Drove a 1.8L Corolla with 150k miles on it from Boston to Seattle and back this summer. That included crossing North Dakota at ~91mph indicated since the car shakes between 85 and 90 ever since I T-boned a Taurus that didn't yield at the stop sign. The trip also included passing many slow lifted pickup trucks on badly rutted dirt forest roads at 30+mph. A new Corolla should survive a trip from MO to CA and back at 65mph. :-)
In either case, make sure you put a few thousand miles on the car before setting the cruise control for 65 for several days straight. Also change the oil before leaving and before returning.
It would not normally waste my time responding to your gibberish but as usual you have not idea what you are talking about. When I received my engineering degree in metallurgy I worked for a year in the steel industry. Then I worked as a design engineer for GM, then as a field engineer for VW in western PA. Eventually I worked as both a field engineer and design engineer for Ford, retiring in 1986. At that point I started working as GSM for the dealership group. I started my fleet service company, with a partner, during that time period. Eventually becoming sole owner of facilities in six eastern states when I my partner did not want to allow our techs to join a union. I sold the business in 1998 for more money then you will ever see it two life times, and consulted to it for the new owners for five years at a hefty fee. Yes I have had the privilege of meeting several Presidents and I am on speaking terms with Senators as well since I am a large contributor to Republican party. I have endowed, hospitals, libraries and established an engineering chair at my university. I will be 80 in March, my health is good, I have lived to an older age than any of my male relatives ever did, have five children, eleven grand children and five great grandchildren. The good Lord has been kind to me, you should be so lucky. Negative, ignorant, hateful, small minded people like you will never be so blessed and that is so sad
mike hunt
"Learning Richard" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Hey Mikey did you ever own a 50000$ Cadillac FWD, I do , yea BS its unsafe. I remember those big 70s Eldos 500CI FWD. RWD for midwest idiots who need to plow to get out of the garage. Enjoy your next snow today, FWD dont fishtail out on acceleration, thats where the Weight is, in front. FWD go up snowed up inclines, RWD spin out, in the ditch.
Are you afraid that your moronic insults are directed at someone who has actually succeeded on his own without the limp-wristed handholding of the leftist welfare state pimps that you love so much?
If not, YOU SHOULD BE
I don't necessarily agree with a lot of what Mike says about cars, but I haven't see a reason to doubt his claims about his life experience. You, on the other hand, have absolutely no credibility in my eyes or anyone else's worth mentioning. You are a foul-mouthed, racist, egotistical, small-minded leftist who thinks of little other than pleasing himself and stomping on anyone who might stand in his way.
I also know what I spoke was/is true and would testify to it under oath.
Dodge and GM have always offered discounts to fleets, especially to government fleets and even more so to PD's.
The Taurus you refer to was
You may be correct on the certification, I can't argue on that. I can say it definately was used as a front-line vehicle by the PD in my city. I woulnd't swear to it, but I think I saw them used by the state I live in as well.
The only other Ford Certified Police vehicle was the
We used those in Indiana as well, I stand to be corrected but I believe all have been replaced by Camaro's set up for high-speed use.
Indeed the CV is offered, through Ford dealers with a
I still state with no uncertanty that Ford subsidized the dealers bids to government fleets to outbid GM and Chryco. That may not be the case now, I can say that all the new vehicles purchased this year, in the two departments I'm associated with, are Fords. Question there?
But Dodge and GM, when they built RWD police
Wrong, not true. We still are using and purchasing new GM Impalas on our city PD. I talked to the Lead Mechanic in the department that does their maitenance and he says the maintenance costs are not significantly higher than RWD. Since this is a Toyota NG I'll reference them. The FWD Toyotas don't cost any more to maintain than a RWD and last just as long, so I think I'll believe the Lead Mechanic.
