Milwaukee County has been bombed with snow this season. I don't know what type of tires you have--Continental Eco-Plus?-but if you feel somewhat insecure in heavier, wet snow, then I would recommend going with different tires for the winter season. Goodyear Triple Tread (what I have) and Nokian WR are highly rated for the winter season.

 

Through the couple of cold snaps here in the last month or so I've found the block heater and seat warmers to be more than adequate for most of what I need. The only bad part is that when it sits at work in the -5 or -10 weather and no access to an outlet to plug in during the day it was uncomfortable (like it would be in any other car in that weather), but the FEH does warm up very quickly and the seat warmers kind of help you through that first minute or two when it is warming up.

Overall, I would say that a remote starter is really a waste of money for these things - the EBH, seat warmers, and quick heatup ability of the FEH are a fairly equal alternative to a remote starter - and I think all of those things (including the EBH) come standard in the northern states. It took me a bit of digging to find the cord for the block heater because they had it tucked pretty tight back behind the bumper between the upper and lower grill openings when it comes out of the factory. I didn't know exactly where it was supposed to be so I spent about 5 or 10 minutes with a flashlight the first cold night trying to find it.

As for scraping ice - I'm 6'-3" so I can reach the middle of of the windshield on my FEH easily now, but I used to have a (ahem, cough, speaking softly out the side of my mouth......) Lincoln Navigator and even for me it was a stretch to get to all of that windshield. I'm not sure where I found it, but somewhere I found an ice scraper/brush with a handle that extended out to almost 2 or 2.5 feet long. Works great!

 

Thanks again for all your input.

Yesterday I did have to scrape/wait for the defroster to do it's thing. The roads were so nasty I left school (I teach) at 4:00, made it home around 7:30. it was ugly out there....The traffic, greasy snow conditions and moronic drivers....however, my drive was enjoyable! Ask me that a year form now and I may not be as content! I am in the honeymoon phase!

My tires are whatever the manufacturer puts on, guess i'd have to look. My FEH did really well handling yesterday, just a wee bit of slippen and sliding, to be expected. I am happy with the 2WD, my purse could not handle the extra cost of AWD. I am a cautious driver and if the roads are really nasty, school is usually called off anyway.

The seat heater is wonderful!

Remote starter, I will just wait and see...... since Ford will offer it as an option on the 09, if it is necessary I can think about it. But I promise not to abuse it! I drive with a down jacket, gloves and boots too! (and I turn off the water when brushing my teeth!)

More snow tomorrow..... I've finially figured out where all the water from the melting polar ice caps has gone! Milwaukee!

I am curious as to what these "tricks" are that several of you have mentioned. I plan on researching here.

Kim

 

Keep in mind the colder weather will hinder your ability to improve the gas mileage. Until it becomes warmer and your vehicle "breaks-in", you might be a little frustrated with your fuel efficiency.

Leaving school at 4:00 pm and arriving home at 7:30pm is one heck of a commute. Your are crossing at least one county line coming out of Milwaukee?

 

I work in Franklin a South West suburb of Milw... I live on the North west side of Milwaukee...had to drive to Sussex (about 12 miles north west of Milwaukee) to get my son, to take him to a doctor who is on the western/center edge of Milwaukee..... it should have taken an hour at the most, but with the weather my travel time more than doubled! I would have cancelled the appointment buy the doctor is really hard to see. Our 15 minutes with him turned into a much longer ordeal! He only has hours on Tues evenings...yadda, yadda, yadda.

More snow expected today, they are already warning about the commute home! it usually takes me 30 minutes, and it's mostly interstate travel. Milwaukee has really done a great job keeping the freeways open, the side streets are another story. We are having one of the worst winters on record here. And...there's more snow expected on Sunday and Monday! Enough already!

 

Hey, I hear you! I recently moved from Colorado to Minnesota. Now I know where all the glaciers moved to! It hasn't been above freezing since Thanksgiving, and most nights are sub-zero. Wind Chill is sub-zero almost daily! And I'm in the southern part of the state!

Global Warming?! Bring it on!

 

[quote=frozen tunda 08;161640] I work in Franklin a South West suburb of Milw...

quote]

Kim, you had a question about the special hybrid driving techniques. I suggest you track down DebbieKatz who lives somewhere in Milwaukee area. Last summer, a gentlemen from Florida attended the Madison Hybridfest event and drove Debbie's Escape Hbyrid while obtaining 60 mpg! Debbie herself is a very good hypermiler. Good luck. You might have wait a few months for the weather to warm up to realize significant improvements in mileage.

DebbieKatz vbmenu_register("postmenu_84123", true);
Enthusiast
Real Name: Debbie
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Hybrids: 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid
Posts: 37


Re: Chicago ROLL CALL
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikel
I'm in Antioch, Il up near the border of cheeseland.

2002 strata silver Prius

SMILE when you say that!


DebbieKatz & the Cheesehead Kitties

 

Kim, you had a question about the special hybrid driving techniques. I suggest you track down DebbieKatz who lives somewhere in Milwaukee area. Last summer, a gentlemen from Florida attended the Madison Hybridfest event and drove Debbie's Escape Hbyrid while obtaining 60 mpg! Debbie herself is a very good hypermiler. Good luck. You might have wait a few months for the weather to warm up to realize significant improvements in mileage.

DebbieKatz vbmenu_register("postmenu_84123", true);
Enthusiast
Real Name: Debbie
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Hybrids: 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid
Posts: 37

Thanks Bill, I will look her up when Spring arrives. I am on my 1st tank of gas and am averaging 28mpg, I'm happy with that for now.

 

I know...Its a dead thread, a remote start kills fuel economy and defeats some of the benefits of having a hybrid but.
My wife will have problems due to a neck injury and also being a little bit short reaching the center of the windsheild and having the strength to scrape off ice. She uses the remote start on our current truck about a dozen times each winter to melt the ice/snow a bit before going out to the truck after work. The company that installed our Viper xv770 in our current truck told us that they are sure it will work in the 08 but do not have any info on the 09 yet.

I have tried telling her that the remote start will interfere with the flux capasitor and she said that keeping a dwarf in the glove compartment to scrape ice would be too expensive. Anyone able to help?

 

I just purchased a Ford Lincoln Mercury MKZ Hybrid with a Remote Starter and love it! I live in Minneapolis, MN where it's freezing in the winter. It's been great at getting the engine warmed up for hybrid driving.

Good luck!