Winter in Hanover

[jhh3000]

Hey guys, need some help from some locals who live in Hanover (New Hampshire)! I live in Providence right now, but will be moving to Hanover for the next few years. My only car is the BRZ and I have snow tires. How good are the roads in the winter? Highways usually clear within hours of a storm? What about downtown Hanover? Any thoughts on whether or not I should keep the car? I was thinking of buying sand to put in the trunk at a minimum, maybe getting chains if it gets really bad. I just got the car so I reaaaaally don't want to trade it in for a 4WD.

[jhh3000]

Bump? Anyone care to chime in?

[2_From_NH]

Hey man, I haven't been back home for a full winter in a while, but just puttin' around Hanover/Lebanon/White River Junction area, you should be good with just snow tires.

You shouldn't need chains (unless you live in the mountains or ski) and the sand wouldn't do much. Traction control and common sense more are your friends than sand. Pickups use sand because of the (relatively) light weight over the drive axle.

I would imagine that the snow conditions in RI are pretty similar to NH - some storms dump snow the plows can't keep up with. Personally, if I were back home, I would have a FWD/AWD/4WD winter beater (or daily) and keep your nice car out of the salt.

[Book collector]

I've driven my FR S through two winters in southern N.H., and have spent quite a lot of time in Hanover, over the years. The car is totally unusable in the snow with stock tires; need snows. Ground clearance is a MAJOR issue on back roads, where trees drop snow on the roads, usually a few hours after the plows go home. Snow removal throughout NH is usually good; Hanover gets some very substantial storms. Would not recommend sand--with my former car, Mustang, I placed a 35 lb. weight plate from my (unused!) weight set under the spare tire, and screwed the plate down under the spare. Your big problem may be ground clearance; still, I was only unable to use my car on maybe two days last winter.