Very impressed with Festiva! (snow)

[nick7764]

Well, I got my 88' Festiva L fairly recently (a couple months ago) and had to say I was a little nervous with snow and winter coming and all...but wow! Its great!! And the heat is fantastic!!! Never have to worry about being cold (after of course I found out its only supposed to work in the floor or defrost setting). And here in Maryland it snowed a decent amount (4 inches more or less where I am), and then iced over, and then snowed, and iced, and now its a big icy mess...but wow I felt great yesterday as I was passing a brand new minivan going up our steep, unplowed, snowy icy street! They actually had to shovel (themselves) a path for the minivan to get up! And even then it took forever...But not me...I just zoomed right up ... (ok, well "zoomed" can be taken a few different ways, but at least I got up easily). And then, while yes it was slippery (EVERYONE was slipping, it took them till about 1 to fully plow even some of the larger roads around here), I was doing a lot better than so many other cars...It just kept going...and going... In fact, later, when I had to take the SUV out (03' trailblazer) cause the Festiva was charging (alternator's dead, manually charging it for a few days until I get a replacement), it actually got stuck :? ....well, after a couple minutes it got out, but still...Anyway, I'm thrilled with the Festiva, and besides being cursed with dying alternators (every old car I've bought, the first few days the alternator dies...In this case, my replacement alternator died...after a month :? ...but at least I have a guarantee), it's been great! Go Fesitvas!! I'm definently gonna keep this car for a while...

[roycehof]

I bought mine to use for a while when I was doing some very serious commuting. My commute has shorten considerably, but I'm keeping my Festiva. They are great, simple cars that get great gas mileage and can haul just about anything. They really do grow on you. No wonder they have such an active web site! I wish they were still available as new. Nothing fancy just good value!

[neanderpaul]

They are the best in the snow. If you run out of traction going up a hill just put it in reverse and back up the the hill. The weight is then put more on the drive wheels. If you run out of traction in reverse just cut the wheels left to right as you back up. That allows you to take smaller "bites" and at a lesser angle. I went from athens GA to Roanoke VA in the blizzard of the century. No problems!

[freshtiva]

Festivas are excellent in the snow. I found out before I got mine when a friend and I went out in some deep snow with one he had rented once. I was amazed and sold. As long as the snow is not bumper deep they are quite capable.

[ajb999]

even in bumper deep snow they do good as long as you keep a little momentum up.

[gdawgs]

I have a set of cable chains, and with those installed, the ole' Festiva can go through just about anything. I once went though continuous 12"-16" of snow and even went though a couple 2-3' drifts. The chains really dig in. But you don't want to go too fast.

[freshtiva]

These studded tires look like they would do the job also, esp on ice.