Quote:
Originally Posted by RedDevil
That's the snag with 4WD - you cannot brake harder than you accelerate, so chances are it catches you out unwarned in tricky conditions.
Dump the winter tires well before they are worn though. My winter tires are wearing, and I do notice how much the grip in snow has degraded for it.
|
This is true, and not to sound like a snob, but that's where experience comes in. An unexperienced driver will easily be caught unawares, but I learned how to drive in this weather 10 years ago, and I've been doing so for a living for 5 years now.
The bonus to having AWD in the snow, IMO is that they are heavier - you are less likely to roll if you lose grip and end up off roading, and if you do end up in a ditch, you're much less likely to need towed out. It has happened to me several times - last week, in fact.
My girlfriend and I went to visit her aunt a few towns over, and on the way back I let her drive, but I had to pee, so we pulled over (breaking the law, I know, waving my flag in the wind, but when you gotta go, you gotta go...) and she pulled WAY too far off the road, on a hill, covered in slow. When we went to leave, oops, went sideways down the 30 foot hill to rest in the ditch at the bottom.
She tried for a minute to get out, but couldn't.
I got in driverside, gunned that sucker until it ate through the frozen dirt, got up to 65 in the snow and then ran up incrementally at an angle, dodged a mile marker sign, caught air, hit the road and kept going.
I would contend that above all else, the experience and knowledge of the person sitting in the driver's seat matters more than any vehicle component - much like with hypermiling, the biggest tool you have is your own habits and knowledge of your vehicle.