Out of Pod Experience

Hey guys,

I'm not sure whether this is the correct place to ask, but I would like to get some advice about vacations and sightseeing in Iceland.

If possible, then I'd like to stay for about 10-14 days after Fanfest 2016, rent a 4x4 (I just love these cars) and drive around Iceland on the Ring Road. From what I've found in the internet so far, it seems like the Ring Road itself will be open all year around, but I don't want spend the entire time just driving.

While I totally expect all F-roads to be closed and impassable that time of the year, what about the other roads which lead off the N1? For instance, what about the Icelandic 92, 94, 96 or 85 in the East / North - will these be passable provided good weather?

What about the Westfjords - from looking at the map, the roads 54 and 60 look interesting - going Reykjavik - Hellnar - Patreksfjörður - Ísafjörður - Staður (detour to Melgraseyri possible?). Is that possible in late April / early May?

I've read lots of reports on the internet about people doing these trips in July / August and how fun it is to drive in a country with vast stretches of untouched nature and very little civilization, but I'm getting a little worried that the week after Fanfest might not be the best time for it.

I'm quite used to driving in bad weather and snow and also have some 4x4 off-road experience from driving in the US and Canada, but Iceland in winter is very new to me. What actually scares me a lot more than any snow or bad weather is being far away from other people while driving in these weather conditions - I suppose Iceland will be a lot more severe than let's say northern Canada in winter?

In summer, I could probably just rent a camping mobile and sleep in free nature - but that'll be to cold in winter - are there any hotels or something like that along the way all year-around?

This year's Fanfest was actually quite an unique experience because it was in March and the Golden Circle Tour just looked so completely different and the Northern Lights Tour was just amazing with all that snow!

However, as much as I like snow, I'm not just locked to these days - I could also come back to Iceland some other time in maybe July or August if that's better.

Looking forward for some feedback,
Maurice