Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 10:49:19 -0500
Reply-To: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: AWD
In-Reply-To: <CC957CD2-F041-427C-9864-78BC30D46FFF@kippert.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
It's driving skill entirely. I used to work for a car dealer that would take
me to the track to teach me "real driving lessons" from time to time. One
thing they stressed was how any car CAN be driven fast, any car CAN be good
in the snow, and any car CAN be alot more fun than you originally thought,
it's just about knowing how to do it and do it well. I was taught the art of
throttle matching shifts (The first time i was told to downshift at 50mph, i
thought for sure i was going to die....), the way you feel for grip and can
hold a car right on the edge of it (VERY useful in snow driving. It lets you
know just what the maximum safe driving, stopping, and turning speeds will
be), and how to select which gear your in for turns, hills, and straits not
to mention how to turn in rough conditions. I always thought htis made me a
much better driver, and they did it as an insurance policy for their big
buck cars i was driving (I nearly wrecked an Austin Martin.....).
Long story short, last weekend i got to experience my first REAL snow in the
vanagon. I never really drove it much in the winter before. I was heading
out of town to visit a friend and called her before leaving to say that the
roads were looking really bad, and it might not work out. I was determined
to carefully find my way to a major road which would be clean, but never
made it that far. These roads meant decompression braking in 2nd or even
first gear down all hills (10-15mph), 5mph turns, and being very careful not
to come to a complete stop heading up a hill.....
I found that the vanagon might not be the best snow vehicle (2wd), but it
certainly is predictable. With that in mind, i made it quite a distance
before turning back, and i made it safely back, passing a flipped school
bus, a 4 car pileup, countless car's turned the wrong way, and a line of
traffic on a hill that just couldn't get moving again....
The moral of the story is keep your head on strait. Take whatever car it is
you drive in the winter to a parkinglot and do some donuts....learn to know
what the car can do, and more importantly, if it has ABS learn what that
feels like. Once you've ruined a parking lot and shortened your life a
little, you're snow driving will be that much better.
-Craig
'85GL turned WESTY
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 10:08 AM, Mark A Kippert <vanagon@kippert.com>wrote:
> Two thoughts to share.
>
> I drive a big ol' Expedition and have had 3 Bronco IIs. With 5 kids we
> have always had a full sized van. 4 years ago someone ran a red light
> and totaled our last one. My wife always felt safer in a big vehicle
> so we got the Expedition. Then gas prices skyrocketed so we finally
> got our first car, a Mercury Sable. Frankly, I feel safer driving the
> Sable in slippery icy conditions than I do the Expedition. It's lower
> profile and lighter weight makes it easier to stop and navigate. To be
> honest I don't really care for the Expedition but the SUV market sucks
> right now.
>
> As other have pointed out, the most important thing is driving skills.
> My youngest son (17 at the time) drove my 2nd Bronco II. I can't tell
> you how many times I tried to stress that while it has great "go
> power" in the snow, stopping isn't any better than the average car if
> conditions are icy. I told him to stay on dry road and avoid the
> slippery, icy streets back in the neighborhoods. But to a 17 year old
> boy's mind "WHAT FUN IS THAT". Anyhow one day I get a call from my
> wife (Patrick was too scared to call me) telling me that he was
> zipping through the neighborhood and hit an icy patch. In a panic he
> slammed on the brakes, lost control, and hit a tree at about 15-20
> miles an hour. Thankfully Patrick was OK but the Bronco was totaled.
>
> Why do kids have to learn lessons the hard (expensive) way?
>
> -Mark
>
>
> On Dec 13, 2008, at 8:51 AM, J Stewart wrote:
>
> Two years ago, I drove a company Ford Taurus across state in the
>>> midst of a
>>> major snowstorm. I counted no less than twenty SUVs in the ditch
>>> along the
>>> way. I've long stated my hypothesis that AWD fills drivers with a
>>> false
>>> sense of security. As far as AWD systems go, the Quattro/Syncro
>>> cars are
>>> head and shoulders above the rest, but that doesn't mean their
>>> drivers can
>>> proceed with impunity.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
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