Winter Driving Tips

[cqaigy2]

How can any of you tell people to not use brakes and instead downshift, and then turn around and say 4wd won't help stopping? If the 4wd drive train is engaged, and you downshift, won't engine braking be applied to the entire drive train? What am I missing? :confused3:

I'd always assumed 4wd would distribute the engine breaking process to more wheels then 2wd.

 

[2ndhalf]

You could tell the ones in that video that got out and helped had ABS, ESC.
Funny I couldn't tell.
Makes me wonder how I've got by just fine without those features driving in the winter the past 40 years.
The only vehicle we have ever owned with ABS is my wife's 2005 Subaru, and she never drives in the snow.
None of my personal vehicles had ABS or ESC.
If its snowing or calling for snow and my wife needs to go somewhere I take her, some times using her car with ABS.
Do I feel I'm safer and more in control with her car with ABS, vs my current and previous vehicles without it. NO, not really, I drive they all the same way in the same conditions.

well it was kind of a joke but you could tell from the dash cams that some had no issue stopping. want to venure a guess why? I too got by fine but now that they exist I want them and that doesn't make me a poor driver.

They guys who made this thread personal were the ones acting like if you like ABS you were a bad driver (actually just one guy JK); pretty imature in my opinion.

 

[Oaktree]

Regarding ABS.....

this topic seems to come up alot also. Boggles my mind the number of people that "claim" they hate ABS.
Sure, back in the 1990's......With some only having real wheel ABS, or 2-3 channel ABS....while better than none....wasnt that great. But about everything made in the last decade has true 4-wheel ABS. All 4 wheels have sensors.....and the computer knows the split second that a wheel locks up.....and releases brakes a little to JUST THAT WHEEL. Something you just CANNOT do without abs.

Very true. Before my wife bought her present car ('16 Buick Regal) the only vehicle I'd ever driven with ABS brakes was the company truck at my previous job (07 tundra). I couldn't believe the night and day difference between the two. You barely even notice the ABS action on the Buick, while the truck would clatter and clack and more often than not pull you one way or the other.

BIG improvement!!

 

[Agvg]

My 2004 van had very good abs, but you have good example on conservative Japanese to frighten to get the best and hangs on to outdated solutions. Nissan had the same horrible bad ABS for years.
My 1998 VW pickup has quite good ABS so it was possible to do it, not as fast as later systems but very nice in use.

 

[RoyJackson]

Also, a vehicle in 4wd takes longer to stop than a the same exact vehicle in 2wd, not talking about two different Chevys but rather one Chevy with a transfer case change

I don't know if I agree with that, conditions being equal...are you writing about coasting, or braking?

 

[RoyJackson]

How can any of you tell people to not use brakes and instead downshift, and then turn around and say 4wd won't help stopping? If the 4wd drive train is engaged, and you downshift, won't engine braking be applied to the entire drive train? What am I missing? :confused3:

It does for me...so I'm not sure what some of those guys are writing about...

I downshift as I come to a stop sign, but I'm traveling pretty slow before I downshift....and the engine RPM is pretty close to idle before downshifting

 

[LD1]

Also, a vehicle in 4wd takes longer to stop than a the same exact vehicle in 2wd, not talking about two different Chevys but rather one Chevy with a transfer case change

I dont agree with this either.

Dont know why there are so many myths around winter driving regarding ABS vs No ABS.....4Wd vs Awd.....And now 2wd somehow stops faster???

I fail to see some peoples logic regarding quite a few of these topics.

I own:

1. 2005 dodge, diesel, DRW, 4wd, Automatic, Quad cab long bed (longest wheel base). Has 2000# tucked next to the tailgate and with the plow hanging off the front....weighs in just north of 11,000#

2. 2015 Buick Encore Awd, Automatic, ABS ~3400#

3. 2008 Nissan sentra....FWD, Auto, ABS....~2800#

4. 2001 Saturn, FWD, 5-speed stick, NO ABS, ~2300#

Guess which one handles best in the winter? Guess which one stops the quickest in the winter? Guess what order I prefer them in when winter conditions hit? (hint.....they are already in order)

 

[Bingo9991]

Theres videos out there comparing stopping distance in snow

 

[Bingo9991]

I'm not saying a 2wd truck stops faster, I thought I made it clear enough that if your 4wd truck is in 2wd, it will stop faster than it would in 4wd

 

[Ken]

I'm not saying a 2wd truck stops faster, I thought I made it clear enough that if your 4wd truck is in 2wd, it will stop faster than it would in 4wd

Have any facts other than opinion on this statement
Not interested in wobbly ideas just the facts.
ken

 

[LD1]

I'm not saying a 2wd truck stops faster, I thought I made it clear enough that if your 4wd truck is in 2wd, it will stop faster than it would in 4wd

No, it wont.