Lastly, I've read farther in the thread on this and it has turned into a personality contest, which I refuse to participate in, so I am finished with this thread. davidj92
You obviously proved my point, can't debate on a technical level, so you have to resort to personal attackes. (Find any mispellings, find any incorrect punctuation, make you happy? WOW, you are soooo smart.) People like you have to try to make someone else look bad in a vain attempt to make themselves look better. This ng is for the passing of information and trying to assist someone in need. This is the last conversation I'll have with you. davidj92
Letting off the throttle on an RWD car may also induce a spin. My spouse discovered this the hard way. Conditions were VERY slippery - ice.
This is also the case in a well-engineered RWD car. My automatic Volvos can be pushed into neutral from D just by whacking the stick but to go into reverse requires depressing the button on the top.
Some PDs in this area are using FWD cars. I presume they modify the training to match and, perhaps, have changed the rules on when to chase and how hard. Yes, it snows here.
I also noticed - surprise - a local PD with a Honda CR-V. No Toyotas, yet. I wonder if the CR-V had a police package...
For once. Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day...
There are a lot of factors involved. In my experience, light vehicles, both FWD and RWD, tend to do well.
Based on my experience, I prefer a well-balanced RWD car (preferably with limited slip differential), like a Volvo. Really good all-weathers or, better, snows. ABS is a plus. All my RWD vehicles have done well enough in the snow. However, two of my light FWD vehicles have done well in the snow. My heavy FWDs suck. To put it mildly. My very lightest FWD vehicle was very poor in the wnos (but that could be a tire issue). Overall, in snow, my RWD experince has been bettter than my FWD experience.
In my opinion, RWD gives you more options for dealing with conditions. Add gas for oversteer, let off the gas or downshift for weight transfer and extra bite on the front tires and reduce understeer while getting some braking.
FWD isn't as flexible. Add gas and you induce understeer. Let off the gas or downshift and you induce understeer. In really poor conditions, braking is more difficult, as even idle throttle torque differences can throw off the front-end. I often put the FWD cars into N when hitting the brakes to improve braking. That's useful on the RWD vehicles, too, but not necessary nearly as often.
Fishtailing, especially going uphill, is certainly possible in a RWD car but, under the same conditions, FWD torque steer and wheelspin leading to loss of steering traction will push you towards the ditch or oncoming traffic. I've instructed the kids NOT to use the cruise control on the FWDs when it's snowing for just this reason.
AWD or 4WD? No, thanks. It would probably be a help but I'm more concerned about stopping than going and, while AWD might help you a few times per year, you pay an MPG penalty all year long. ABS seems to be worth the price, though. If it snows hard enough, I simply try to stay home. If I get stuck (hasn't happened in over 20 years), that's what AAA is for.
I mostly agee that FWD is better in the snow that RWD, However, I grew up before the FWD era and people got around well enough. I grew up on a farm. My Father never had anything but 2WD pick-ups without limit slip. He never got stuck. In my area, mud was the problem more often than snow. I can remember watching my Father drive down the path literally leaving three tracks - one of which was created by the differential housing. Personally I drove all over Michigan in the winter in a RWD Datsun. I never got stuck, or even came close to getting stuck. I once drove 100 miles in the snow in a RWD Jensen Healey in snow so deep it was scrapping against the floor pans. The last time I couldn't go where I wanted in the snow I was driving a FWD car. There was hill out of the subdivision, and the road was so slick I just couldn't get enough traction to get up the hill. I probably could have made it if I had been willing to chance a high speed running start, but then I doubt I could have stopped on the other end - which was a tee intersection into a major street. Generally my problem when driving in the snow involves stopping, not moving, and FWD is not much of a help when you are stopping.
My father used to tell a story about his father having a Model T pickup when they lived on a farm. I think the story went that it was muddy and soon the T was stuck. Granddad told Dad and Uncle Johnny to get the mule out of the barn, which they did in a hurry as kids did back then. :- D Hooked mule to truck and she wouldn't pull so Granddad built a fire under her. She pulled until she couldn't feel the heat anymore, stopped dead still again and refused to pull. The bed got burned so bad it had to be replaced but they managed to keep the damage limited to that. Wonder if that's where the adage came from, "F**** a mule that won't pull". davidj92 :- D
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.