It seems like anywhere north of Cuba recorded unusually cold and snowy conditions this part December. I mean, it snowed in New Orleans. Even we snow-hardy Midwestern types were taken aback when Jack Frost took a big ol' fluffy dump on us last month.

Naturally, our current long-termers were called upon in this time of need (as in, we needed to get home because there weren't enough Rice Krispie Treats and Red Bull in the company fridge to carry us through the night). To say the 135i and the Jetta TDI were completely different beasts is an understatement, but we're pleased to report neither was abandoned in a snow drift, though not for lack of trying.

2008 BMW 135i
Mileage: 21,836

It's our own fault we had to drive the 135i on its Yokohama S.drive summer tires in the worst snowfall in recent memory. Okay, technically it's my fault that I didn't line up proper winter boots for the little Bimmer, and I was the one who endured its wrath that night. The snowfall started around 2:30 in the afternoon and didn't look bad at first, so I put my nose back to the grindstone and ignored it. When I checked back an hour or so later, a couple inches of the ugly white stuff had already accumulated on the parking lot. By the time I saved my work and packed things up, it was 4:30 and I thought I was getting a jump on traffic. I should have known better — it took me five minutes and several running starts to get the car out of the office parking lot and onto the snow-packed roads for what would certainly not be my typical 45-minute commute.

I took side streets to avoid the snail's-pace convoy of lemmings sticking to the main roads. Unfortunately, my cut-through community is a hilly one with very narrow streets, exaggerated crowning, and high, vertical curbs. My first attempt at passage failed miserably. The 135i lost momentum climbing the mildly steep street without the advantage of meaningful traction and the road's high crown made it impossible to keep the nose pointed forward. Ultimately, I aborted this effort; straightening the car and rolling it down to the intersection, I then moved farther into town in search of flatter passages.

My next shot paid off no better. In fact, I was forced to coast backward down the street and take refuge in a driveway for more than five minutes while other drivers made the same futile attempts at progress. Several blocks farther into town, I finally discovered a street flat enough to make a pitiful climb, though I'll confess that at one point, with the nose of the car pointed at least 30 degrees left of center, I bumped the right rear tire off the oversized curb to maintain momentum as the road once again rose up. It wasn't pretty — it was survival.

Two-and-a-half hours after leaving the office, I arrived at home, where I barely got the BMW up the four-inch-deep driveway and into the sanctuary of my garage for the night.

I can't really fault the car for any of this experience; for starters, one staffer in a four-wheel-drive pickup still needed two hours to complete a similar commute. To the point, I know firsthand how important proper tires are for a Midwest winter, snow or not. Even without the benefit of all-wheel drive, a properly shod BMW will soldier through all but the deepest snows. Blizzaks will be fitted before the next snowfall.

Between storms, we managed to get the 135i into the dealer for its long overdue Service 1. We paid for an oil change back in July, but this was the car's first official scheduled service, covered at no cost as part of BMW's free-maintenance program for the first four years or 50,000 miles. They changed the oil and the wipers; remarkably, none of the electrical gremlins reared their ugly heads (or left any evidence of their existence, for that matter) during the brief visit to the service department.

We look forward to our final couple months with the135i, snow tires and all.

2009 Volkswagen TDI
Mileage: 5274

With a second significant snowfall scheduled to arrive just days after the first, the 135i was sequestered in the Motive bunker, leaving the new Jetta TDI as a drive-home option. With its front-wheel drive and all-season tires, it was instantly more capable in the snow than our BMW. However, that's not to say that it is ideal transportation under such circumstances.

The main issue with the VW is the same as that of the BMW — proper rubber at the road. There is simply no substitute for real winter tires when the weather is this severe; all-season tires just can't bite through.

Also, the iffy traction plays badly with the DSG transmission. One attempt to cross a snow-covered intersection failed miserably when the trans couldn't react quickly enough to the sudden throttle input. When it finally engaged first gear, it did so with a slam, causing the front tires to surrender grip and send the traction control system into a mad fit. By the time this all took place, the opportunity to cross had passed. Another staffer shared a similar experience, noting that the gearbox exhibits "German digital engagement — all or nothing."

When ultimate traction is less of an issue, the Jetta TDI is an otherwise worthy winter car. It has always started flawlessly for us, despite temperatures some days that would have sent penguins into a huddle. The seat heaters have proven invaluable this winter, especially for some staff members with a short commute; the engine simply doesn't make effective heat very quickly. While this issue can certainly be attributed to the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine, we noticed the same annoyance on our last Jetta GLI with the 2.0T engine.

With more than 5000 miles on the clock, we expect the engine has more or less broken itself in. That's why we're a little disappointed that we've never seen the trip computer register any more than 36.4 mpg in real-world driving. For the added $2175 for a TDI, and the additional (and unpredictable) cost of diesel fuel, the Jetta TDI hasn't yet made a case for its return-on-investment. Nevertheless, it's been a brilliant long-distance cruiser, and we love how unpretentious it is as an alt-fuel vehicle.