Finding a good "cold weather" vehicle?

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What am I looking for?

I want a vehicle that warms up FAST, and is HOT in below zero weather!

I got a little Nissan Versa with a 1.6L engine, it takes three miles before the heat starts, and never gets hot, only luke warm, if under zero.

I only idle the vehicle in the drive for 30 seconds before taking off.
 
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Something well insulated with a bigger engine. My 300 will literally roast you out of the car even at -20F. My 300 has double pane front glass (not sure on the rear), and it seems to help keep the cold out vs the single pane windows of our van.
 
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
What am I looking for?

I want a vehicle that warms up FAST, and is HOT in below zero weather!


Then you need something just a few years old, which for emissions reasons, have to warm up faster. They may have more advanced temperature management systems like electric thermostats and automatic grill shutters. Otherwise, my '09 Impala is pretty quick to warm up, while the 06 Jetta TDI might take 10 minutes for the temp gauge to move off 120.
 
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
New 195F thermostat, block off the radiator with a piece of cardboard, get back to us...
My xB has heat in less than a mile at temps of 10F or so.

Agreed. Back in the day I used to put a lower temp thermostat in my van. Then I had to block off the radiator.
 
Yes - blocking the rad with cardboard etc. in front makes a huge difference....just have to remember to take it out when the weather gets hot.
 
You want something with heated cloth seats in it. Leather or vinyl heated seats take longer to warm up. The heated cloth seats in a VW GTI I once owned felt much better than the heated leather seats in my Elantra Sport.
 
Trabant?

trabrant.jpg
 
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Originally Posted by Skippy722
Something well insulated with a bigger engine. My 300 will literally roast you out of the car even at -20F. My 300 has double pane front glass (not sure on the rear), and it seems to help keep the cold out vs the single pane windows of our van.


I don't think a larger engine is the answer, it has more to do with the design of the cooling system. The 1.8 TSI in our Jetta warms up very quickly compared to other vehicles I have driven.
 
OP, you want to install a Webasto hydronic under hood heater with programmable and remote start.

They ain't cheap.

You probably should not even consider one unless you are planing to keep the vehicle for a very long time.

They burn a small amount of the fuel from the vehicles fuel tank, be it diesel, or gasoline. They make units for both, and in several sizes from cars and pick-ups to things as large as a bus. They have a glow plug that draws about 20 Amps for about a minute to initiate the combustion then a metal screen inside it that you can not see continually glows red hot to maintain the combustion. A solenoid type fuel pump that draws a small amount of electricity from the vehicles battery pumps fuel into the metal screen in the combustion chamber to maintain the fuel flow for combustion. A low power electric blower fan forces a small amount of fresh air into the combustion chamber. And an electric pump circulates the vehicles coolant through the heat exchanger that transfers heat from combustion chamber to the coolant. The entire unit is wired into the vehicles heating / cooling system and a microprocessor regulates the speed of the solenoid fuel pump, the combustion air fan, the coolant pump, and the vehicles heating / cooling system fan to blow heat into the cab of the vehicle, and varies the speeds of everything to initiate combustion, regulate rate of combustion and heat transfer with respect to demand,and shut down a heating cycle when combustion is no longer needed. On shut down the glow plus is energized for a short time to insure complete burn off of all fuel after the fuel pump is shut off. These systems also have safety temperature sensors and combustion sensors that are monitored by the microprocessor. They can be pre-programmed to start at a specific time, and can also be started remotely.

These systems do require regular maintenance to keep them running reliably. The metal screen that glows red hot in the combustion chamber eventually requires replacement because of left over carbon from combustion. You should probably replace that screen about the beginning of each winter. If you let it get too clogged it can be hard to remove from the combustion chamber. The glow plug probably should be replaced about every 5 years. The small solenoid fuel pump has a screen that should be cleaned or changed once in a while depending on the quality of the fuel. The electric motors that run the combustion air flow fan, and the coolant circulation pump, have brushes and eventually wear out and require replacement.

These units are nice, and quiet, and sip a very little amount of fuel, and draw a very small amount of electric power from the vehicles battery, and will warm the cab to the temperature selected on the units thermostat, that is usually added to the vehicles dash. They can put out an amazing amount of heat. You can have the inside of the cab toasty warm before you get it the vehicle, and all the ice melted off the windows. Along with heating the cab the hydronic units also pre-warm the engine by heating and circulating the coolant. This alone can make them worth installing in diesels in very cold climates because that makes the diesel engine easy to start.

They also make units that transfer the heat of combustion directly to air that is taken from the cab and blown back into the cab. However unless you have a large truck with plenty of room to mount one, you probably will loose a significant amount of trunk space by installing it in your trunk, and plumbing 4 inch diameter duct work to and from the cab.

Be it the under hood hydronic, or the air exchange units, they ain't cheap, and they do require maintenance, and their maintenance parts also cost money.

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Over all it can be cheaper and much less maintenance to just get a remote start and start the vehicle by remote in the morning about a half hour before you are going to leave the house.
 
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Anything with aluminum block and heads should warmup faster than cast iron.

I find heated seats and steering wheel make a huge difference, and if you don't have that, you can buy aftermarket heated covers for the seats and steering wheel.

I also like the heated and rechargeable gloves.
 
I watched a YouTube video where the guy just flushed his heater core with fresh water to get out the sediment and old coolant and his heat worked WAY WAY better. It was an eye opener.
 
Beat me to it bnubbatime.
Cleanliness of the cooling system effects how well the system absorbs heat from the engine and dispels heat from the radiator and heater core.
So cross the "T"'s and dot the "I"'s.

There were cars in Scandinavia which had rolled/spring loaded air shields before their radiators.
A chain came through the dash. They worked like a window blind.

Tres' cool. G&K

ps My '76 Nova had the hottest heater of any car......acknowledged by many.
 
Originally Posted by Vern_in_IL
What am I looking for?
I want a vehicle that warms up FAST, and is HOT in below zero weather! ...
1. Get a vehicle with a less efficient engine. Heaters use waste heat; when there's little waste, there's little heat to spare.

2. Block most of the grill in very cold weather. In very cold weather, excessive cold air circulating around the engine cools it significantly even when the thermostat is closed.
 
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