Date:         Thu, 26 Apr 2012 08:56:10 -0700
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Interesting Tire Info
In-Reply-To:  <4281288.566512.1335446820943.JavaMail.root@vms170029>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

On Thu, Apr 26, 2012 at 6:27 AM, David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@verizon.net>wrote:

>
> On 04/26/12, Dave Mcneely<mcneely4@COX.NET> wrote:
>
>
> We never had a problem on the snow and ice with the Kumho 857 tires,
> though we saw literally hundreds of SUVs in ditches and parked beside the
> roads in the OKC and Edmond areas.
>
> Not an unusual sight.  It seems that many SUV owners do not realize that
> vehicles skid on ice, if one is not careful, almost irregardless of one's
> tires (studs excluded, but not always).
>
> Dave B.
>



>
>
   All wheel drive and 4 wheel drive are very effective in taking SUVs up
hill, or getting them moving when a 2wd might have trouble..but once
rolling, the main factor involved in going into the ditch or off the road
is inertia vs. traction.   Most drivers use their SUVs or big fancy 4X4s
thinking something like.."Hey, I can go up any hill way better than a
regular car, therefore I can go down better, too"   but that is actually
pretty wrong...4x4s and AWD vehicles have more weight, but the same contact
patch (which is what controls how the vehicle moves) as a normal car.  More
weight=more traction needed to change direction or speed.   Same contact
patch=same traction (not exact but for all intents, almost true)

   Drivers who are unfamiliar with very slick conditions are not often
aware that while they might get moving a lot better than the other 2wd
vehicles around them, they will not stop or steer much better at all, and
they don't lower their speed enough when approaching turns or
stops...then.....Whoops!