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Re: [OM] IMG: White Out!

Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: White Out!
From: Ken Norton <ken@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:50:19 -0600
> The other thing that grouses me are the people who think 4WD or AWD makes
> them invincible.  It just gives you a better chance - if you drive like an
> idiot, and you're on ice, four wheels will slide as easily as two.  After
> 13 years with my Subaru, I learned how to use it judiciously.


The best option for many people is to navigate the snow and ice from
the comfort of their easy chair. You can be taught some skills. You
can even learn other skills. But idiocy is incurable. I grew up in
west Michigan, right along the lake shore. It ALWAYS snowed there. All
Lake Effect, All The Time. It took one or two days to retrain
everybody on how to drive again, and those who couldn't learn, were
sidelined while their vehicles were extracted from the ditches, so
you'd get a couple days reprieve. Then the next day, zip, into the
ditch again. The real idiots were only on the road two days a week as
a result. But, anyway, we all learned how to drive with 2WD. You
really can get around OK in 2WD if you are patient and know what you
are doing. However, getting pushed out and rocking the vehicle were
time-honored skills born out of frequent necessity. 4WD, on the other
hand, almost entirely eliminates pushing/rocking and also greatly
reduces the pucker-moments when you pull out on a busy road and find
that there isn't enough traction to get going before that car five
blocks away gets to you and t-bones you. I'm not going back to 2WD,
that's for sure.

Yes, I have 4WD and I use it, abuse it, and refuse to go without it.

As to stopping on ice, yes, I agree with the general sentiment that
4WD isn't going to help much there, but yet it actually does. 4WD
gives you options that you normally don't have with 2WD. I'll gladly
hit the snow on the side of the road to avoid the spun out car in
front of me.

Every winter, the first slippery snowstorm we get, I'm off to a big
empty parking lot to experiment and learn/relearn the vehicles. I do
donuts, slides, spins and recoveries. As tires wear, what was learned
one year is NOT applicable to the next year. Every year the vehicles
are slightly different. Sometimes VERY different. Through this
experimentation, I've learned how some vehicles can be death traps in
certain configurations. The BMW X5 is extremely different in handling
when the traction control kicks in than any other vehicle I've ever
driven. It's actually scary. Effective, but scary.


-- 
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
-- 
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