Not another winter car thread!

[MonsieurBon]

Hi team,

I'm debating purchasing a winter-snow-happy-time-adventure car. I use my '84 300D for just about everything now. I live in the Pacific NW, and I don't have to deal with snow in my daily commute, but I go skiing up in the mountains at least twice a week during the winter.

For the past few years, I just used chains, which I have become super-snappy at installing and removing in poor conditions. But they limit my speed for what can sometimes be at least 30 miles. And frequently, there are bare patches after heavy snow and ice, so then I feel like an idiot and have to go even slower.

I'm planning on getting even further out into the wild places this winter. Here are my options, as I see them:

1) Get (studded?) snow tires on steel wheels for maybe $400 from Les Schwab, with free swapping and rotation. I would, of course, be then driving on regular roads with studded tires when I drive to work. Also, with chains, I noticed that I would have really good traction in even sloppy deep snow, while 4x4 trucks with huge clearance and snow tires would get stuck.

2) Get a snow car. I want either a Subaru Loyale AWD wagon ($1500-$2000) or a Mazda MPV 4x4 van ($2000-$4000), both with snow tires. This is the more expensive option, but I could sleep in the Mazda (and the Subie in a pinch) if I wanted to, so it would also make a good camping car.

They don't use salt up in the mountains here, but I don't know if that's true in Washington state, and my car is cream colored, so it gets VERY dirty up there. I supposed I could get a power washer for less than the cost of another car, though.

Another issue is glow plugs. I had one die on me in the mountains last year, and it took me a very scary 15 minutes to get the car started. I have a super-heavy duty block heater which I could connect to a $400 generator if necessary, though. Or I could carry an extra camping stove or propane torch.

So am I crazy thinking about getting another car? With snow tires I should be just fine up there, yes? Should I get a front skid plate made and attached? Or take off the front lower air dam thingy?

Also, will a full fuel tank, a full 12-gallon veggie oil tank in the trunk, and two full 6-gallon be enough to give the rear wheels enough traction if I get snow tires? I calculate that to be about 280 lbs above or behind the rear axle.

Thanks for your input.