the cord for the block heater isnt that bad, not like you have to drive around in the summer with it dangling out the front.

I havent had to start my car at -50 yet since i have a garage, but i have had to start it about -40 and it started no problem.

 

I would say get yourself the block heater and have you car pre-warmed for starting and watch out for moose at night.

 

FYI about the block heater. Spoke to the dealer about one a few weeks back, and this is what I found out about cost. You'll need
1) engine block heater $40.00
2) engine heat protector $11.00
3) water pump pipe $110.00
4) install-approx 2 hours(dealer had done 2 installs).
These prices are CDN dollars and what my dealer quoted me. Approx $160 in parts, then about the same in labour, which brings you over 300 CDN.
Mine started at -40 degrees celsius a bit slow too.

 

Hmmm...that's something I forgot to ask for when I got the car. When I had my previous car, I told myself that my next car would have to have one of those...oh well. I find the car starts well under the recent cold chills and I don't want to shell out 300$ in order to have one.

 

you live is canada. you should have one.

 

My car runs excellent in the winter. Cold starts no problem and it was -20c today ( maybe colder ) I was late this morning so I hopped in and drove away cold ( bad thing ) just took it very easy idled down the road!! This is my third winter with my RA ( got it in Dec of 03 ) but I found that I needed different tires. The GOOD-4-A-YEAR rubber sucks and I burned them off in 32,000kms of driving. That was being nice too! Recommend BFG winter slaloms or Nokian WR's for winter in these cars. Dude, you need a block heater. -40c is comin

 

Yeah... I'm about a mile away from Lake Michigan and my car has a little hesitation... it's about 10 degrees F right now... car runs good but the shifting is sticky until the tranny warms up... I have also noticed a lack of mivec until the engine is warm...

 

heres what the mechanic told me at the dealership, that mivec wont really work good until the engine is warm.

 

...It seems all Canadian RA owners are joining this thread Anyone with similar climates other than Canada?

 

thanks god we dont need them on the caribbean!

 

Yep. This was the temp here today when I woke up:

 

-

It was colder in Wisconsin than it was over here!

-

 

-16??

That's brisk!!

I don't miss the bitter cold of the north much. Well... sometimes I do.

 

I'm still running around in shorts. The neighbor almost crashed her minivan when she saw me shoveling the driveway, and did a double-take.

 

Oh man, now that's quite brave of you