A couple of months ago, Clint put up an article on what you should actually do to winterize your car. He concluded all you needed to do was put on snow tires. I might add that when you change your oil, use a lower cold viscosity oil if your manual calls for it. And, as predicted, various publications have started to explain what we all “should” be doing to prepare ourselves and our cars for the treacherous drive 1 mile up the road with 1 inch of snow on the ground.

Take a gander at this fancy piece by The Boston Globe. It even has fancy diagrams. Everything under the “check it out” section are things that you should be doing routinely anyways. The exception to that is putting in lower viscosity motor oil and a mix of coolant and water for your engine coolant. But any car sold above the Mason-Dixon Line should come that way from the factory standard, making this point moot. The “add ons” are hilarious. They recommend a heated ice scraper as well as a heated blanket. Since we all scrape ice by placing the scraper on the ice in the same spot for 1 minute at a time, I’m sure this device works great. A heated blanket would be great if your car’s heater doesn’t work. For all regular cars, just drive around in a lower gear and floor it if you really get cold.

So what about snow tires? You know, the ONLY thing that has any impact whatsoever on your ability to drive in the snow? To its credit, the article does recommend getting snow tires. But to say it places minimal emphasis on them would be an understatement. So where is their recommendation for snow tires? Tidbit #4 out of 10, sandwiched between sheepskin seat covers and an electric engine block heater (seriously, who comes up with these things???). For some ACTUAL information how snow tires and how to get your car ready for winter, check out Chris’ recent post on which snow tires to buy.