> I live in Toronto, and in the middle of one of the worst blizzards of
> the year I had no trouble scaling a steep hill with 2-3' high snowdrifts.
>
> A Jeep Cherokee behind me was NOT able to make it up.
> He ended up turning around.

Same here. Never had a slightest problem so far.
I do have 4 winter tires. I got 4 Uniroyals + 4 rims for 600$ CAN including
the taxes.
Very satisfied.

> Avoid the "real" SUV's, their handling is awful and they're gas pigs.

You don't want ot buy 1 of those unless you really need to haul something
really heavy.
I've driven a Ford Expedition 2003 Eddie Bauer and a Ford Explorer 2003
Eddie Bauer for several weeks:
heavy
hard to get around in the city
real gas guzzlers
handle like shit