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I have a question about winter driving in Nagano that I hope some of you clever people will be able to answer...

 

Is driving to Hakuba or similar resorts from Azumino (near Matsumoto) possible / reasonable in a 2wd k-car? Presuming no passengers or heavy load except a board or two...

 

I am about to come back to work in Azumino (I was in northern Iwate in 2000), and the leaving person in the job before me is selling his Suzuki k mode (?)660cc with winter and summer tyres, 47,000kms, for 20,000, but shaken about to expire, which seems reasonable.

 

I am more worried about whether I will be able to get to the resorts in it than the cost, which seems ok.

Any thoughts on this very welcome....

cheers,

Andy

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mate, i have a 2wd k car and have driven it everywhere, two winters, no probs. don't worry about it. i drove gunma to hokkaido last season, and roadtripped aomori in february.

hakuba - no probs i reckon. done it from gunma tonnes of times.

then again, if you get hit by someone you'll get squashed...

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The only advantage of AWD over 2WD in my experience is getting started when all 4 wheels are on ice, or you've got your wheels into a ditch, neither of happens very often. Otherwise there's no difference.

 

AWD tends to give people an entirely false sense of control.

 

You should be alright.

 

BTW, what are you going to be doing in Azumino? That always felt like a very out-of-the-way place. I have a good client in that neck of the woods.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks for all the useful replies, which i did read at the time!

In the end i was unable to buy the car due to issues outside my control (money), but it found a new owner anyways.

 

Ocean11: To answer your qu. I am teaching - JHS ALT here, with the 2 main alteria motives being studying Japanese and Hakuba area resorts.

 

Anyway, i'm here now - it's a pretty nice little town, and will be riding from this weekend onwards so ping a message up on the forum if you are heading through Hotaka on your way to Hakuba and need somewhere to stop for a cup of tea!

 

Hope to meet some of you on the snow, after lurking on here for quite a while...

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