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In my experience, people often credit a car with doing well on snow and ice, when the #1 factor is the tires. Good winter tires can make the great majority of recent cars behave well on snow and ice.
In my experience, people often credit a car with doing well on snow and ice, when the #1 factor is the tires. Good winter tires can make the great majority of recent cars behave well on snow and ice.
Yep. An AWD will slide just the same distance as a 2WD car with the brakes locked up on the same tires.
- elderly do not drive tall vehicles because of the difficulty getting in and out.
- visibility is a nice advantage - I've been driving SUVs since I was 16, but I drive my wife's sedan sometimes - hate it.
- AWD (and FWD isn't all that much worse) only help you accelerate, and keep control during a turn, not brake, so you still need to be careful
- all seasons are fine if you only get snow < 5 times a year. Look for mud & snow designation too. Beats having to store an extra set of tires and have to get them changed twice a year. Summer rubber is pointless unless you track the car.
Absolutely the most important factor in safe winter driving is:
1. Drive slowly and carefully. That's it.
People here are going on and on about winter tires. Are the tire manufacturers all on here?
I'm 55. Lived in the midwest all my life where snow and ice storms are, unfortunately, all too common. I've never had so much as a fender bender and certainly have never had to be towed out of a ditch and believe it or not, have never used a winter tire.
I wouldn't know one if it fell on me and sure don't want to store extra tires all year round just to use them 2 months out of the year.
I simply drive slowly, carefully and defensively. i.e. watch out for the other guy.
It's mainly the idiots driving around in their AWD's and winter tires that have false sense of security and thus, drive too fast and are blissfully unaware of their surroundings and fellow drivers.
Too many people wanting to drive their usual 10 miles over the speed limit despite horrendous road conditions. That's the problem.
Best part is, it is SAFER on snow and ice than the 2 wheelers.
I'm glad you love your Pathfinder and I know that they have a reputation for being very capable and reliable off road vehicles but the part you mentioned about the ice is simply not true. When the coefficient of friction between your tires and an icy road is effectively zero then no vehicle, 2WD, AWD or 4WD, is going to be safe. Studded tires, chains and a calm driver are about the only things that will save you.
I'm glad you love your Pathfinder and I know that they have a reputation for being very capable and reliable off road vehicles but the part you mentioned about the ice is simply not true. When the coefficient of friction between your tires and an icy road is effectively zero then no vehicle, 2WD, AWD or 4WD, is going to be safe. Studded tires, chains and a calm driver are about the only things that will save you.
Well I've driven two wheelers and four wheelers and this one travels much better up the drastic icey turning slope of our drive.
I can't say the coeficient of friction has gone all the way to zero, don't beleive it has. If it were the case I would agree. Because I am the one who plows this treacherous curve ( I should post a pic) with our 4wd diesel tractor with a grader. That itself slides off this when in 2wd. We don't use studded tires or chains on either but I'm sure they'd vastly improve my acura's traction, to be fair.
I've used the Deere to pull the sliders out of the trees on the downside of the curve.
Absolutely the most important factor in safe winter driving is:
1. Drive slowly and carefully. That's it.
People here are going on and on about winter tires. Are the tire manufacturers all on here?
I'm 55. Lived in the midwest all my life where snow and ice storms are, unfortunately, all too common. I've never had so much as a fender bender and certainly have never had to be towed out of a ditch and believe it or not, have never used a winter tire.
I wouldn't know one if it fell on me and sure don't want to store extra tires all year round just to use them 2 months out of the year.
I simply drive slowly, carefully and defensively. i.e. watch out for the other guy.
It's mainly the idiots driving around in their AWD's and winter tires that have false sense of security and thus, drive too fast and are blissfully unaware of their surroundings and fellow drivers.
Too many people wanting to drive their usual 10 miles over the speed limit despite horrendous road conditions. That's the problem.
I pretty much agree. In a 4-decade plus driving career on very treacherous roads every one of those winters, I have had winter snow tires on exactly 3 vehicles for 3 winters. All three were vehicles with very poor weight distribution, no traction control, two of those vehicles pre-dating ABS. Part of safe driving on slick roads is knowing the capability of your vehicle and adjusting your driving style accordingly. I don't drive an AWD the same way I drive and FWD, and I don't drive a FWD the same way that I drive a 4WD. They behave differently and require different driving techniques. It's the same with tires.
Most drivers today are so ill-trained that they have no idea how to drive whatever type of vehicle that they have, no matter what kind of tires it has, safely in adverse winter driving conditions. I see that ineptitude on the road (or in the ditch, or smashed into another vehicle) constantly in bad winter driving conditions. Meanwhile, the people that I know who do have proper winter driving skills can drive winter after winter in bad conditions and never have a wreck, never slip off the road, and never get stuck--many of them like the poster quoted here who never use dedicated winter tires.
I don't drive an AWD the same way I drive and FWD, and I don't drive a FWD the same way that I drive a 4WD. They behave differently and require different driving techniques. It's the same with tires.
Ditto.
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