Another 25 cm of Global Warming fell on Kenzie World Headquarters over the weekend.
As I always say, it's been doing that in this part of the world for, oh, 15,000 years or so.
So, why does it come as such a shock to so many people?
My focus today is on the province of New Brunswick.
Not normally a focal point for those of us who live in TCotKU (The Centre of the Known Universe).
But they're fighting a battle down there which all Canadians should be following.
At the moment, it appears the Forces of Evil are prevailing - the provincial government seems to have decided not to follow the lead of its (and our) neighbours in Quebec, and will not make winter tires mandatory.
Regular readers surely know the advantages of winter tires.
In addition to better traction in snow and on ice provided by the 'blockier' tread pattern, winter tires have a softer tread compound which does not get as hard in the cold.
This means it can conform better to irregularities in the road surface, providing better grip even on clear, dry pavement.
This is why modern 'winter' tires are called just that - they're not just 'snow' tires any more.
Depending on tire and road conditions, winter tires can mean stopping distances up to forty pecent shorter. That could be three, four car lengths. In urban traffic, that is HUGE.
Rubber chemists who formulate these compounds say that 'all-season' tires have already lost a significant amount of their flexibility and grip when the temperature drops below 7 degrees C. That's still a pretty nice late fall/early spring day.
In other words, you don't need winters as severe as Quebec's to gain tremendous benefits from them.
'All-seasons' are a compromise for summer use too, which is why I call them 'no-seasons' - they're no good in summer, and they're no good in winter.
Heck, even Pirelli, exclusive tire supplier to the Formula One circus, announced today that they will be bringing 'winter' tires to the first test sessions in Jerez Spain, in case the ambient temperature gets too cold.
The New Brunswick government claims the local economy is poor, and requiring winter tires would be too much of a burden on the populace.
Try telling that to the families of the eight teen-aged basketball players who were killed in a crash on a snowy highway in 2009.
There's no proof that winter tires would have prevented that crash.
But they sure wouldn't have hurt.
And there are hundreds, thousands, of collisions every year that could be prevented by the adoption thereof.
Not to mention millions of dollars in lost productivity due to idiots who can't get up the slightest hill in a snowstorm.
There really isn't much of a cost penalty (if any) in running winter tires either, because your summer tires in effect last twice as long.
There can be an up-front cost if you do as recommended and put the winters on a set of 'sacrificial' steel rims. This reduces damage to the alloy wheels that so many new cars come with these days, due to kissing curbs and corrosion from road salt.
And when you compare that with the cost of even a minor fender-bender (and/or the increased insurance premium) - well, winter tires are just about the best automotive bargain out there.
I personally don't need legislation to make this happen; all of the 'Kenzie Fleet' run winter tires, and always have, including the cars my children drive.
It is downright irresponsible to let your kids drive cars without proper tires, in any season.
My third daughter noted the other day that people who don't run winter tires don't 'get' it until they drive a car that DOES have them - the difference is that significant.
Over this past weekend, we had our Jetta TDI wagon on brand-new Swedish Gislaveds, which Lady Leadfoot actually thinks may not be quite as good as the old Gislaveds that were on this car before.
Number One daughter had her gasoline-powered Jetta wagon on brand new Italian-made Marangoni winters, a brand I had never even heard of before but which VW dealers seem to be stocking and promoting.
The aforementioned third daughter was in our VW Passat TDI wagon on an older set of Goodyear winters.
We all navigated the deep, freshly-fallen snow with underlying ice with little drama.
The new Marangonis were particularly sensational. If the trees had enough snow on them, that car could climb them.
At one point, I had to 'rock' the Passat with the older Goodyears a little to get it rolling. Maybe the rubber was a bit worn, or maybe it is evidence of how much progress there has been in winter tire development in just a couple of years.
My hot rod du semaine is a 560 horsepower Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet. Its Pirelli SottoZero winters, combined with its four wheel drive, could have turned it into the world's fastest snowplow.
But that's me; if other people won't take proper precautions on their own, well, that's when government has to step in.
Because their un-equipped car might well run into mine, or that of one of my kids.
Incidentally, winter tires MUST be put on all four wheels.
At a Continental Tire test a couple of years ago in Montana, we were driving what might just be the worst possible winter car - a Ford Mustang GT.
High power, high torque, rear-wheel drive - a bad combination for snowy conditions.
We drove one on all-seasons through a slalom course, one with winters on the rear only, and one with winters all around.
Perhaps needless to say, the winters-all-around car handled it fine. Some wheelspin, sure - a Mustang GT can spin its wheels on dry pavement no problem, never mind on snow.
The all-season car could barely get going (nothing is safer than staying at home!) Could barely brake or steer either.
At least once it did get going, it was balanced and predictable.
The winters-rear-only car could accelerate decently. But once you had to brake or steer - disaster. The car just plowed straight ahead. Fortunately in that case, the only damage was to some orange plastic pylons.
So, it is MORE dangerous to put winters only on the driving wheels than leaving the 'no-seasons' on all around.
I wish New Brunswick's safety crusaders all the best in this fight, and wish other provincial governments would get on board too.
I doubt anything will happen, because it seems nobody in any Ministry of Transportation in this country really gives a damn about traffic safety.
Except in Quebec.
How's that for irony?
***
Infiniti announced today that Stephen McDonnell will become managing director for Infiniti Canada, starting February 15.
This appointment has a more personal connection than most car company executive appointments, because during his 18-year career with BMW/MINI Canada, he was among other things Chief Poobah of the MINI brand when that car was our mount in the Targa Newfoundland car rally.
Stephen, as usual for denizens of the British Isles, is a motorsport freak, and was a stalwart supporter of that project.
We managed three Divisional wins for MINI, two in the lovely Cooper S JCW that also protected me during a double-end-O when I threw it into the woods at a buck-sixty in 2008, and the third in the MINI Challenge race car that replaced the crushed JCW.
His motorsport enthusiasm should be a nice fit for Infiniti considering their sponsorship of the Red Bull Formula One team, headed by apparent World Champion for Life Sebastian Vettel.
McDonnell's challenge in making Infiniti a Top Tier brand in Canada won't be an easy one.
There has never been a lot wrong with the cars. From the start, the G35/G37/Q50 (despite the ridiculous new nomenclature...) was/is by far the best-driving, most BMW-like, of the Japanese 'near-lux' products.
But cars are just hardware, mere technology, engineering, science. You can either figure that out, or you can buy it.
Creating a brand image strong enough that people will essentially over-pay to be a part of it - well, that's the trick.
Few people know that business in Canada better than Stephen.
Should be an interesting fight.
