Winter shocks Canadian drivers. Why?
I’m headed for North Toronto Memorial Arena to learn about preparing my car for winter driving. And also because the people at Canadian Tire have invited me to test my winter driving skills inside the frozen hockey rink.
Winter driving has already come to many parts of the country, but in Canada’s soft underbelly, we’ve only experienced a whisper of what’s to come. According to data collected by Canadian Tire Roadside Assistance, daily emergency dispatches in the Greater Toronto Area jump significantly on the first day that feels like winter. Why? Drivers are not prepared.
“Canadian drivers should be experts in anticipating winter,” says Graham Jeffery, category business manager, Tires, Wheels and Accessories, with Canadian Tire. “They aren’t. Winter comes like clockwork year after year and it still seems to come as a big shock to them.”
Jeffrey introduces me to this year’s Canadian Tire winter driving roadside safety and emergency kit. This year’s kit features first aid supplies, an electric tire inflater, gloves, tools, a blanket, a poncho, jumper cables, a reflector kit, a flashlight, polypropylene tow rope, a snow brush, an ice scraper and a telescopic folding plastic shovel. There’s also a oneyear membership to the Canadian Tire Roadside Assistance program, a packet of plastic ties and a roll of duct tape.
I’m reminded to pay attention to other important items like good winter wiper blades, low-temperature windshield washer fluid, a set of piercing headlights and a reliable battery. I’m impressed by a tissues-box-size lithium ion battery charger by Stanley that allows drivers to trickle charge their dead battery from inside the car through the cigarette lighter.
In a test of windshield wiper blades I shovel snow scraped from the arena ice surface onto a car window. The winter wiper blade knocks it off as I expected. Now, let me get onto the ice! Jeffrey explains that all-season radials don’t provide the performance of dedicated winter tires. The Rubber Association of Canada notes the rubber compounds of modern winter tires keep their elasticity even at temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius and lower. That gives drivers better control and traction, on ice and snow, and also on cold, dry pavement. Allseason tires’ compounds may begin to harden and lose their grip as temperatures drop to 7 C.
The test vehicles are two wellappointed 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT GL wagons, one fitted with typical all-season radials, the other with new Goodyear Nordic Winter tires, jointly developed by Goodyear and Canadian Tire.
I agree with Mr. Jeffrey that “Zigzag Microgrooves” and “Directional V-Tred Technology” are among the greatest things I have ever seen, if only to more quickly get behind the wheel of the car.
I start with the all-season radial vehicle, which I’m instructed to drive around the arena to get a feel for the slippery surface.
I find myself taking it like a snail — afraid of getting too close to the woman skating around placing pylons and Styrofoam blocks on the ice. — and I don’t want to smack a new Hyundai into the boards in front of witnesses.
After 10 circuits or so, I eventually manage to get my car up to an unrespectable speed of 20 km/h and slam on the brakes as hard as I can at a stop sign placed on the ice. The car comes to a complete halt about 14 metres away.
I now get into the Nordicsequipped car. The difference in handling is notable and something I probably wouldn’t have experienced so starkly if I hadn’t been driving the other vehicle only seconds before.
My driving is significantly more confident. I still don’t want to get near the lady on the skates but I’m worried far less about it. In order to provide an accurate comparison, I’m required to drive at the same speed as the first test — about 20 km/h.
Not surprisingly, when I floor the brakes, I come to a complete stop in about eight metres, a significant improvement over the all-season radials.
Hooray for Zigzag Microgrooves! Hooray for winter tires! Hooray for winter driv ...
On second thought, no need to get carried away.