problem (must have winter tires though). I have driven my Smart through snow and ice covered streets and in stormy weather (having said that, clearly you have to adjust how you drive in the winter just like any other vehicle). In all the winters so far there was only one time that I opted to take my SUV to work instead of the Smart and that was because they were predicting that another snow storm was going to blow in during the day.It has been a year round vehicle for me.

[Squeeakers 0]

I drove my smart for 4 winters so far.....without snow tires *gasp*. I stuck mostly to Toronto though, with occasional forays out to Trenton (which is 2 hours east). This year I've moved north into the snow belt, so I went for the snow tires, but I still plan to commute the hour into the city all winter in my smart.

[garthD 0]

Coming into my fifth winter driving in Kitchener-Waterloo and the smart (with snow tires) has been as good as any other small car in the snow. Warm clothes, heated seats (which I don't have), a garage, and block heater would be useful too. KW really isn't too snowy (more than Vancouver to be sure) as we are outside of the snow belts and tend not to get much lake-effect snow. You'll do fine.

[FlyingTigerDevelopment 27]

Back in the 70's when I was in Guelph. Blowing snow overnight could buried our cars in the driveway. Our house was facing north. So the front was blocked 6-7 feet high. I remember I had to jump from the 2nd floor window to get out to shove the snow. Just thinking of it gives me the chills. If you try to drive to Fergus in a blizzard, it was a rally experience. Honed my driving skills there.Maybe this global warming has took away some of the edge.I'm glad to be in the tropic of Vancouver now.

[garthD 0]

Back in the 70's when I was in Guelph. Blowing snow overnight could buried our cars in the driveway. Our house was facing north. So the front was blocked 6-7 feet high. I remember I had to jump from the 2nd floor window to get out to shove the snow. Just thinking of it gives me the chills. If you try to drive to Fergus in a blizzard, it was a rally experience. Honed my driving skills there.Maybe this global warming has took away some of the edge.I'm glad to be in the tropic of Vancouver now.

Yeah, the drive between Guelph and Fergus is flat and can be pretty blustery. Still, the numbers for the area are pretty low (long term annual averages from Weather Network):Kitchener-Waterloo: 133cmCompared to other nearby cities:Windsor: 126cmToronto: 133cmGuelph: 156cmLondon: 202cmOttawa: 202cmBarrie: 238cmStratford: 243cmOwen Sound: 357cmAnd other Eastern Cites:Halifax: 176cmMontreal: 217cmQuebec: 316cmSt John's: 322cmSo on the whole KW is pretty good snow-wise for an Eastern city, though far more than Vancouver (a whopping 43cm). Sorry a bit bored... Edited November 3, 2010 by garthD

[FlyingTigerDevelopment 27]

Thanks for the numbers.Yes definitely it was not the worst (for my experience) anyway. One of my brother used to lived in Regina. I visited him once in late December. Boy that was a mistake.In south Ontario. At least the snow comes and goes in a few days. Most of the time.

[Tardis 3]

A few days? err months for us comes in Dec. ends in March. I'm talking snow not flurries BTW.Put the snows on Yesterday not looking forward to winterJake

[lamimartin 0]

HiI currently live in Vancouver and love my 2005 Diesel smart fortwo cabriolet. I really don't want to leave it behind but I am concerned with the snow in Ontario whether I can actually drive this car year round.So I am appealing to the smart car owners of Toronto to let me know if they drive their smarts during the winter and if so, how they drive in the winter. I assume I would need to put snow tires on my car - any recommendations?(...)Shawna

I am driving a 2005 Diesel Smart Fortwo cabrio year round 50Km north of Montreal Qc. Last winter, I was not impressed of the performance of my winter tires (Continental OEM winter tires) mainly because they were due for replacement (I'm driving 30,000km/year).In order to get maximum grip, I went for Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 ice tires, which have the reputation to perform much better than Continental winter tires. I found out the sides of the tires are much more flexible and the rubber softer than the Continental, likely to maximize grip. This is what I'm looking for. Unfortunately, I soon discovered my new Bridgestones have a significant inconvenient: they are over reacting to uneven pavement.See pictures of Blizzak treads on http://www.snowtire.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=814.For instance, on concrete highways with longitudinal grooves or in construction areas with uneven pavement level, the back wheels are randomly kicking sideways, which is probably amplified by the softer sides of the Blizzaks. If you don't drive often on concrete highways, this may not be a big concern to you. If you drive mostly on concrete highways with grooves, I suggest you buy the Winter Continental tires, which are OK in most condition except in very thick snow.

[FlyingTigerDevelopment 27]

You also have the option to try the Hankook snow tires as well.

[lamimartin 0]

You also have the option to try the Hankook snow tires as well.

Hi Eddy,I noticed the interesting pricing on HankhookIn terms of performance, how does it compares to Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 and Continental Winter tires ?Do they have the same sidekick effect (see my previous post) on uneven pavement than Bridgestone's ?Do they offer similar or better grip than Continental ?Are they noisy ?ThanksMartin

[FlyingTigerDevelopment 27]

Hi Martin,We don't drive our demo smart in the snow. (It is too powerful) Lol.With the Little experience I have from driving customer's car with the little snow that we get around here. I would judge:-Conti TS760 (least performance for the lowest price) Although it doesn't really matter anymore as it is being discontinued. Minimum stock remains.-Bridgestone WS60 (good all round performance) Commonly available.-Hankook IceBear (best grip, noisiest of all) Although with the diesel engine. What little noise it make. It is not really that noticeable. It's like looking for bones in an egg.Above information are for sizes for the 450.

Edited November 5, 2010 by FastEddy

[lamimartin 0]

(...)-Conti TS760 (least performance for the lowest price) Although it doesn't really matter anymore as it is being discontinued. Minimum stock remains.-Bridgestone WS60 (good all round performance) Commonly available.-Hankook IceBear (best grip, noisiest of all) Although with the diesel engine. What little noise it make. It is not really that noticeable. It's like looking for bones in an egg.Above information are for sizes for the 450.

Great info, thanksDo you expect another flavor of Conti Winter tires to replace the TS760?Is there any other brands of winter tires available for a 450 ?

[MikeT 744]

The TS 800 replaced the 760 and they seem similar to Hankook to me (I had both). I drove across the USA last February through a blizzard on half-worn TS760s and they were surprisingly OK too. I slid into a parked truck at LOW speed 2 years ago on snow with my Hankooks. For what it's worth.