Help winterizing Insight or it's the Beetle for me...

[MikeF]

I live in MA too. Drove my Insight all winter last year, with no complaints, once I bought some snow tires.

You may have seen one of my posts: I went with Nokain Hakka 2s in OEM size. I've driven jeeps and Audis for years, and found that the Insight with real snow tires had plenty of traction. By contrast, the Insight on the standard tires scared the heck out of me on the first icy day.

I kept the tires at 40 psi, same as I keep the normal tires in the summer. Never had a problem, and kept my mpg in the high 50s. With a full year of experience, I'm hoping to stay above 60 this winter, but we'll see.

I put the tires on a set of CRX alloy rims which I bought on ebay. The seller was local, so I picked them up with no shipping charges, and the total cost was the same as a set of cheap steel wheels. I think they look nicer than the Insight rims; it's a shame the snows are on them... <g>

I take my Insight to drive-through car washes; never had a problem. I wash it by hand in the summer, but in winter the outside hose bibbs are shut off. Besides, I like the drive-throughs because they wash the undercarriage and get the salt off -- even though this car is aluminum, there has to be something that can rust or corrode.

Never had a ground clearance problem. It snowed enough last winter to count as a real winter, but we didn't have the same kind of huge snowfall we've had in other years.

I don't have a battery heater. Never seemed to be a problem.

I don't have a garage; I don't have a car cover. I brush the snow off with a cheap brush, and use my arm (hand in a glove) to get the heavy load off if I'm wearing a waterproof coat -- nice to have a car I can just reach across... But I'm not too finicky about my paint job -- I have two little boys who ride bikes in the driveway all summer, and they can't help but bump the cars with their handlebars every now and then. They try to remember, but I was a little boy myself once. We chalk the occasional scratch up to parenthood. All of which is to say that a little snow can't be any worse.

Get some snow tires; other than that, you don't really need to do anything to get ready for winter.

Yours,
MF

Edit, 11:40 on Saturday morning. Just got the snows on, and then finished shoveling the driveway. Time for some hot cocoa.

[james]

As far as other cars go, I can only say that for any winter driving excepting deep snow, I'd rather drive the Insight than my 4WD Toyota pickup. I feel that I have much better control. Now if I had a large variety of cars to choose from, I'd take on of the 80-84 Subarus I used to own. They'd go through darned near anything, and I got such a kick from (as would happen a couple of times each winter) pulling stuck SUVs out of snowbanks

[bfivelover]

I've had the underbody panels come loose a couple of times. It's a heck of a sound when they are dragging on the road! Both times was because of deep snow. If you drive through 5 or more inches, snow, ice and slush will collect under the panels, and the weight causes them to come loose. You have to check them and clean the junk out if anything has accumulated.

[ElectricTroy]

I'm not sure why you think a Beetle would be better? It too has a low, low ground clearance.

No one's mentioned the weight. If you're sliding down a hill, a 2000 pound Insight is easier to stop than a 5000 pound "normal" car.

[Aaron Cake]

Originally Posted by murasaki

Hi All,
My husband believes my Insight is unsafe for winter conditions because it is too light, and low to the ground blah blah blah. Granted we live in Massachusetts in an area wiht less than ideal winter conditions ( very steep hills, snow, ice, windy because by ocean), but I LOVE MY NEW INSIGHT!! I feel it can be somehow safely "winterized", since it already has front wheel drive and anti-skid brakes.

So what if he thinks it's "unsafe"?

From what I've gathered from a search on this site I've found it's possible to indeed winterize my baby in the following ways:

The Insight is already a fully capable "winterized" car to begin with, however...

1. Narrow tires are better for winter driving conditions. Are they also better for steep snowy, icy hills?

Nothing is really good for steep icy hills, except perhaps tracks. However, since that's not an option, pick up a good set of snow tires. They will work wonders.

3. Rims/wheels could be 13" or 14" steel Honda Civic or CRX rims. can the winter tires be put on the original Insight alloys? ( Sorry no tire knowledge here.)

Yes, but the salt attacks the wheels. It's better to pick up a cheap set of "steelies" for the winter.

4. Tire pressure should change according to weather/driving conditions.
mid 30s for snow, and even 25 psi for icy conditions. Is this the same for steep snowy hills?

Honestly, I drive with 50 PSI all year. We get plenty of snow an ice here, and I have never had an issue.

5. There will be problems with ground clearance because of the skirts, and undercoverings. Have people actually gotten stuck or had them come off in the snow?

Sometimes. I have high-centered the car doing something stupid, and have torn off the passenger side undertray. It's not the end of the world though.

6. Some sort of heater to warm the IMA battery helps ( either 12V air heater or engine block heater) the former sounds like it is just plugged in somehwere but the latter? Help.

I have not found this necessary, but a block heater would be nice to speed the warmup. The car properly manages the IMA battery regarding temperature, but becuase the tiny 3 cylinder is not much of a heat pump, it can take FOREVER to get up to operating temperature.

7. Car covers? I bought a covercraft Technalon Evolution to protect my car from the snow, sleet, dirt etc.--- but it's a bit unwieldy to put on quickly and by myself. Do any of you cover your Insights before a big snow? I'm afraid of it ruining the paint.. I had Touch Of Class, CalTex protective (Telfon) coating put on the inside and out, so I imagine it wouldn't stick, but who knows. I know it' s been great for rinsing things off like dirt and bird poop.

You'll do more damage with a cover then without. Car covers should NEVER be put on a dirty car. The dirt and grime acts like sandpaper everytime the cover moves. As long as you waxed the car before the snow, you'll be fine.

8. Snow brushes? The dealer where I bought my car said they use "Sno Pro" to clean off the snow from all the new cars. Anyone here ever use one of these? Again, I dont' want to scratch the paint all up with the cheap plastic snow brushes.

I just use a cheap plastic brush, GENTLY. No problems over here.

9. Car washing in the winter? I know there was a previous thread on this, but really how does one go about it in New England with the garden hoses now indoors and the outside water turning off soon? I don't want to take it through a commercial automatic car wash--heard too many nightmares. I'm pretty anal about having a clean car inside and out. Am I doomed with "bad car days" all winter?? Any other tips? I don't have a garage but boy do I wish I had one.

I wash my car by hand in the -40 degree weather around here. But then, maybe I'm crazy.

My husband doesn't understand my (normal) "obsession" with my car ( FCD, LMPG. MPG, segments, etc) He believes that cars are strictly for getting from place A to B, so you can see what I'm up against. I clean his car out of pity for the car. Please any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, so I can assure him that the Insight is indeed winter safe---or else it's the Bug for me. I look forward to hearing from some of you fellow winter Insighters.

Tell your husband to screw off?

[jsanford]

We drove a 1980 Toyota Tercel as the family car for eight years while I was growing up in Maine. I can't believe that car was any heavier than the Insight except maybe with the five of us in it. My grandparents had a 1974 Corolla in Vermont for a number of years which was then passed to my uncle, who often took it skiing in Maine.

Anyway, I'd be a lot less nervous driving my Insight in snow conditions in New England where they know how to plow and drive in it than the four or five times a year we get snow in the Pacific Northwest.