Rob Agnew says:
>Also, driving technique plays an important role as many of the snowbelt
>owners will tell you. Every time it snows here, most of the vehicles in
>the ditch are 4 wheel drives.
The popularity of SUVs has dramatically increased the number of inexperienced,
over-confident 4WD operators. My first winter trip to Montana (when the
truck was mine for two days!) I hit packed snow and ice when I got to Idaho.
The center median of the Interstate from the border all the way through
Idaho Falls was littered with cars. Over half of them were 4x4s, half of
those were pickup trucks (overrepresented in vehicle registrations, I'd
guess, plus notorious for losing the rear end), and the other half were
Explorers and two Land Rovers. I was in 4WD, passing all the rest of traffic,
and very careful to avoid heavy braking situations. No problems at all.
I think learning to drive on gravel roads helps, living in snow country for
years - it does come back quickly - is invaluable. Four-wheel ABS is also
the cat's meow.
A quick note on ABS. I used to pooh-pooh it too. Theoretically, there are
a few situations where it's a disadvantage. The main one I've encountered
was where you have light snow on top of ice. The "best" way to stop is
supposed to be by piling snow up in front of the tire. Well, it doesn't
work that way, and ABS neither helps nor hurts. If you think about it,
there's not much frontal area to a tire, so you're not piling up a whole
lot of snow - at least, compared to the mass of a two-ton truck! You're
basically left with the friction of tire on roadbed, and if you need more
of that, nothing but chains or studded tires are going to provide it.
ABS is also great for off-road. I can safely go 10-20 mph faster on gravel
roads during our off-road excursions. And when descending very steep drop-
offs, I let the ABS control which wheel slips and when. Being able to steer
when at the limit of adhesion -- is great.
All in all, I wouldn't fit ABS to a light little sports car with no power
assist - where you can really feel the brakes work. But for a larger rig
with power pillow pedals I won't buy one without it.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Jim
"The road to tyranny, we must never forget, begins
with the destruction of the truth."
-- Bill Clinton, 10/15/95, speech at University of Connecticut,
"Fifty Years After Nuremburg: Human Rights & The Rule Of Law"
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