Choice of Vehicle for Snow & Ice

There is a nice Cherokee for sale in my neighborhood here in Western Washington. If anyone is interested, pm me with your email addie and I will pass it to the lady who is selling it. Her dad bought it from another neighbor and her dad died last year.

I've had my eyes on it for a few years. It's a nice vehicle, but I can't talk my daughter into wanting it and I'm not willing to give up my van to own it.

Mastiff, you are absolutely right. For snow, traction is directly related to ground pressure. The higher the ground pressure, the better the traction. That is why snow tires (and tractor tires) have such wide grooves. The space between treads is actually reducing the footprint area that is on the ground (or snow).

Ground pressure is calculated as follows: vehicle weight (pounds) divided by tire area on the ground (sq. inches) to give us pounds per square inch (psi). There are two ways to increase a vehicles ground pressure. One way is to increase the weight of the vehicle; the other way is decrease the tires footprint. The last thing you want in snow is “high flotation” (which is low ground pressure due to the wide stance of the tire).

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Were on the same page!

My hubby and I have Land Rover Freelanders...we tried out lots of four wheel suv's and the Subarus before we decided on the Rovers...here they are cheaper to get than the Subaru's and the off road and on road capabilities are really good...permanent all wheel drive, traction control, hill descent control-which is VERY handy, anti lock brakes, command shift and an independent suspension system that enables them to handle like a luxury/sports car on the road but also works VERY well off road.
They are pricier than a lot of the four wheel drives but we have found lots of really good deals on the older models, they are not very well known ...
here is the Freelander page, fun to read about either way!

http://www.landroverusa.com/us/en/Ve...nchor_target_6

The only vehicles we use are Jeeps.

DH and I each have a Cherokee (daily drivers) and each have a CJ (off-road and serious stuff).

4WD is good, IMO, as are good tires and regular maintenance. Front wheel is good if you can't get 4WD.

Most important point, as others have stated, is to KNOW YOUR VEHICLE. You can't drive 'em like they're sedans or sports cars, and just because you have good rubber and Granny gears doesn't mean you can drive through snow like you're on dry pavement.

Saw a crazy driver out on the highway a few winters ago. It's snowing like crazy, already drifting, and this goofy person was on the cell phone, doing at least 55 mph, sliding in and out of lanes... Don't know if she made it home in one piece, but she darned near forced others off the road.

<getting off soap box> Know how to operate your vehicle in all conditions. If the weather is dangerous, stay home unless you absolutely MUST drive.

Pony!

I vote for the subaru, we've had three of them and it wouldn't have been so many except deer really like them too. As for the trucks vs subaru, my dh had a truck hit his back quarter panel when there was just a dusting of snow on the ground and the guy skid accross the center line and hit him.
As for people winding up in the ditch and stuff. Learn how to drive is my suggestion. I live up here in PA and we get some great dumps of 12" or more snow at times.
Another key when driving in the snow Is DOWNSHIFT, DOWNSHIFT, DOWNSHIFT! Even in an automatic. The whole point of this is to slow the engine down so your propulsion isn't as much. Also when doing reverse down a hill or even forwards for that matter use the Neutral as it keeps you moving but not being driven forward by the engine.

When I lived in UP, best vehicle in deep or fresh snow was one of the old BIG Wagoneers. Best handling vehicle on ice that I ever found was an old '75 Chev Nova 4door with sagging springs. Center of gravity was just right along with long wheelbase. Made it super stable. The Wagoneer was jittery on ice. Front drives werent good either. They couldnt go in deep snow and light rear end meant they werent well ballanced on ice and the rear end would break free and try to pass the front end. Now if you lived out in an ice shack on middle of lake or way back where snow plow never came, snowmobile is really only option, well maybe one of those track vehicles they used to dress the snowmobile trails. But I assume people here are talking public roadways that get plowed at least occasionally.

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Bingo. Most SUVs are driven by People Who Have No Clue, and they think that 4WD is the miracle cure for bad driving in bad conditions.


Ditto on the importance of tires - I was wandering in the wilds of the north end of Michigan's lower penninsula one year, and got tired of the slip & slide. Pulled into a 4 Day Tire shop, got some new snow treads, and was amazed at the difference. This in an unloaded Nissan 2WD, with ZERO weight in the back end. (At the time.)


