Members echoshock Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 Ok its snowing and icing here in New York. Why does everyone I speak to that has a four wheel drive vehicle feel this sense of invulnerability like, "Oh I'm not worried, I have a 4x4." Don't people realize that the danger of icy roads involves the ability to STOP, and not the ability to drive over a 3 foot snow bank? Cracks me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 Ok its snowing and icing here in New York. Why does everyone I speak to that has a four wheel drive vehicle feel this sense of invulnerability like, "Oh I'm not worried, I have a 4x4." Don't people realize that the danger of icy roads involves the ability to STOP, and not the ability to drive over a 3 foot snow bank? Cracks me up. Nope they dont stop anybetter ...but they are more controllable,, and they do make it much easier when you pull out into traffic ,, because they go instead of spin the tires. Ya gotta use a little common sence. That said .. when the roads are covered with ice ... i will take the 4 wheel drive. The big problem with ice is that alot of times you get ice storms in places where people dont have winter driving skills. I am from the michigan lake effect snow belt ... driving on ice is just a normal part of winter. The first storm typically catches a few off guard ,, and we get a rash of fender benders. after that first snow ,, things get back to normal. rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bbach Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 Ice is ice and it affects driving, whether it's a rear wheel drive, front wheel drive, or 4 wheel drive. It sounds like you just don't like 4x4's or their owners Echo. There are people with all sorts of vehicles that cannot drive sensibly on ice and snow. I see them every day. It does not seem to be the vehicle as much as it does the driver.It's pretty odd for my family to not have at least one four wheel drive. I usually have a 4x4 truck and my wife has a 4x4 suv. The other day in a pretty good snow I took my 14 year old daughter out to show her the ins and outs of bad weather driving. I put the suv in two wheel drive and had her slide around in an area where there isn't much for traffic. We totally got stranded on an icy upgrade. We popped it into 4x4 and off up the slope we went. Then I had her go down the slope and hit the brakes hard so she could see how even a 4x4 will slide quite a ways on ice and snow before stopping. The lesson: slow down in bad weather and don't tailgate! Being a teenager, I'm not sure she got the message. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 Out here, it's hydroplaning that's the issue - and with big tires, you can really "float" if you're not careful. A great driver in a 2WD can often go places off-road that a poor driver would never get to (or out of) with a 4WD. 4WD is definitely helpful, and generally a good thing on bad roads / off-road / in bad weather, but it's not a substitute for driver skill and common sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hogberto Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 you just can't get up the hill to our house when there's snow on the ground if you don't have 4WD. so we're a two subaru family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zekmoe Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 All I know, is the ride home tonight, in my new Jeep Sahara Unlimited 4 door, was unbelievable. I've been driving in this weather all my life, and never have I had such control, stability and manuverabilty. I'll never buy a different vehicle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted December 13, 2007 Members Share Posted December 13, 2007 All I know, is the ride home tonight, in my new Jeep Sahara Unlimited 4 door, was unbelievable. I've been driving in this weather all my life, and never have I had such control, stability and manuverabilty. I'll never buy a different vehicle. One issue you do have with 4 wheel drive is that if you do lose it ... it will climb that big slow bank made by the show plows and may end up on its roof ,,, a two wheel drive car tends to stick in the snow bank and not go airborn and do aerobatic. Use your 4x4 to drive a resonable speed ,, not to increase your speed and you will be fine. New 4x4 drivers can get sucked into thinking they dont need to slow down. Its really easy to do because they do so well on the slick stuff ,,, they dont stop any better though. rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 We had a killer ice storm a couple days ago, and 95% (19 out of 20) of the vehicles I saw in the ditch were 4WD pickups. Now AWD, that's actually useful in snow & ice at highway speeds. But the 4WDs - - pretty dangerous - - they tend to make you lose it on curves. Don't know why, but this is what I've seen, year after year. 4WD is great for slogging through mud & other low-speed stuff, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rhat Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 We had a killer ice storm a couple days ago, and 95% (19 out of 20) of the vehicles I saw in the ditch were 4WD pickups. Now AWD, that's actually useful in snow & ice at highway speeds. But the 4WDs - - pretty dangerous - - they tend to make you lose it on curves. Don't know why, but this is what I've seen, year after year.4WD is great for slogging through mud & other low-speed stuff, though. High center of gravity ... driving too fast and they get behind the thing mentally and yank it, end up off the road and end up rolling them over. They will outperform the awd crossovers in the really deep stuff like you get if you live out in the country and you get 12 or 14 inches of snow. Face it they are a truck, not a sports car. rat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fendercaster Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 No weight in the bed of a pickup is deadly, too, even with a 4X4. It doesn't pay to get over confident, brakes just don't work on ice, no matter how many drive wheels you have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rabid Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 I've driving a Jeep Liberty now and we are supposed to get our first snow of the season Saturday. The funniest thing I ever saw in the snow was a small 4-wheel drive SUV that thought it could get around stopped traffic by driving in a median of snow that had not been plowed. It went a few feet pushing snow under the grill. In fact, it pushed so much snow underneath so fast that it ended up being lifted off of the tires. It went from 4-wheel to no-wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DRHDRH Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 I think it is just "Know what you have and how to drive it". I think many people, 2WD or 4WD, just don't know what to do on ice or they panic. That said, up in RI, I do tend to see more 4WD SUVs in the ditch vs regular 2WD vehicles on any given snow/ice day. Basically all cars/SUVs are 4WD once you hit the brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members philbo Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 Driving on ice isn't that hard. There are just a few things you need to avoid doing: braking, accellerating, and steering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DevilRaysFan Posted December 14, 2007 Members Share Posted December 14, 2007 The thread title made me think this was an advertisement for an upcoming Redneck Ice Skating TV show ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cx04332 Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 4WD + chains is the bomb. I have an old Scout and with chains on all 4 wheels, it is fully controllable on ice. It is fun to cruise on by the latest technology stuck in snow and ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 yeah, chains make everything much better. i have 2 4WD vehicles and used to have a AWD. i put chains on the AWD to get up the icy slope of the mountain to my old house... course it was a sports car and the tires were WAY different than my truck and SUV. 4WD are much better at driving than 2WD, 2WD with FWD are better than RWD in slippery conditions... but the greatest driver isnt going to do {censored} when stuck in a 2WD vehicle but get towed out by a guy with 4WD. stopping however you are kind {censored}ed in all vehicles on ice if you have to do it quickly.... unless you have chains on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rubber Lizard Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 A 4WD plus an idiot equals twice the trouble of a 2WD plus an idiot. And the biggest mistake is thinking that 4WD means you can drive in snow and ice like you can on dry pavement. We run studded snow tires on a Subaroo and a Chevy Tahoe, and we almost always get over the pass and up the driveway. We have chains for the really tough days (slush is the worst). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 ever hear of darwin re:idiots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hogberto Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 ever hear of darwin re:idiots? i'm not sure though that darwin said anything about species in the process of extinction inadvertently taking other species with them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted December 15, 2007 Members Share Posted December 15, 2007 it was referring to them being idiots driving like 4WD is some invincibility cloak... are you referring to hunting and the general destruction of other species habitats combined with pollution and the cancerlike spread upon the earth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted December 16, 2007 Members Share Posted December 16, 2007 I'll agree with the general consensus here that 4WD really does help one to gain control in snowy/icy/muddy conditions... if you're not an idiot. But too many idiots think 4WD means you're free to drive like an idiot and your vehicle will bail you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alphajerk Posted December 16, 2007 Members Share Posted December 16, 2007 4WD has bailed me out when i did idiot things in 2WD nice just being able to shift into it and get out of the mudd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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