highway speed in full time 4X4?

On 06 Jan 2004 11:40 AM, Mike Romain posted the following:

Not.

---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- del@_kills_spammers_rawlinsbrothers.org Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website:

Yes, it is still only 100 kph or about 63 mph on most. Some are up to

"L.W.(ßill) Hughes III" wrote:

Actually the best foul weather highway car I ever owned was a darned Porsche 914/2. The balance and steering pretty much made up for the lack of ground clearance or 4wd. Used to drive that little sucker on freeways where even the Semi's were beginning to head for safer venues... and passed many a 4wd vehicle in the ditch.

Now for *slow* driving in really sucky weather, my preference would be a farm tractor if it weren't for the brass monkey factor, so will stick with a 4wd for that.

However, perhaps it is from growing up in areas where you could drive on the highway more safely than you could walk that gives me the willies when folks honestly are of the highly mistaken impression that a 4wd is worth squat on a freeway at high speed.

That actually isn't that bad. Now try it on polished snow/ice or up or down a hill with corners on it. Or just come west and park anywhere along Donner Pass and watch all the 4wd geniuses head for the nearest ditch on any snowy weekend.

I hope this doesn't qualify as sane driving for you...which is why I tend to get off any freeway when it rains or snows... too many folks confuse ABS and/or AWD with actually being able to drive.

You should have seen it here this past weekend when I-80 and 280 had a few spots of black ice at the on/off ramps. Looked like a demolition derby. Informal survey observed a higher proportion of AWD/4WD vehicles all trashed up than was actually on the road.

Tim, your part-time 4x4 system didn't bind on the highway covered "in 3-4" of fresh unplowed snow" because it won't bind if you're on a road totally covered in snow, the tires can slip against the slippery snow and relieve the binding between the f/r axles before it builds up too much. L0nD0t.$t0we11 was right on saying a part-time 4x4 system should never be used "on a highway unless it is extremely slippery"... and the totally snow-covered highway you were on certainly qualifies as one.

Jerry

Jeez. I was in similar conditions for Hogmanay and we did more like 30 mph down the motorway. Apart from anything else, if I tried to pass anyone you couldn't see anything for the crap that got blown my way. It may have been slow, but despite the fairly dense traffic I didn't see one person that had fallen off the road.

Dave Milne, Scotland

I am not sure this is an entirely accurate assessment, Mike. What the brakes do has much more to do with the proper adjustment of them, or the lack of proper adjustment - as the case may be - and less to do with the drive system, FWD, RWD, or 4WD.

I agree with the results you describe, but I don't think they have nearly as much to do with the drive system than the adjustment specifications being met or not. The problem with 4WD is that while you can "go" better, you "stop" just the same, and this can be a huge problem if the conditions are poor. Most of us drive as fast as we can go, but we should be driving only as fast as we can stop. Of course, we only find out that going as fast as we can is problematic when it is discovered that we can't stop.

While certainly true in theory, it is seldom true in practice.

Tim Hayes wrote in news:3ffb23e1$1 @rutgers.edu:

woo hoo!

lol

Some of the 911's have offered 4wd for quite some time...mainly on the models where it helps with evening up the tire wear >:-) And the newer 2wds don't have the horrid oversteer of the old original 911's...much to the unhappiness of some of the older purists.

I've always liked the handling of a good sports car in higher speed slippery conditions...one where the power was more or less balanced with the steering, brakes, tires, etc.

In deep stuff, I'd prefer a Corvair if no 4x4 was available.

Only if it stands for Abject Blissful Stupidity, or in the case of one, Abject BMW-Owner Stupidity.

These were mostly WalMart grade drivers anyway, with ABS being almost a certainty.

Thats one reason I prefer the Grand Cherokee for crappy conditions. It is kinda hard to navigate in a sports car where the top of the car is below the tire line of the big semi's splattering slush all over the place.

However, have yet to drive a 4x4 [except a Porsche] with the confidence inspiring handling of a good sports car... just that you can't freaking see very well.

This may be because you have bad weather often enough that the stupid ones have all been Darwin'd already. Unlike California where the reproduction rate exceeds the ability of Darwin to remove stupid drivers from the highways.

FrankW wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@magma.ca:

If I were speaking of conditions that interfered with braking, I would have said so. I'm speaking of conditions that are primarily dry pavement with occasional spots where traction is iffy. Conditions that let traffic normally flow at or near the speed limit, but where a little bit of extra control would be appreciated.

None of the SUVs, trucks, or cars I've driven have been in a ditch for the past 20+ years, and I didn't ask about "driving at high speed on snow." I asked about using Jeep's full time 4X4 at highway speeds in borderline conditions. Maybe "patchy snow", "light snow", and "drizzle near freezing" mean different things where you live, but in this part of the country, traffic doesn't typically slow down until you actually get road coverage, or conditions that have more wet/snow covered pavement than dry pavement.

You can drive the Full time 4WD at any safe speed. The safety is dependent on outside conditions, not vehicle limitations.

Saw a guy this morning on east bound 694 north of the cities, in the center lane with his headlights facing west. Traffic was going by at