Fast Car Finance’s best and worst cars for the winter
With winter well under way and the threat of freezing conditions, Fast Car Finance wanted to do a review of cars in the winter. We spoke to Andy Wise, managing director of Fast Car Finance to get his opinion on the best (and worst) cars for winter motoring.
The Best Cars for Winter
Volvo
Volvo is a brand that’s well known for safety, we think that the XC90 is their best example for this. It has a five-star safety rating, but a range of brilliant features to keep both passengers and pedestrians safe in the winter conditions. The winter mode will help you to get moving on an icy or slippery road by starting off in third gear.
In addition, the XC90 has a ‘safe positioning’ system which tightens the front seatbelts if it suspects that the car might be involved in a collision.
Volvo’s V90 also has a great set of safety features as standard and is well-regarded for it’s ability to cope in winger. The cross-country version provides 8.3 inches of ground clearance which is brilliant in the snow. Plus, this model is available with heated seats as standard. A V90 will come with some great features including adaptive headlights, rain-sensing windscreen wipers and blind-spot monitoring.
Given that this is a Swedish car, it’s not surprising that they are brilliant at handling winter driving.
Audi
Any of Audi’s Quattro all wheel drive system is great. The main principles of “Quattro” is that the front wheels power the car most of the time. This is good for fuel economy and means less wear and tear on both the engine and gear box.
But, when the roads are slippery and wet, the Audi can respond to the conditions, by sending power to the back wheels when it’s needed.
Audi has added heated front seats as standard for the 2019 Q5 model, but you can also add a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats too.
Take a look at our recent Audi used car finance deals.
Range Rover Sport
This is the car that I drive, and I think it’s a winner in the winter. The traction is great, and I’ve made good use of the snow and ice mode so that the traction handles better. The Range Rover Sport has an “intelligent terrain system” which controls the ABS, traction control and electronic stability. If you want a heated steering wheel and heated passenger seats, then these are available with the SVR trim. One feature I do like is the ability to adjust the wade depth height of the car, which is great for going through flooded areas.
Take a look at some of our recent Range Rover finance deals.
Now, these cars are all absolute beauties and are brilliant to drive in the right conditions, but probably need leaving in the garage when the weather turns.
The Worst Cars for Winter
The best of the worst (in snow) are:
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
As a real-wheel drive and with a rear-engine, the semi-slick tyres for this car need plenty of heat.
Take a look at one that Fast Car Finance financed recently.
Lotus Exige 260 Cup
This is another rear-wheel drive with semi-slick tyres. Much better for taking out on a nice sunny day!
Rolls Royce Phantom
Weighing in at a huge 2,560 kg, this car might sink in very soft snow. We don’t think it would handle very well on ice either, so if you left your house in it on a snowy day, we don’t know where you’d end up! We’ve financed a Rolls Royce Phantom or two – check out the illustration here.
Ferrari 250 GTO
Given that Chris Evans bought one of these for a whopping £12million, you might think that this car is too expensive to drive anywhere – let alone take it out in the snow. Fast Car Finance hasn’t financed one of these models, but here’s a selection that we have.
If you’ve been tempted by some of our best cars for the winter, why not get in touch with the Fast Car Finance team on 01635 785 400 and we can look at your best finance options. And if you want to get prepared for sunnier and warmer times, why not get ahead of the game and take a look at one of our ‘worst winter cars.’ No matter what your preference, we can get you finance – fast.
