rae

some good advice so far. i think as seen on here its a very personal choice. you certainly do not need a 4x4 for normal commutes, driving around town and the like, but i personally prefer one here. Having said that though i would swap it for an alfa sports in a heartbeat.

they are handy at times and all the advantages/disadvantages have been pointed out above. i think the biggest thing to take note of though, is they do not improve your traction, the only thing saving you from a skid is good tyres appropriate for the season.

the biggest advantage i find, that does not appear to have come up so far is road clearance. its probably a mute point for 360 days of the year, but that one day when there is a huge snowfall, and you just have to go out, its an advantage to have that extra clearance when changing lanes and entering areas not yet cleared like car parks.

R I C H

I think you mean 4WD doesn't improve your ability to stop - it certainly does improve tractability (traction) in order to accelerate on snow or wet roads.

rae

yes, sorry, quite right. i have found it of most benefit at low speed in heavy snow, when a lot of other people in the car park around me just could not move without someone sat on the bonnet.

iaink

(without decent winter tires)

Greenhill

No, and I know this has been discussed a few times here, but AWD or 4WD (if it's actually engaged) does give that extra option over stopping, in that putting the power back on and steering might help you avoid whatever you're sliding towards.

Not that I've had to use that option (yet ).. just feels more secure having it available..

rae

i know you and others are really keen on these, and i must admit the road tyres on my wifes hyundai are crap, (and i thought bridgestone were supposed to be good?) so i will buy some for her this year, as my plan to cash in on the insurance does not appear to be working so might as well. but, i put them on my last car and did not notice a huge difference over the all seasons that were already on it. got all seasons on the present one and seems more than ok.

i don't doubt the advantages of winter tyres in some conditions, but i would say these would be the same as the conditions a 4x4 / AWD vehicle never sees either.

iaink

Going faster to avoid an accident (other than a shunt from behind) makes no sense to me...

Any traction you are utilising to provide torque is traction thats not availble to help you change direction...thats the whole reasoning behing AWD...spliting the torque over 4 wheels frees up traction for steering inputs and reduces the likelyhood of having all your torqued up wheels spin aimlessly. In short if you boot it, you are increasing the torque to the wheels, therby reducing the grip available to actually change your direction.

It may feel more secure, but its not....chances are you are just going to be going too fast when the shit hits the fan.

R I C H

As opposed to a neutral or closed throttle which may permit AWD to provide a superior ability to change direction in slippery conditions.

snowshoveller

Havent really read the rest of the thread, but theres no doubt you NEED a 4x4 in canada, if only so that you dont feel so vulnerable staring at the wheel hubs of Hank's truck as is veers towards you whilst he's reaching for another beer.

I suppose there have been some yoghurt weavers talking about your environmental responsibility suggesting that all you need is a toyota pious and some snow tires, which is clearly rubbish.

Manitoba hydro bought a fleet of hybrid civics, but found that they were useless all their operatives froze their nuts off cos the heater is rubbish, so now they have got trucks again - theres nothing like a v8 for generating heat. Not only that the batterys dont work properly in the cold weather and they use just as much juice as a real car

Steve_P

What a total load of tosh.

Greenhill

I was more thinking about influencing a direction change, rather than accelerating. If you're braking and sliding and clearly going to hit something or run off the road, then putting the gas back on to try to get the tyres to match the road speed should help change direction when steering.

I think someone once posted on BE where they did this and managed to avoid running off the road (not sure if they had four wheel drive though).

iaink

That was exactly my thinking behind getting the jeep. After a while I sobered up and realised id rather be able to either stop before , or steer around Hanks truck and avoid the coming accident all together...


I dont think anyone is arguing that the average 4x4 truck is the most nimble implement in the parking lot. I found mine to be a lumbering ponderous lump with dubious ride quality.

So far there has been little talk about environmental responsibility (what with most of us living in north america where its a low priority at best), but that too should be a consideration. AFAIK no one mentioned hybrids until just now

iaink

Ah, our resident hybrid driver joins the fray...

Steve_P

Actually I was more responding to the 4x4 aspect.

iaink

Yeah, that too