Conference ssdevo::4wd

    re: .23

    Boy, ain't that the truth! Two incidents just in the last few weeks
    come to mind:

    - Heading south on I93 in the PF just before the I89 merge in Concord
    NH, traveling on a couple of inches of hard pack. Traveling at safe 'n'
    sane speed with right-lane traffic, no hurry to get home. Orvis GC
    zings by us in the left lane at around 65 - about 25 mph faster than
    the right lane traffic. Just as I mention to my sons that "that guy is
    friggin' doomed" the guy loses it, goes into full-spin mode, bounces
    off the left guard rail, then crosses the highway and disappears down
    the embankment in a cloud of snow. 
    
    Yaay! Justice! Of course, meanwhile the right-lane traffic is scattering 
    like roaches looking for a place to hide! I managed to avoid hitting 
    anybody (ABS works!) but the poor Olds behind me nosedived and snagged 
    his center grill on my drawbar, enhancing the airflow through his 
    radiator ;^)

    - This week I was following a Wrangler into Bolton, and watched as the
    driver of same decided to swerve around something at the side of the
    road. Swerved left, swerved right, ROLLED IT! Wow! Exciting to watch!
    Looked like the avoidance drill out of Consumer Reports (you know, the
    one that Suzuki and Mitsubishi failed). Fortunately the driver wasn't
    hurt - before I got to him I imagined him pinned under the side of the
    rig...
    
    4WD ain't no panacea, it *may* help you GO but it sure won't help you
    STOP! And high ground clearance/stiff suspensions/short wheelbases 
    require some caution in abrupt manuevers. Gotta be careful out there!
    

    ref. .23
    
    DOUBLE DITTO that!
    
    What the SUV `occasional' 4WD weenies don't seem to understand is that
    4WD doesn't equal superior handling... they're just as poor and possibly
    worse in adverse conditions and emergency handling situations on
    pavement as ANY OTHER VEHICLE.  
    
    A friend of mine with an Explorer said to me that one night he was 
    taking his boy to hockey practice in a snowstorm.  He had it in 4WD
    and was bombing down the highway as he always does when all of a sudden
    a wind gust hit him and he did TWO complete 360 degree spins before the
    car magically straightened out.  After that he slowed down.
    I told him that he was a victim of a false sense of security about
    4WD vehicles...they're no better than ANY other vehicle out there 
    when it comes to bad weather handling on the highway.
    
    The traction limits of the tires for any given condition is ALL ANY 
    vehicle can truly count on in emergency handling situations. 
    
    Also, aside from the "4 X 4 = Velcro" myth, many tests and surveys have 
    proven SUV's are more prone to rolls, flips and general smooth surface 
    and high speed traction problems than today's average low-slung 
    automobiles because the overall vehicle designs are to accommodate 
    off road conditions which tends to compromise handling at highway 
    speeds.
    
    Examples:
    	- aerodynamics more susceptable to side winds/truck turbulence 
    	- higher centers of gravity (AKA ground clearance)
    	- more radical tire tread designs which actually have LESS rubber 
      	  in contact with paved/icy surfaces 
    	- more rigid (sidewall ply) tires with less supple (smooth 
    	  surface conforming) tread rubber than conventional radial 
    	  car tires.
    	- stiffer suspensions which perform well in long suspension travel
          conditions but `dance' on paved surface irregularities 
          or won't `settle down' as quickly on rougher pavement as
          conventional car suspensions tend to. 
    
     SUV's are NOT cars and they're NOT as sticky on paved surfaces as 
     cars... just a different design.
    

    In another life, as in some moon lighting as a chauffier, I was on 93
    North bound from Bostons Logan Airport. Dropped of some clients on a
    March morning. Rain turning to sleet, ice. And me with a black caddi,
    nick named, 'Africa Queen'. The highway is troughed from the daily
    traffic, so I played the troughts, keeping the wheels high and dry from
    disaster. Someone in a Wranger jeep comes up along side, trying to look
    into the blacked out windows, and then pulls up close and spys me,
    looking like the 'Blues Brothers' behind the wheel. Yes, Sunday
    overcast morning, and I got dark sun glass's on with the black suit and
    matching tie.:) 
    
    The driver in the jeep pulls ahead, looses it on the ice in the
    troughts, and carriens(sp) across the bow of my car, slamming the guard
    rail between the north and south bound highway. The car comes back
    towards me, I slide from its path missing the tail lights of my car of
    some 35 feet in length. Then watching a flash of metal zooming past my
    rear view he rolls it. Dam! What a show. 
    
    Long of the short, I stop, back up, call the cops, and roll out because
    I have to get this car back to the barn to ready for a wedding later
    on. 
    
    As I climb the hill along 93 from the Merrimack river crossing, another
    not-head does the same thing. Execpt, I wasn't the cause this time
    either, and decided that stopping was a waist of time.:) 
    

    re: .4 by MKOTS3::RAUH
    
    >> ...and carriens(sp) across the bow of my car,...
    
    All that typing, and only one word about which you're unsure?  ;-)
    You must be good!  ;-)
    
    /Bill (I enjoyed your story)

    Thanks!:) Always get whacked by someone for spellin and typin.:) 
    
    I have driven limos for close to 4 years on and off. Gave it up one
    weekend. Just got tired of driving sooo much. 

    I have other stories to write about things I have seen while driving
    the long cars. If its O.K. with the mods and if all are interested.

As long as it somehow includes a 4x4, have at it.  Just remember, we all need
to do DIGITAL work before taking time to note.

Judy

    None would have 4x4 stuff. Just interesting stories about some people I
    have met. Like having dinner with Gary Puckett minus the Union Gap and
    such.;) Driving a bunch of old rockers around southern New Hampshire
    one summer as well. 

    It's not hard to figure out why some/lots of people think a 4wd vehicle
    will save them when driving in adverse conditions.  Just look at any TV
    ad for the SUV.  They always show them speading down a snowy roads or
    blowing through a snow drift.
    
    When I was out looking at a 4wd truck the salesperson kept telling me
    that having 4wd and ABS is the safest way to travel.  When I asked him
    how it works on ice he told me with the ABS it's no problem.      

    Yep.... as safe as a Volvo....;}

RE: .10

  I would have bet him any $$$'s he wanted that this was not true and
after that sucker took my the bet I would have showed him the ditch my
4WD, 4W-ABS equipped Grand Cherokee ended up when it slid on the ice
(see 1377.108 for details).  Some people are just plain thick as ice!  ;-)