But I suspect the Honda isn't going to cut it with ANY tires. Consider something like a good used Jeep Cherokee. Good on gas, and good in snow, but not too big.

Well we love our Jeep for just about every situation, but I drove a beater Ford Mustang for years in the snow in Germany. Right up until it quit and died on me. I don't recall ever getting stuck.

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Driven for years on plenty of ice and snow. All our vehicles are front wheel drive - nothing fancy just "family sedans" and economy cars. Only a couple of times did I wish we had something with "higher clearance".

Since I commute a good distance and I have to drive alone. I've learned over the years to change my route depending on weather conditions. I know which east/west roads to avoid that have high drifting, poor visibility, which roads have great shoulders, which roads are plowed first...

I also avoid roads that have been packed down and are glazed over by heavy commuter traffic. Not because of the snowpack so much, but because of the people who can't remember how to drive in this stuff.

If I get caught in an ice storm, I head to the gravel roads - long, slow going for my 45 mile drive, but I'll know I'll get there.

Frankly, I agree with folks that driving in snow involves patience, practice and skill. It's easy to put any vehicle in the ditch if you don't know what you are doing and drive too fast, too careless for the conditions.

Our car is packed with winter emergency kits, blankets, a bright orange towel (to put on the car as a marker if we end up in the ditch so someone sees us - my chevy cavalier is white) - a shovel, cat litter for ice. My cell phone is always charged and I let my family know which route I'm likely to take.

If it is too bad, I work at home! No sense taking two hours to drive to work and then have to leave early because conditions deteriorate

IIIIII got a picture for you Jeep lovers...

(can't help myself)



Ready?



This was in the Selkirk Mountains (off Upper Pack River Road, for those in the area). The mud was around 6-8" deep and there was an artesian spring under the mud AND a log with a 6" or so diameter stuck in the mud...that we hit. (My son is standing on the end of it)

It took seven guys to get us out. It was in summer in BAD mosquito times too, heading toward dark...in grizzly country.

One of my fonder "just moved to Idaho" memories...

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Anything Subaru, they're all AWD(which is better than 4wd BTW)

Yikes! Was this just a nice Sunday drive? Have you ever driven over Baldy road. We practically go over boulders with our Wrangler.

I used to have a 4x4 Subaru Brat. I wish they still made them things.

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Lisa:

Yep. We'd manhandled just about everything else, and then hubby wanted to try "just one more trail".

And that was the trail that did us in!

The road was also on a steep angle. When we hit the log, we stopped dead and slid sideways. We were in 4LO; didn't make a dang bit of difference.

Hubby wanted to take the Ram Hemi back up there the next weekend, so we did. However, he bowed to my better judgment and did not take the Ram down the same Mud Bog Of Death(tm) trail.

I figure in a lot of ways, a Wrangler is more of a Jeep than a Grand Cherokee.

We traded in this Jeep for a Dodge Durango (seats 7). It's a Hemi too, but I don't think I'd be willing to take it on this same trail.

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Subaru outback without a doubt! I would avoid 4x4's and go for anything AWD - 4x4's can be tricky if you are not used to them.
Had an isuzu 4x4 at one time and just a little mud would send it to th emud - was lucky enough never to encounter snow or ice before moving here!

Three Jane, that's why I don't take my Cherokee off-road (it's an '89, BTW).

My little CJ, though, goes where I go and I go where she goes.

Pony!

Keep your front wheel drive Honda and be sure to offer a ride to the stuck 4X drivers when you pass.
Snow tires a must.
Never give a vehicle any more gas then absolutely necessary when the road is slick. Too much accelaration will put you in the ditch before anything else.

4x4 is good, but rmember that once it snows, or ice is on the road, you cant stop any quicker than without it..... many people find this out the hard way.

As for a small pickup like the toyota, get a canopy with it, you will find it saves the day in several ways in the winter, things dontv get wet as easy, and it adds some weight too.

William

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Upon the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who when on the dawn of victory paused to rest, and there resting died.
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Ditto on the ice...

I went ice-dancing in our Ram. Was in 4HI, going maybe 5 mph, if that, and crested the top of a mild hill. Saw someone at the bottom had slid off the road and *barely* tapped the brake (duh).

Started the slide, went around backwards, and wound up in a snowbank facing up the hill. All of my anti-slide maneuvers were totally for naught.

Fortunately I was able to dig myself out and cautiously continued on in 4LO.

All this, just to get the mail!

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