I壇 like to read that post as well. A lot of us live on gravel roads, it痴 hard on vehicles but not the cooling system. I don稚 know how you drive 80 miles an hour on a gravel road anyway. 60, yes. Still, A police chase on a gravel road would be pretty self limiting and shouldn稚 tax the cooling system of any vehicle. The radiator and cooling system are in front of the dust, and it doesn稚 accumulate like mud where it would cake a radiator or anything like that that.
80 on gravel isn稚 unheard of or even uncommon. The last deer I hit was at 80 MPH, on a gravel road, in a pursuit. I was at full throttle, able to lift just before impact. The speed limit on most gravel is 55 MPH, here. Some of our roads are good enough 65 isn稚 a big deal. Others are so rough no one drives over 20.
In a pursuit, your cooling system is ahead of your dust, but not the dust of the person you are pursuing. Depending on the wind speed, direction, and moisture content if the roadway, the dust kicked up can be an inconvenience or end the pursuit. Add another patrol vehicle, or two, in front of you, you?*e getting multiple vehicles dust-not good on any vehicle system. The only way to not drive in their dust is to be right behind them, close enough the dust is still gaining altitude, not higher than your front bumper. Not great at high speeds, especially, in areas you don稚 know really well. The County is almost 900 square miles, no one knows all of it good enough to drive blind. The other option is to fall back, but that puts you right in the worst of their dust or so far back you aren稚 doing much.
Here?s a picture of the front if my PI Utility (Explorer). I had only been in the pursuit a couple if miles before the runner went through a field. I was driving around, to head him off when four deer stepped out, in front of me. Grill guards are important. The grill guard stopped the deer from causing airbag deployment, allowing me the opportunity to keep full control. It also pushed the deer forward, instead if it riding the hood into our faces. The deer landed around 150 feet from where I got stopped, which was quite a ways from the impact site.
