SNOW
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and more snow. That is the forecast for today here in Upstate New York. Those of you in Europe and other parts around the world have already had there share, I know, but it is the first real snow fall for this area this year. 4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing. Hope you all had a good Holiday.
Worked in upstate NY and I remember taking a mountain road from where we were staying (Fish Kill) to where we were working. Terrible drive and yes it would have been great to have a 4WD. My finger nails have never grown back.
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. http://www.hq4thmarinescomm.com[^]
My Site -
and more snow. That is the forecast for today here in Upstate New York. Those of you in Europe and other parts around the world have already had there share, I know, but it is the first real snow fall for this area this year. 4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing. Hope you all had a good Holiday.
Slacker007 wrote:
4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing.
Doesn't help stopping though..
John
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Slacker007 wrote:
4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing.
Doesn't help stopping though..
John
But it does, good sir... Most people don't get it, but you need to use a trick the long haul truck drivers have used for years. Throw her down into a lower gear and let the engine slow you down instead of touching brakes. In that case, having 4 drive wheels is like having 4 brakes on ice and show.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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Slacker007 wrote:
4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing.
Doesn't help stopping though..
John
John M. Drescher wrote:
Doesn't help stopping though..
True. When you have to stop suddenly in slippery conditions, nothing is going to help you, not even 4WD. However, when you are going forward or reverse and you are not stopping then, like I said, 4WD is a beautiful thing; especially here in the Northeast.
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John M. Drescher wrote:
Doesn't help stopping though..
True. When you have to stop suddenly in slippery conditions, nothing is going to help you, not even 4WD. However, when you are going forward or reverse and you are not stopping then, like I said, 4WD is a beautiful thing; especially here in the Northeast.
Dude... You didn't even read my post... Now I'm sad!!!
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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and more snow. That is the forecast for today here in Upstate New York. Those of you in Europe and other parts around the world have already had there share, I know, but it is the first real snow fall for this area this year. 4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing. Hope you all had a good Holiday.
Slacker007 wrote:
4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing
Until someone who is unused to driving in the snow or on ice tries to stop in a hurry, then they realize that a 4 wheel drive is really just a false sense of security.
There is no failure only feedback
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But it does, good sir... Most people don't get it, but you need to use a trick the long haul truck drivers have used for years. Throw her down into a lower gear and let the engine slow you down instead of touching brakes. In that case, having 4 drive wheels is like having 4 brakes on ice and show.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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Slacker007 wrote:
4-wheel drive is a beautiful thing
Until someone who is unused to driving in the snow or on ice tries to stop in a hurry, then they realize that a 4 wheel drive is really just a false sense of security.
There is no failure only feedback
John C wrote:
then they realize that a 4 wheel drive is really just a false sense of security.
I don't have a false sense of security with 4WD...I know what it can and can't do. I have been off-roading and driving in the snow for years. I do agree that there are drivers who don't know/understand what you can and can't do with 4WD. I personally wouldn't drive anything other than a 4WD vehicle here in the Northeast.
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John C wrote:
then they realize that a 4 wheel drive is really just a false sense of security.
I don't have a false sense of security with 4WD...I know what it can and can't do. I have been off-roading and driving in the snow for years. I do agree that there are drivers who don't know/understand what you can and can't do with 4WD. I personally wouldn't drive anything other than a 4WD vehicle here in the Northeast.
The problem with a 4 wheel drive vehicle is that it's fine in a place where you truly need it off-road or where it's snowy and icy all winter long. Like where I used to live just off the Alaska Highway. You *always* know it's going to be icy and slippery from October to May and drive accordingly. More often than not the usefulness of the 4 wheel drive is to get going, moving in deep snow, not to avoid going off the road. Or for pulling other people out of the ditch. That being said I can tell you that in those kind of places there are a great number of people who don't drive a 4 wheel drive and get by fine all winter. They can't get going in deep snow but they have the experience and proper tires to drive in anything else. In an area where it's prone to freezing in patches or at night but not in the day like the North East which I used to live just north of a 4x4 is dangerous in that you can be going a lot faster in marginal conditions than is safe and suddenly pass that margin without realize it like when the sun goes down and it starts getting truly icy and go off the road without any warning. With a front wheel drive you can tell it's icy right away because you slide immediately when it starts to ice over and slow down accordingly. Take a look at the yearly news clips of cars off the road in surprise snow and ice storms and more often than not the majority of the vehicles they show are 4x4 suv's.
There is no failure only feedback
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The problem with a 4 wheel drive vehicle is that it's fine in a place where you truly need it off-road or where it's snowy and icy all winter long. Like where I used to live just off the Alaska Highway. You *always* know it's going to be icy and slippery from October to May and drive accordingly. More often than not the usefulness of the 4 wheel drive is to get going, moving in deep snow, not to avoid going off the road. Or for pulling other people out of the ditch. That being said I can tell you that in those kind of places there are a great number of people who don't drive a 4 wheel drive and get by fine all winter. They can't get going in deep snow but they have the experience and proper tires to drive in anything else. In an area where it's prone to freezing in patches or at night but not in the day like the North East which I used to live just north of a 4x4 is dangerous in that you can be going a lot faster in marginal conditions than is safe and suddenly pass that margin without realize it like when the sun goes down and it starts getting truly icy and go off the road without any warning. With a front wheel drive you can tell it's icy right away because you slide immediately when it starts to ice over and slow down accordingly. Take a look at the yearly news clips of cars off the road in surprise snow and ice storms and more often than not the majority of the vehicles they show are 4x4 suv's.
There is no failure only feedback
A little compromise would be useful. The crucial point about a 4x4 which you seem to have forgotten is that all four wheels are powered - distributing the power over a larger area and therefore providing slightly less of an opportunity to slide. The major problem is that people (certainly over here in Britain) don't know how to drive in slippery conditions. The other one is that these SUVs that people are on about aren't proper off-roaders (assuming that's what you mean by 4x4). I mean this one[^] doesn't even have 4 wheel drive FFS. 4x4s are more useless than other vehicles if people don't engage the 2nd axle (if it's an option unlike on some). All I can say is that around me in Wales last year the only vehicles capable of getting up the road were 4x4s (driven properly I might add). And that was just a thin layer of ice but they did go up some steep inclines.
I doubt it. If it isn't intuitive then we need to fix it. - Chris Maunder
