Northern Alberta driving - SUV or Sedan?

[waqasy]

Hello,

I am headed up around Slave Lake, AB and will be driving as far north as Peace River, AB and Fairview, AB. I will be driving on gravel roads a lot throughout winter!. I have never been to Alberta before so am wondering if a 2.5L v6 awd sedan (volvo s40 or lexus is250, etc.) will be able to maneuver around in AB winter?.

Should i just skip the sedans and go straight to 3.3L v6 AWD SUVs? (Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Rav4 or a Highlander, etc.)

I am concerned about the clearance space needed for the vehicle. The SUVs come with 16" or 17" wheels and my logic is that the higher the vehicle, the easier the drive. Furthermore, the AWD can help maneuver through tricky patches which a FWD might not be able to.

Any comments, thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Hopefully someone from AB can respond using personal experience.

Thank you for your time =)

[randomdef]

Hello,

I am headed up around Slave Lake, AB and will be driving as far north as Peace River, AB and Fairview, AB. I will be driving on gravel roads a lot throughout winter!. I have never been to Alberta before so am wondering if a 2.5L v6 awd sedan (volvo s40 or lexus is250, etc.) will be able to maneuver around in AB winter?.

Should i just skip the sedans and go straight to 3.3L v6 AWD SUVs? (Hyundai Santa Fe, Toyota Rav4 or a Highlander, etc.)

I am concerned about the clearance space needed for the vehicle. The SUVs come with 16" or 17" wheels and my logic is that the higher the vehicle, the easier the drive. Furthermore, the AWD can help maneuver through tricky patches which a FWD might not be able to.

Any comments, thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Hopefully someone from AB can respond using personal experience.

Thank you for your time =)

you are over thinking this whole thing. come and decide for yourself, come and decide especially because winter is pretty close to over, you got 2 months or so before it all vanishes.

[thumper80]

wow well i travel those areas often while i'm visting the parents out near peace river. i've taken all my fleet of autos up there in the worst of winter conditions and i have never had many issues . But i must say though i have been driving in those back roads for 16 yrs . If your carefull and don't over drive for the road conditions . My used to drive a firefly with crummy tires all over the back roads and never got stuck or lost control . I've found over the years that standards are much better on the gravel roads in the winter over the autos i've owned while i lived up there . a 4x4 or awd drive can get you into more trouble if your not carefull over a fwd or even a rwd .

[waqasy]

I dont think its too big a deal. Ive been driving in Northern Ontario myself in crappy weather, but it seems that every time i have ever mentioned 'rural alberta' or 'northern alberta', heck even just 'alberta' people have given me the 'look' (ohh, boy are you in for it). everyone seems to go on and on about how the weather is insane up there with extreme temperatures etc, which I can kind of see coming from the GTA crowd in Ontario.

the GTA crowd, dealerships and friends make it out to be much worst than it most likely is. but i feel the clearance issue is of legitimate concern. An SUV really does have a much higher clearance which will help with back country/gravel roads in the winter.