Owning a frs in canada
 

Hello. I am possibly buying a frs in the coming months and have a few quick questions about them. I am in Vancouver B.C. and would like to know how living with this car on a daily basis is for well Canadian owners. First question. How is it in the snow. I know where i live we may get a few days of snow, but this will be my daily driver and i do have to drive this to get to work. mostly highway driving but i also live on a mountain (doesn't help me getting the car i want.) Is it easily driven with snow tires. I have driven a truck for most my life so snow has never been an issue for me. How is living with an frs for day to day driving. I have been in a couple before but never looked into the little details. Is the trunk a decent size, and how much roughly is it for a tank ( when driven like well people who want to pretend its a f1 car would drive it.)
Thank you so much for taking the time to read over my thread and hopefully you have some answer to the questions i have.

I live Edmonton Alberta and I personally have no complaints about driving it year round. With a decent set of winter tires you can tackle pretty much anything. My BRZ has plowed through anything I've put it through. Sure you spin a lot but throw some sandbags in the trunk and you're good. The trunk isn't to small, I fold down the seats and I fit my BMX bike in there fine(taking off the front tire of course). With a full tank I usually make the full work week even when I want to "pretend it's an F1 car". All in all its a fun daily driver yearly.

Get a good set of winter tires and you'll live through the winter. I find that the people who tend to complain about driving the frs through winter are the ones who cheap out on winter tires.

Not a spacious car so if you need trunk space or room for passengers it is all wrong.
I spend 14 hours a week for almost 7000 kms a month in mine and would not trade it for a thing.
Gas is a little more but since I am on the highway most of the time I manage about 7.3 l/100kms.
In winter (with the right tires) the thing is a tank and even my lowered one took me everywhere I wanted to go all winter long and we are talking 4 months Great Lakes snow amounts here!

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82998

you get this car if you like to drive above else, the rest will be compromises


otherwise don't bother, you'll just be disappointed.

I love to drive. It's actully my job to do so. I just need to make sure on the couple mounths when it risks snow that I'm not gonna be sitting there wishing I owned my truck because it snowed an inch.

There's your answer then.

I live in Vancouver too. This car is my only car, had it for over a year now. No complaints. Every moment in this car is a joy. Just invest in a set of good winter tires.

Gas mileage is pretty good too. Fill up is in the $50 range and lasts me 400km on average (my driving is mostly between Richmond and Burnaby; I'm rarely on the highway).

Trunk is actually pretty decent. The fold-down backseats certainly come in handy.

Live here in Abbotsford. Only owned my FR-S for about 4 weeks but I have no worries about what is to come living here.

Living in Calgary and drive year round and I have no issue. I've fit 4 people in the car before and I've also had a in box 42 Inch TV in the back with the seat down.

If you are in the area like new westminster around the quay or those crazy slopes around the boundary of burnaby and Vancouver, in the odd events of heavy snow fall you might have a little issue going up a hill or out of your garage. But even a Benz could be the same so I wouldn't worry about it. Plus, all us people drove it through a Toronto winter and not died.

Lot of seat time (Like I said above).
Lowered 1 1/2 inches.
Passed stuck trucks, awds and other supposedly "better" winter vehicles through snow up to 14 inches deep.
Not once did I stay put and never had a single issue. In fact my street rarely gets plowed so my neighbours loved the 3 inch high path I left for them.
Now... I had no hills to contend with so that could make a difference.

FRS: Freaking Real Sic, in the Snow
 

Arm yourself with a good set of winter rubber(I have Hankook iPike RS). I also opted for 4 40lb bags of sand in the trunk. This is my second winter here in Oakville and the car has been unstoppable. Reviews on drivability in the winter are usually positive as you can see in this thread....

Just went through the third winter with mine, I've only been stuck once... in a parking lot, with a foot of fresh snow in it. I got unstuck faster than all the stuck SUV's in the same lot though :D