I have 4-channel ABS.

The wheels (or the ABS) dont care what is connected to the wheel. All it knows is that if I am pressing the brakes hard enough for the ABS to do its thing.....it is gonna do it exactly the same regardless of what I have the t-case selected to

 

[MossRoad]

I'm not saying a 2wd truck stops faster, I thought I made it clear enough that if your 4wd truck is in 2wd, it will stop faster than it would in 4wd

How, please?

 

[My Gym]

As with most threads it has gotten off subject. We are now discussing the merits of ABS. not winter driving tips.

#1 winter driving tip. You can be sure the roads are bad if the cars upside down in the interstate median tires are still spinning.

The person recommended down shifting. I do not want to be on the road with you under slick conditions. Shifting is one of the most dangerous actions you can do on very slick roads. It creates uneven forces on the wheels that cannot be corrected by ABS. Even slight acceleration or deceleration can cause loss of control. You are better off to shift to neutral and let ABS do its job.

Question? Do you follow tracks or move to one side and drive on fresh snow.

 

[LD1]

i dont really see discussing ABS as being off topic.

It directly relates to winter driving.

Some prefer 4wd or AWD with ABS and traction control for winter driving.

Others insist that ABS is for lousy drivers and 2wd will stop better.....go figure

 

[RoyJackson]

i dont really see discussing ABS as being off topic.

It directly relates to winter driving.

Some prefer 4wd or AWD with ABS and traction control for winter driving.

Others insist that ABS is for lousy drivers and 2wd will stop better.....go figure

Just proves the "one size doesn't fit all"

I reckon everybody has their methods for safe driving...and those methods don't work or apply, to everybody else.

 

[Sigarms]

On a sidenote, I believe we all learn from experience.

It's easy to read what to do and what NOT to (such as speed/breaks) but it's another to learn from experience, particularly when it comes to driving in bad weather.

In my early 20's, I was the idiot behind the wheel when it came to driving in bad weather. For some strange reason, never wanted to listen to my father. Coming back from winter dive with 2 loose tanks in a VW Golf, and decided to take the back road instead of the major highway in a snowstorm due to bad traffic. Rolled that puppy down a hill (think I took 2 complete rolls) and had to climb out the drivers side window to get out. How I wasn't killed no clue. Wasn't going fast, but fast enough.

The only thing I we can hope for is we all learn from experience and grow from it. Glad to say haven't had a fender bender in over 20 years now no matter what kind of weather I drive in (knock on wood).

As for all the new gadgets in vehicles now, no different than 4WD IMO. It's nice, but sometimes I believe it gets people into trouble because they figure they don't have to worry or actually know what do to, and sometimes, they get more careless because they figure the vehicle can handle it.

I was watching a video a friend posted on facebook with him driving in bad weather the other month. Guy is in his early 40's, prior military, pretty sharp guy in some aspects. That said, he was doing over 60MPH in snow covered roads, passing people (people had their flashers on driving slow as it was also snowing pretty bad) in the passing lane and right lane, and he seemed proud of of his driving skills. The only thing I could think of was what a freaking idiot. Sooner or later, driving fast in bad weather is going to bite you big time. Apparently he has never learned that.

 

[Bingo9991]

Here's to all you naysayers

4WD VS 2WD Braking Final Test - YouTube

 

[LD1]

I'm confused.

You have been claiming that a 4wd vehicle takes longer to stop when in 4wd.

Then you post a video showing that 4wd stops quicker.

I don't get it?

 

[MossRoad]

Question? Do you follow tracks or move to one side and drive on fresh snow.

Well, that depends on if the tracks are dry, wet, snowy, or icy.

 

[CobyRupert]

Question? Do you follow tracks or move to one side and drive on fresh snow.

Yes I follow them, right up until the point they lead me to a car turned upside down in a ditch. Then I don't. :laughing:

..but yes, in snow, you can sometimes spot a little payment peaking through the tracks and I figure the coefficient of friction (traction for turning &breaking ) is probably better there. In turns, I'll cheat to the inside of the tracking thinking that if I guess wrong and am going too fast for the turn, I'll just slide back into the track and have a better chance of recovery than if I slide out of the track onto snow.